MovieChat Forums > Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) Discussion > Was he actually planning to fly to Engla...

Was he actually planning to fly to England in that Cessna?


I was expecting a LearJet or something.. Good thing they turned around, they would have run out of fuel 700 miles off the coast of Long Island...

Also, why was tho billed as a comedy? It was a pretty sad movie,...

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It actually quite possible. I know a
man who got a contract to bring a Cessna from Texas to Qatar. Some
shah or sultan purchased that plane, and wanted them to bring it
there. He paid the company 30 thousand US dollars, which were to be
used to pay the pilot, the landing fees while he flew and for the
gas. He did it and started writing the book, and I read the
manuscript. I am not a pilot, but it was fascinating. He flew to
Canada, stayed there for a week, waiting for the right weather and
flew to Ireland. He didn't have a passenger, of course, but he
stuffed the plane with huge canisters with gas. It was so stuffed
that he didn't have place to move and could only sit! In Canada,
while he waited, he met a German who did it for a living. The
German's name was Fritz. He earned big money, flying these little
planes across Atlantic to Europe. Barry (that was the man I am
talking about) remarked, that while he loaded with gas, Fritz loaded
with lots and lots of beer! He (Barry) said how he flew for 11 hours
to Ireland, and talked to large planes which flew back and how the
big plane's pilots commented on his courage. He then flew through all
the Europe, and was very funny, talking about customs and aerodromes.
I hope he got published. Not much money was left, after he landed in
Qatar. He wanted to flew the plane all the way to sultan, but that
sultan sent his own man to pick the plane, so he left it there. He
said he "kissed the plane's nose" when they parted. Then he bought
tickets for a regular plane and flew back home.

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You've got to be kidding. That was an unmodified Cessna 150. No extra fuel tanks in the cockpit. It might manage 400 miles without refueling.

A Cessna 150 takes off from New Jersey, at night, heading for England.
For anyone who knows about flying these little planes, this was the funniest scene in the movie.

Too much, too soon, too long, too strong, too many,
to fix.

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The point was, it IS possible to fly on a small plane across
Atlantic. So, when people saw it, they were supposed to think that
what was going on. How do you know they did not head for Canada, as
Barry did, to shorten the Transatlantic fly? And, of course, they did
not show the gas tanks and the pilots' adult diapers (they put on
adult diapers for such a fly), or a little John for those who
dislike diapers? Of course they won't show such, to make it more
"romantic". Imagine they putting an adult diaper on the sleeping
woman. What "romance" is that? Think about it as a movie suitcase.
You know, how in the movies, they have huge suitcases and carry them
so easily, you can see that it's empty, then, they open them and
there is a lot of heavy stuff inside.

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The point is that it is NOT possible to fly the Cessna shown in the film across the Atlantic! There are larger Cessnas that might be setup for such a long flight, but that tiny two-seat Cessna, especially without special modifications like a fuel tank in the passenger seat, could never make it. It just doesn't have the range and this is assuming that fuel was available. Let's not forget that it would require refueling many times and more than likely the airports have been abandoned, fuel deliveries have stopped, etc. due to the impending end of the world. No pilot with any sense at all would think he could make this flight in the circumstances of the film.
It's an idiotic idea written by someone who has no flying knowledge.

Many years ago there was a film where an airplane went into a crash dive because someone shot one of the instruments in the cockpit. This film beat that for a stupid flying idea.


Too much, too soon, too long, too strong, too many,
to fix.

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You proclaim yourself an expert, yet you continue saying that they
are flying across Atlantic. They are flying to Canada first, not
across Atlantic. To cross from Canada to Ireland, you only fuel once.
How can you believe that anyone who cross Atlantic in a Cessna, goes
through the ocean directly? Everybody flies to Canada first.

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http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=JFK-LHR

Even if you fly the northern route over Canada, south Greenland, and Iceland, there are still large expanses of ocean that must be crossed. The total distance is over 3000 miles. The best range for the Cessna 152 is 477 miles. Considering that you would never fly the full 477 miles without a reserve, this means at least 7 or 8 stops for refueling.




Too much, too soon, too long, too strong, too many,
to fix.

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Well, they were flying to Canada in a small Cessna. There was that town
in Canada, forgot the name. It had a base from which this people fly
small planes across the Atlantic. The father was friends with them. In
his house, he had a radio transmitter, and with good old fashion
Morse code, they communicated. Now he was coming, and they were
waiting for them, but the girl turned them back.

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That one place in Canada is still over 3000 miles from Europe. The girl turned them back when she realized what an absolute idiot the father was for thinking he could fly across the atlantic in that tiny plane with no place to refuel.

Too much, too soon, too long, too strong, too many,
to fix.

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Actually, the dad's plan was to fly to Halifax and try to convince Penny they were in England since the money would have the Queen on it and she could buy an Aero chocolate bar.

