Character mistake: In the scene where the pilots and their wives are barbecuing, a jet flies overhead. One of the pilots says, "Hey look at that" and another says, "Yeah that's the D558 phase II, Scott Crossfield". In fact it is not the D558 phase II. The D558 phase II is the Douglas Skyrocket. Only three Skyrockets were built, in both jet power and rocket power, and they do not have wing air intakes like the jet shown flying by. Only the jet powered Skyrocket had air intakes and they were located on the lower side of the fuselage just above the front landing gear. (00:35:35)
The Right Stuff (1983)
1 character mistake
Directed by: Philip Kaufman
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris, Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn
Factual error: In the Vostok launch clip, it shows Yuri Gagarin lifting off at night. The actual liftoff occurred during the day, at 9:07 AM (Moscow Time). Plus the rocket shown in the launch clip isn't even a Vostok rocket, it's a later variant used by the current Soyuz spacecraft. (Evident by the color, and on the top of the rocket is a Soyuz escape system). (01:43:50)
Dwight D. Eisenhower: The first American into space is not going to be a chimpanzee. I want test pilots.
Trivia: The bar man in Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club called Fed is in fact Chuck Yeager. He was on set as an adviser and was given a cameo role.
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