Coolhand's Guide to Super Vehicles - 01 - Blue Thunder

Welcome to part one of my guide to super-vehicles, where to be considered, the vehicle is both superior to its contemporary machines and also the star of the show.  There are many examples but we begin with Blue Thunder, this has turned into a real trip down the rabbit hole with information from a vast amount of sources collated with some opinion and speculation on the greater meaning of the machine itself and those fictional characters behind it.

I think we're gunna need a bigger gun. 

Brainchild of the sadly departed script writer Dan (Alien) O'Bannon, 1983's Blue Thunder revolved around an action thriller plot about a fascist government agency seeking to oppress a population, and more importantly, the freakin' awesome technological terror of a helicopter they invented to help them do it!  It's a film well worth watching, so if you haven't seen it I suggest you go and do so right now before I spoil anything for you.

"One civilian dead for every ten terrorists, that's an acceptable ratio!"

The late, great Roy Sheider stars as Officer Frank Murphy and gives a solid performance as a seasoned, and frequently reckless police helicopter pilot in a fictional version of the LAPD: Astro Division.

Murphy suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after a hellish tour in Vietnam, where he witnessed at least one 'wet-job', an execution of a Viet-Cong officer who was thrown from a helicopter piloted by Murphy. This trauma, along with suffering a life threatening shrapnel wound, leaves Frank coping with insomnia, nightmares and even the occasional flashback. Sheider conveys a character who is out of phase with his peers, seemingly unable to relate to them or the trivial aspects of everyday life like following orders or obeying traffic laws.  He uses a watch on several occasions to measure his own perception of time, believing this to be a measure of his own sanity. The earlier drafts of the Blue Thunder script found Murphy going totally postal in an even more heavily armed helicopter, wreaking chaos upon LA. So the version of Murphy who made it to film is somewhat toned down, and he retains a sensitivity and socially awareness, contrary to the traumatised aspects of his personality.

The idea of the damaged Vietnam war veteran seems cliché today, perhaps even passée in the wake of more recent and ongoing conflicts.  The superlative First Blood from 1982 introduced possibly the most famous  PTSD victim, John Rambo.  In fact, Blue Thunder shares several themes with First Blood, and both have stood the test of time quite well. Coincidentally, also in '82, the concept of a veteran haunted by his traumatic past was explored in the complementary super-vehicle action flick, FireFox, and we'll explore that one at a later date.

Anyway, more Blue Thunder spoilers, after being grounded for incompetence, negligence and possible insanity, Murphy inexplicably winds up a test pilot on the Blue Thunder program. Through the course of the film he meets and later kills the man who traumatised him in 'Nam; learns of and exposes a sinister, secret government program; and finally wrecks the Blue Thunder helo by train, lest it ever be used to spray twenty mike-mike explosive tipped rounds @ 4,000 RPM into populated areas.  So now you don't have to see it, right? Wrong, you'd be missing out on some of the best helicopter action ever committed to celluloid, John Badham clinical and realistic in his style of direction gives up some thrilling aerial choreography, of the kind you just wouldn't see made for real any more.

Blue Thunder in real life consisted of two full size flying machines, a static mockup or two and several miniatures, some of which were remote control flying models. The full sized machines are the ones we're interested in and they're based around Aérospatiale, SA-341G "Gazelle", turbo-shaft powered civilian helicopters. This made both machines rare examples of near fully functional movie props, as even after conversion they could still manuever under their own power and flit around the LA skyline with surprising grace.

All the same, the helicopters had their limits, and miniature special effects take over for many situations like the famous loop-the-loop sequence, but it still counts for the amount of on-screen flying time the machines had.  The Video below demonstrates both flying machines visible at the same time, redressed for the later "Amerika" TV production.

Allegedly one of the original Gazelle Helicopters prior to conversion, serial numbered as 1066 and 1075 they were used by mining companies in the US prior to purchase for conversion.  I found this image on http://www.gregdonner.org where it was submitted by Bayard Lawes.