I have seen enough to know I have seen too much. -- ALOTO

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Thanks for raising this point. The movie was good, but the idea of flying across the Atlantic in a two-seat Cessna was ridiculous. From my look at the map, they may have been able to make Bermuda (assuming good self-navigation, as the movie said civilian flights were now at own risk), but would certainly go down in the Atlantic way before the Azores (even if they could land and fully refuel in Bermuda). Maybe it was the Dad and Son's way of giving some hope to Keira's character. Luckily she made him turn around.

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Come to think of it, it's not possible to stay asleep while being
dragged and put on a plane, either, unless you are heavily doped.

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Come to think of it, it's not possible to stay asleep while being
dragged and put on a plane, either, unless you are heavily doped.
The movie already established she was a ridiculously heavy sleeper when she slept on the couch during all of that racket he made and then later when she was sleeping through the riot.

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I also established that she liked her drugs so she very well could have been doped.


Film Reverie: http://filmreverie.blogspot.com.au/
My film diary: http://letterboxd.com/filmreverie/

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There is also the time it would take to fly 3000 miles. The world would end before the plane got even half way across.



Too much, too soon, too long, too strong, too many,
to fix.

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Correct. Looked it up - A Cessna 150 standard fuel tank holds 22.5 gallons. I checked on the 1sr single engine plane to successfully cross the pond - The Spirit of St. Louis. It had a total fuel capacity of 450 U.S. gallons of gasoline, which was necessary in order to have the range to make the anticipated flight non-stop. The fuel was stored in five fuel tanks, a forward tank (88 gallons), the main (209 gallons), and three wing tanks with a total of 153 gallons.

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I know a LOT about Cessna 150s, and I know a little about flying small single engine airplanes over large distances, and that little plane shown in the movie has at most three to five hours fuel -- and it's top speed is about 100 miles per hour (give or take) so they would have made it about halfway across whatever state they were in, and would have needed to refuel. Had they tried to cross an ocean, they would have been swimming very soon. Where they were going -- at night no less -- is a mystery to me.

She would have had to be half-dead not to be awakened, by the way. The plane is noisy and very cramped.

The entire last half of the movie was a mystery to me. It was just filler to pad out the movie. It didn't seem to have anything to do with the end of the world or anything, for that matter. And it was incredibly boring and poorly written.

How is it that there is a riot when they leave the apartment building, and when they return, it's all clean and back to normal? The second scene with the Hispanic maid seemed like a repeat of the first scene. Etc., etc.

What a cheap excuse for a movie.

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I agree. Not to mention very annoying female lead, a constant whiner and a drama queen. There were moments when I wanted to shout at her to shut the hell up.

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"The entire last half of the movie was a mystery to me. It was just filler to pad out the movie. It didn't seem to have anything to do with the end of the world or anything, for that matter. And it was incredibly boring and poorly written."

this movie isn't really about the world.. it's about a lot of people's #1 fear which is dying alone...

"How is it that there is a riot when they leave the apartment building, and when they return, it's all clean and back to normal?"

that i have no answer for.

"The second scene with the Hispanic maid seemed like a repeat of the first scene."

this to me was how people tried to comfort themselves by continuing to live their daily normal lives with their usual routines. the maid told him she would see him next thursday even though the asteroid was due for impact later that night

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silentmovie: <<<...The second scene with the Hispanic maid seemed like a repeat of the first scene...>>>

badb0i87: <<<...this to me was how people tried to comfort themselves by continuing to live their daily normal lives with their usual routines. the maid told him she would see him next thursday even though the asteroid was due for impact later that night...>>>

But they had already done that scene earlier in the movie. We already knew that. The last part of the movie -- at the apartment -- was probably filmed at the same time as the first part of the movie -- at the apartment . They just pretty much re-did the same scenes, completely out of context with the rest of the movie. CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP -- and lazy -- moviemaking.

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The first time he brought it up to her, there were still a couple weeks left. He himself went to work when he didn't need to. Why is it hard to believe she might not do the same? The point of the 2nd scene was that she truly believed she was coming back the following week. She either did not comprehend that the world was ending the next day or she had convinced herself into believing owise.

---------------------------------
"It's in German."

"Not the monkey parts!"

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How did Charles Lindbergh do it?

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Well he wasn't flying a Cessna. He was in a custom built plane with every spare bit of space filled with an auxiliary fuel tank. The plane didn't even have front windshield because a another forward fuel tank filled that area. He had to stick his head out of the side window to see forward.

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[deleted]

Well presumably he would not fly directly from Long Island to England. He could fly up the coast of North America hoping between airfields up to Canada, along the coast of Labrador and then to Baffin Island then to Greenland, then off to Iceland, then to Ireland and finally to England. From what I can figure the only difficult stretch would be from Greenland to Iceland. From Nuuk to Taslilaq (450 miles) then from Taslilaq to Reykvavick (450 miles). From Iceland they could fly to the west coast of Iceland and then hop to the Faroe Island, then Scotland, then to England. All those northern communities have airports for small planes and for many of them, air is the only means of travel for most of the year.
So yah, its doable as long as fuel is available at each of the communities along that way.

