Other mistake: In one of the air battles, the one where our heroes come to aid to a platoon of infantry harassed by German Fokker D.I's, the plane of Lowry is under fire after he downed an enemy airplane. In one shot, you can see he gets multiple hits just behind the pilot seat. Since these planes are barely armoured, say not at all, Lowry should have been punctured by the bullets at his back as well, instead of being completely fine. (01:16:00)
Flyboys (2006)
1 other mistake
Directed by: Tony Bill
Starring: James Franco, Jean Reno, Philip Winchester, Mac McDonald, Jennifer Decker, Scott Hazell
Factual error: In the beginning of the movie William supposedly boards the train in Lincoln, Nebraska. All the vehicles in the train are from Europe and never rolled in the United States. (00:03:35)
Reed Cassidy: Some day it'll just end. Everyone will go home, get on with their lives. Tall grass will cover the battlefields. And all the pilots we've lost won't mean a damn thing.
More trivia for Flyboys
Question: Is it possible to shoot the pilot of an enemy bi-plane in mid-air with a handgun? I would have thought the high wind velocity would have blown the bullet sideways, but I'm hardly an expert.
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Chosen answer: Biplanes were not very fast in flight. For instance a Sopwith Camel at about 5000 ft altitude had a cruise speed of approximately 100 mph. A Fokker had a cruise speed of about 95 mph. A typical WWI handgun could shoot 830 feet per second. With the distances between the planes as shown in the movie, a bullet could travel between the planes in less than half a second. The pilot would have to lead the target some, but he conceivably could hit the other pilot if close enough.
rswarrior