Design-wise, the rounded, optimised-for-aerodynamics styling of the basic Gazelle as shown above, wouldn't have cut it for illustrating this sinister, heavily armoured and featured-packed helicopter. Looking at the styling of the redesign, the AH-64 Apache Gunship - first flown in 1975 - must have had a massive influence on the canopy re-design and the overall mean and ugly facelift the aircraft received.

Designed in the early 70's by Hughes Helicopters to destroy well equipped Soviet opponents, this prototype YAH-64 basks in the sun, somewhere in the US. It's role shifted after the end of the cold war and is now more frequently employed against the types of targets that Blue Thunder was devised to deal with. 

The on-screen design is often erroneously credited to legendary set designer Mickey Michaels, but that doesn't make much sense, since he's a set designer.  Philip Harrison, credited as production designer for Blue Thunder is possibly, more likely, to be involved. The helmet controlled targeting system (very similar to the TADS of the Apache,) is named after him - The Harrison Fire Control System - HFCS.

This uncredited sketch apparently originally came from a company called "Cinema Air", I found it on http://www.gregdonner.org where it was submitted by Bayard Lawes.  Note what appears to be a padded material on the underside, radar absorbing material or flexible, kinetic energy absorbing armour?

Looking for answers I found the below video by Trailers from Hell, on Youtube, with commentary by the director himself, John Badham, which more or less credits Philip Harrison for the Blue Thunder helicopter design.

Badham also implies that the production team were perhaps unaware of the Apache, but I don't think it was a "Black Program" or hidden from the public during development, so I think its highly likely they would have studied images of the prototype Apaches and taken cues as appropriate, just look at the forward sensor arrangement, surely too close to be a fluke.

An ugly bug smoking a cigar, its just a cigar, not a big gun, no wait its a gun, especially when its smoking....

As well as a definitive answer on the designer, I've also had a hard time finding who built the conversion, some state that Hughes Helicopters made the conversion, but this seems to be incorrect, but its possible that they worked on the Hughes types also used in the production.

Bayard Laws, who owned and then sold one of the Gazelles tells his story over at gregdonner.org.

"I used to fly the original SA341 Gazelle (N777GH) which I sold to Columbia Pictures for the film. I delivered the ship from Detroit, Michigan to Cinema Air in Carlsbad, California, who fabricated the conversion to Blue Thunder."

Another company sometimes mentioned is R.W. Martin, in conjunction with these, a name that has cropped up for both the design and the build is aviator, effects specialist and aircraft restorer, Bill Yoak, who passed away earlier this year.  According to a thread at Warbirdinformationexchange.org, Bill worked for Aerospace Specialties, though at the time it may have been called The Metal Cage.  This Company also converted another Gazelle, and a Puma helicopter for Rambo 3.  Bill's son, aviator and stunt pilot Scott Yoak, credits his father with the design of blue thunder, and also claims that the design was directly inspired by the number two Apache prototype:

"This (Apache) taxied by dad's hangar one day and it inspired his design, note the #2, thats the second prototype apache that crashed."

Scott presently flies demonstrations in the P-51 Mustang his father built, which may be the finest Mustang flying. http://quicksilvermustang.com/Crew.html

A partially built Blue Thunder flyable effects prop. The Gazelle canopy has been cut away and a box section steel frame has been added to carry the plexi-glass window panels. Image courtesy Scott Yoak. 

It seems to be a case that there's a chain of companies sub-contracting to each other or dealing with separate elements of the purchasing and converting.  Whoever responsible, they surely understood that a machines purpose of existence informs the design - form following function is key to creating a plausible looking prop. This is as important as the concept of the machine itself - it must appear fit for its purpose or all suspension of disbelief is lost. Blue Thunder succeeds in spades, its brutal looking, super-cool in an ugly, scary, insectoid way. clearly it still flies, even if looking *just a bit* front heavy.

Badham, with his commentary in the Trailers from Hell video, also compares this chopper to a physical extension of an Orwellian state - and presumably only of use to such a state. Essentially, its form and features are tailored specifically to become the extension of totalitarian rule, and I think it appears as sinister as that implies.