--------------------------
RIGOLETTO: I'm denied that common human right, to weep.

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Even if it were technically possible, we're also talking about a pilot who does not routinely make such a journey. They would end up like JFK Jr.

I have two theories:



1: They were actually heading for the nearest major airport, where his dad planned on somehow stealing a 727.

or

2: They were actually heading for England, Pennsylvania.

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He very well may make such journeys hopping from airport to airport along the coast then to Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Scotland, ... its quite doable... not technically difficult at all There are a huge number of bush pilots that regularly fly to and from those northern communities. The only real difficulty is if those little airports would have the fuel supply to allow him to continue.

added
Not sure about the exact model of the plane, but according to the following web site the Cessna 152 has a range of 800 miles...

http://www.micheloud.com/FXM/flying/enduranc.htm

but the 150 had a range of only about 475.

http://www.cessna150.net/information/perspec.html

So, depending on the exact type of plane it may be easier than I initially thought it was.

The longest gap with no small community is about 450 miles (from Tasiilaq to Snaefellsbaer), but he might be able to fly straight to Reykjavik which is 470 miles.

The distance from the Iceland - Reykjavik to the Faroe Islands is 497 miles
and from the Faroe Islands but there are small communities on the east coast of Icland that most likely have airports that he could have flown to before heading to the Faroe Islands... Then from the Faroe Islands to Glasgow is 435 miles... and that's skipping over some smaller airports (so if he couldn't get a full tank in one city (say the Faroe Islands), he could make shorter trip for example to Lerwick and then to Glasgow.
It fascinates me how people are so dedicated to finding flaws in a movie, they don't even bother to check out if its possible.

--------------------------
RIGOLETTO: I'm denied that common human right, to weep.

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It was definitely a C-150, and the scene was implausible and ridiculous. I OWN A C-150, and there are still thousands of them flying, some nearly 50 years old, so a lot of people will catch the absurdity of even suggesting that a pilot, plus passenger, will take off at night in such a small, underpowered, cramped airplane and take such a long trip. Trust me, hit some turbulence -- and they would sooner or later -- and the peaceful flight will turn in to a scary ride.

If such a trip were planned, it would take hours of careful planning.

They way it was shown in the movie, it looked very unsafe. They should have at least had it be a larger plane, possibly a twin engine, to give the scene some sort of plausibility.

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They showed daybreak shortly after the plane took off, so the flight may have begun not long before dawn. I like what people have said about the possibility of Dodge's father flying Penny to someone who had access to a larger plane.

Of course we can assume characters or writers are stupid, but we don't have enough reason to believe that these ones are.



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Not a plane expert in any sense but I assumed he was going to refuel somewhere (and might have had to do it often, remember they still thought they had a week left)

Another option is that they would get on a better, more suitable plane in a different airport. (I mean, Dodge and Penny ended up in 3 different cars throughout their journey, so who knows?)

Or his dad took her to someone with a more capable plane?

Also, she did wake up in the plane ride. She must have if she told the dad to turn the plane around.

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germanii..... Poster's etiquette dictates that when you are about to post something that will contain a SPOILER. You should make that very clear. A good place might be in your subject line.



Stay Gold
Marty





I never really thought of myself as a freak, ya know....but I love to Freak!

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Ok, I've been reading the answers and you guys don't make any sense. They weren't trying to fly to Europe over the Atlantic for Pete's sakes! They were trying to fly over A FREAKING POND to get to ENGLAND!!! Anybody can do that with a Cessna; hell, I could cross a pond swimming if given enough booze.

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And who was he expecting to talk to, on that headset? Maybe the military was still monitoring the skies? Maybe for noise reduction?

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[deleted]

well ok u cud NOT fly such a plans 2 the moon??????? bcos that wud b imposible 2 do so they cud NOT do it........ so pls try 2 say ur words again?????

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You just have to assume here that the Dad was a commercial pilot (not hard to believe, since he obviously has a plane and piloting skill), and and was flying his small commuter plane to an Int'l airport where he hoped to either get on a larger plane with others or commandeer a larger plane, since at that point the world was basically a free-for-all and people were just making the most of what was left.

I'm sure they realized the chances were slim, but Dodge didn't want to hold her back for selfish reasons, not realizing then that she wanted to stay with him and that she believed her parents, who were true romantics themselves, would surely understand her decision. Dodge's decision not to be selfish and risk messing up another person's end-time plans is consistent with his not ringing the bell at Olive's house either.

_______

A wrench to the head changes everything.

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welp ok r u sayng he cud fly 2 the moon???? bcos thats imposble NOT even a spaship cud do it they say they do it but there lying ok so i h8 that 2 but this is NOT real u have 2 c it??????

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Thanks for the lulz everyone. Thread of the year.

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