Does the Smithsonian still show that movie "To Fly"? Saw it a couple of decades back at the Air and Space museum on the Mall....great movie. Starts with a ballon flight on the east coast and by the time you get to Monterey it’s an F16 zooming around. Think it was actually one of the first movies made for Imax.
And that first room in that museum....touch a piece of moonrock as you walk in and in just one room there’s all the icons of flight, a moon lander, Spirit of St Louis, Wright Brothers flyer, rockets....just stunning (or at least it was, long time ago now).

I think this movie might have replaced it, or it's playing on an alternate schedule. According to reviewers, this makes "To Fly" look pretty ho-hum.

If you love the Air and Space Museum, you have to visit the new building, the Udvar-Hazy Center. As I like to say, there's a Concorde _in the corner_, and a Space Shuttle over in the alcove. Just an amazing building.

(And a state-of-the-art IMAX theater.)

I happened to see "Fighter Pilot" in Udvar-Hazy's IMAX theater a couple of weeks ago when my son was home for spring break.

Honestly, I was underwhelmed. I can't say why, but it never grabbed me. While it could be speculated that my own experience with flying off of aircraft carriers (as a crew member, not a pilot) has made aircraft simulations such as this seem a bit lame, I honestly don't think that's the case. IMAX just doesn't seem to do it for me.

Oh, and I considered being offended that Red Flag doesn't include the US Navy while it includes the naval air forces of other countries, but I decided that would be a wasted effort. Navy fighter pilots are cocky enough on their own without any help from me.

The word "cocky" was invented for people who take off and land from the deck of a floating speck in the middle of a vast ocean. Those with any doubts about their abiities need not apply.

Honestly, I was underwhelmed. I can't say why, but it never grabbed me.

You are either out of your mind or your experience has irrevocably jaded you to the wonder of flight. The way these guys zip low and fast over the terrain, as well as the stunning desert vistas and formations on the massive screen, the awesome sound and the part with the live fire exercise that puts you on the ground in the middle of the exposions(!), make this movie an experience for the uninitiated.

BTW Boyd, I tend to think that you're out of your mind. ;-)

That's strange. The IMAX theater near me (World Golf Village in St. Augustine) says this movie doesn't come out until May.

You get an advanced screening Bill or do they mean "out" as in "won't be in THIS theater until May."

That's just your theatre, it's playing in various venues, though it hasn't been out for long.