In a previous article, Orval Fairbairn said:
I did not rate "The Aviator" that highly. The crash scenes are all bogus
CGI and have little in common with reality. As for DiCaprio's portrayal
of Hughes, I thought that he was just another pretty face going through
the motions.

I disagree. I just watched the movie tonight, and I think he did a pretty
good job of capturing the forcefulness, impulsiveness and rising madness
of Hughes personality. But then, I think people have been underestimating
his acting talents since "Gilbert Grape" which was a boring movie which he
put in a masterful performance.

His piloting scenes reminded me of a 5-year-old playing "airplane." His
acting there was most unconvincing. IMHO, the only thing missing there
was making "BRRRR" sounds.

That I've got to agree with. When he was making low passes in the H-1, he
kept shoving the stick forward and to the left to the full range of motion
of the stick in a hamfisted manner while the outside view showed an
aircraft being controlled with gentleness and subtle control.

The scene where he was coaching Katherine Hepburn in the Sikorski flying
boat were better done.

And both of the crashes looked like ****. When is Hollywood going to
learn that airplanes don't turn 90 degrees to the ground as soon as the
engine stops?

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Home pages are the pet rock of the 90s. They all have them, they all think
they're very cute. But in a few years they're going to look back and be
pretty embarrassed. -- Kim Alm