He suggests that the prophecy of Blue Thunder has come to pass, in a sense, with the kinds of electronic surveillance perpetually going on all around us, such a vehicle today would be obsolete. Everyone presently reading this blog in 2013 might be using a digital, spiritual descendent of the Blue Thunder surveillance system via electronic interception of communication and the covert co-operation of the online services and software providers we choose to use, or not use.

All the same, an armed helicopter is capable of far more than passively monitoring and spying. So while Badham would still be correct about the need for such a machine to surveil citizens being diminished by modern technology, a strong arm might also still need to be employed by a fascist state or faction from time to time. Of course in order to accomplish this and still have the bulk of the population and armed forces on your side, certain scenarios would have to play out.

The movie Blue Thunder does not miss a trick here and in the absence of such a scenario appearing spontaneously, the project 'THOR' - Tactical Helicopter Offensive Response - is devised by a small group of conspirators who are also key players in the aircraft's testing and production program. To implement THOR itself is to engineer a tragic situation artificially, a race war, thus cementing the need for such a weapon in the eyes of the greater, less fascist branches of government and the unwitting population, justifying its usage.

We're never told why this is necessary, perhaps the group represents a government gone mad with power, or military industrialists seeking to clean up with lucrative contracts for more Blue Thunders.  Maybe they represent both, and demonstrate the kind of corrupting potential that the Military Industrial sector can have on governments.

Tellingly, Blue Thunder doesn't employ any active countermeasure systems and none are described in the text, as it does not expect to meet such sophisticated weapon systems. This leaves the machine vulnerable to true military vehicles. To make up for this deficit, Murphy twice uses heat sources found in the city environment to defeat heat seeking missiles launched by attacking F-16's, inflicting varying amounts of chaos on the city.  This lack of a countermeasure system confirms that its use is primarily against poorly equipped enemies, like domestic terrorists or the wider civilian population. 

This impressive aerial war machine has even more destructive power than Blue Thunder, but would be too large and too noisy for the types of missions that Blue Thunder was invented for. However it needed every ounce of its capabilities, and more, to defeat the US supplied heat seeking missile systems that armed Afghan soldiers in the 80's. After suffering numerous losses, The Soviet Army quickly added countermeasures dispensers to launch flares in an attempt to spoof this new threat away from the helicopters.

Chekhov's Gun.

The playwright Anton Chekhov once said:

"Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a 20mm rotary cannon hanging on the underside of the flying death machine, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there."

And so adhering strictly to this rule, throughout the early parts of the movie we are introduced to the various features of the Blue Thunder, which are all relevant later; we aren't shown anything that isn't later used and the helo probably has no capabilities beyond what is needed for the plot.  Lets talk about these features.  As well as one inch thick armour, easily capable of stopping rounds from small arms, the highly visible feature of Blue Thunder's ferocious Gatling style turret mounted cannon would provide a powerful visual deterrent to any insurgent or terrorist unlucky enough to be in its path.  It's hardly a surgical weapon per-se, but it could easily wipe out large numbers of clustered civilians, defeat fairly thick armour, or penetrate structures like civilian houses with ease. Perhaps it was simply to look cool on film, but it also conveys the extreme ideology driving its fictional inventors.

If you're a government and need to use this kind of firepower against your own people, you're doing something totally wrong, probably everything. Image courtesy Gary T Mason.

The crowd control: You're-doing-it-wrong style demo, set somewhere in the deserts of California, show the Blue Thunder helicopter using its cannon to carve up a street full of cardboard cut-out civilians and terrorists - blowing up cars and busses with little to no discrimination. Although the scene presented is one of saving the population from an imagined terrorist assault on the planned Olympic Games, as one of the sinister program directors quietly states to Murphy: "It wouldn't be used unless our worst case scenario came to pass, like armed insurrection, it's comforting to know you've got it on tap." 

I'm sure its great when you have these things "on tap," but careful it doesn't turn around and bite you on the...

