Converts Personal Stearman To Resemble A Crop Duster For The Film

A Southwest Airlines pilot nearing retirement who recently moved from Indiana to Arizona had capitulated to his wife and agreed to sell his 1943 Stearman biplane. But before that could happen, he got a call from a movie producer who had seen the aircraft for sale and asked 64-year-old Alan Hoover to fly it in a movie he was making.

Dressed as a teenage girl.

The plot of the movie calls for a scene in which two teenagers fly to California in a crop duster. According to the Prescott, AZ Daily Courier, Hoover's Stearman had actually been a crop duster at one point in its life, but had been converted back to a two-place airplane. Hoover agreed to have his aircraft modified to look like a crop duster again for the film.

For the role, Hoover donned a blonde wig with a long ponytail and a red bandanna so that, in the long shots at least, he would look like Britt Robertson, who plays the teenage girl in the movie. The script calls for the Stearman to run out of gas and land on a road with no brakes, crash into a barn and explode. The teens jump out of the aircraft before it impacts the barn.

All that's Hollywood, of course, and Hoover's airplane remained undamaged. Perhaps the best part is, his wife changed her mind and the airplane is no longer for sale. In fact, she said he's welcome to fly it again in a movie should Hollywood come calling.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.imdb.com/title/tt3922818