Continuity mistake: At the end, Casey comes over to say good bye to Hawkeye. As he stands there, the glasses he wears go from round, speckled-brown frames to silver oval, and back.
Audio problem: As Trapper opens the door to the swamp and the football flies in, a splash is heard as if it hit a tub of water, followed by the sound of a high, fluted vessel filling with water. Neither of those sounds make sense in this case. (00:07:00)
Revealing mistake: As Hawkeye calls for quiet in the officers' club, Henry pulls the tonearm off the record player, it comes away trailing a long wire behind it. Why would it even have a long wire to trail? After all, wire costs money too. It's not like the tonearm is designed to come off and be used remotely. My guess is: they lengthened it, so the shot could be taken several times without repairing the record player every time. Now, WHY they would do it that way and not simply use a dud record player is beyond me. (00:20:55)
Factual error: As Hawkeye, Radar' and BJ stop to change the flat, Hawkeye uses a scissor jack to raise the Jeep. However, the scissor jack was not in use for this model of Jeep.
Factual error: Radar claims in his report that Father Mulchahy tried to calm the prisoner by saying "bang zhao", thinking it means "peace and friendship" when it really means "your daughter's pregnancy brings much joy to our village." There is, unsurprisingly, not even a remotely similar word in Chinese that means either of those things.
Factual error: General Clayton is wearing ribbons on his regular fatigues. This is incorrect as the ribbons would only be displayed on the dress uniforms. Only the officer's rank would be on the fatigues.
Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16
Other mistake: After Klinger announces on the PA the camp's orders to Bug Out, more than a dozen of the following shots we see of the camp packing up are from the season 6 episode "Bug Out." (01:05:40)
Revealing mistake: In Margaret's tent, as the candle alternates between lit and extinguished, the light lags a second or two between on and off.
Hot Lips and Empty Arms - S2-E14
Continuity mistake: When Margaret comes into Henry's office, interrupting the "training film" Hawkeye's part flips from being on the left to the right and back.
Continuity mistake: As Hawkeye goes to leave the Swamp, the club he's holding goes from the top of the grip an inch or so above his fist, to the top in his palm.
April Fools - S8-E25
Other mistake: When Charles, BJ and Hawkeye steal Margret's tent, what's left is a frame of wood, including roof beams. From other episodes we know that the tents are held up by a wooden frame around the edges and a center pole. We even know for a fact that Margret's tent is built that way, because in an earlier episode Hawkeye and Trapper saw through the center pole of Margret's tent. We also know that the construction principle of the tents hasn't fundamentally changed since then, because when Hawkeye finds the oatmeal in his boot earlier in the same episode, you can see the center pole of the Swamp.
Revealing mistake: When the ambulance arrives in the compound at Christmas eve, it drives through the newly fallen snow, but it doesn't leave any tracks. Vehicles driving over a very thin snow cover always leave dark tracks, because the pressure instantly melts the snow just below the wheels. Even a person walking through the snow would leave dark footprints under these conditions.
Continuity mistake: Charles arranges a prank that involves a cake. The cake looks totally different in the respective shots. At least three cakes were involved: The one Klinger gives to Margret looks different from the one she holds in her hands when walking over to Capt. Hill. The one she holds in her hand in the closeup counter shots is yet another pie.
Preventative Medicine - S7-E22
Continuity mistake: As Lacey tells Margaret of his plans, he has his fork in his right hand. After she asks "What makes that hill so important?" he suddenly has the knife in his right hand, and the fork in the left.
Visible crew/equipment: After Hawkeye and Trapper tell Frank that they made up Pioneer Aviation to help him look foolish, when Hawkeye picks up Trapper's duffel bag, as the shot pulls back the chalk T-mark can be seen on the floor where Hawkeye had been standing.
Good-Bye Radar: Part 1 - S8-E4
Visible crew/equipment: When Radar gets back to the 4077 and goes to the office with Klinger, just as he walks into the doorway the shadow of the moving boom mic can be seen on the wall at the right side of the screen.
Are You Now, Margaret? - S8-E2
Visible crew/equipment: When Williamson, the Congressional Aide, is in Colonel Potter's office questioning Margaret about Wally, right after Hawkeye makes the comment about liberty and justice for all, in the next wideshot as Williamson walks to the other side of the room the T-marks and chalk marks can be seen on the floor.
Visible crew/equipment: When General Haggerty walks into the mess tent and stands beside Colonel Potter, the chalk T-mark can be seen on the floor near his feet, and when Haggerty wants to meet the cook the chalk mark can be seen on the floor where Conway stands.
Continuity mistake: While Father Mulcahy, Margaret, BJ, and Hawkeye are in the mess tent, when Colonel Potter walks over both of his shirt pockets are unbuttoned, but when he sits down the right pocket's buttoned up.
Visible crew/equipment: After BJ and Hawkeye have tasted the Spam Parmesan, when Klinger calls the cook over, in the shot of Conway the edge of the tent set can be seen at the top right corner of the screen.
Answer: The C-42 was a military variant of the Douglas DC-2. Very few C-42's were built, so it's questionable that Potter would specifically have seen that particular model, but, given his military background, it's not entirely unreasonable that he might use the military designation even when the aircraft in question is actually a civilian DC-2.
Tailkinker ★