This failure demonstrates to Murphy that the system is actually far from ideal for its stated role of protecting the population, and that its true purpose is likely more evil, and even less discriminate.  Murphy is clearly not impressed by this demo, or those in charge of the program.   Both the quoted statement above and the performance are contrary to the commentary provided by the evangelising army sergeant during the demo show.

Everything makes more sense in the presence of project 'THOR', and vital to Murphy exposing this plot are a pair of high-gain microphones which adorn the upper fuselage. Situated behind the canopy on a rotating mount they appear highly directional. There must be more to these than meets the eye, as they might have significant problems operating in a conventional way while so close to the engine and props.  There is a real world technology which projects a laser beam and optically measures distortion caused by air vibration which might be immune to these effects. Using this system a conversation can be heard clearly at long range, even through a closed, multiple layered or armoured window.  All the same, the underside would have been a far more logical place to mount these, just from the point-of-view of being able to aim them at a target beneath the chopper.

Twin mics on the upper fuselage, perhaps the other thinner probes are some kind of pitot tube and perhaps resemble the feelers on an insects head. note the second 'Thunder flying around in the background. Courtesy of Gary T Mason.

Blue Thunder also has a suite of cameras for seeing visible and infra-red light - a magic kind of Hollywood infra-red that can see through walls.  Some of these may be mounted in the electronics pods on the sides of the aircraft, these may also have something to do with the 'Whisper Mode' feature, which allows the craft to get close enough to use these systems effectively without alerting anyone in advance.

The electronics pods, or whatever they are, welcome to my definitive guide to Blue Thunder...  Courtesy of Gary T Mason.

Even more sinister, but more subtle, these weapon and surveillance systems are all tied together with an advanced avionics suite, which is networked to a central database - perhaps a data-link.  This database is something like the prototype of the NSA systems which we now know store all our details and monitor all our email, this system can even tell the chopper crew whether you're at home or not. Watching the movie today, this wizardry seems like mundane, primitive stuff but its essentially the same system that's being used right now.

Surf the Net like its 1982, because it is.  This is the network terminal in of the JAFO station, where the rear-seater umm, sits, and works the magical electronics arrays. There are many different systems for the back-seater but this console  allows crew to network with the central database, perhaps to also play some Space Invaders. Image courtesy Gary T Mason.

Although it plays no part in the movie and is never mentioned, a textured material, perhaps a kind of foam, conformally coats the ventral surfaces of Blue Thunder. This foam matches the positions of the padded looking surfaces in the sketch show earlier in the article, again this material may be armour, or something to enhance the machines stealth aspects by absorbing radar.

The foam covered underside, looking a little frayed, but the wear all adds to the effect and enhances the realism.  Image Courtesy Gary T Mason. 

Finally, the propulsion system is a bit mysterious with additional upper pods on either side of the central engine & gearbox, which appear like turbo-shaft engine nacelles from some angles, but are the wrong shape in cross section. Blue Thunder has a 'Turbo Boost' for its propulsion system so perhaps they have something to do with this? The "nacelles" are also hollow of machinery as shown several times in the movie, perhaps they're a kind of oddly shaped pulse-jet?  Otherwise it seems to rely on a single turbo-shaft engine, similar to the one used by the Gazelle but with a new cowling over the turbine, which seems made of the same material that coats the underside.

The Gazelle Turbo-shaft engine to the right, the boost-pods to the left, bearing the 02 marking. Image courtesy Gary T Mason.

Sadly, as with the fictional version, both real flying machines and the static mock-ups are now all considered to be destroyed. They were used for a while in other productions, a watered down TV show of the same name, MacGuyver, Amerika, a Wang Computers TV commercial, the cockpit mock-ups even appeared in FireFox, but at some point were either dismantled and sold for parts or left to rot in the Universal Studios backlot and finally scrapped.

Today, all the parts and pieces and technology one totally for real, from noise dampening airframe designs to sensors that can see through roofs, walls even.  We can even go much better and add active camouflage to the list of features and who knows what else.

It may be worth asking why no one has put something like this together. However, the essential fallacy of the Blue Thunder weapons system is very the reasoning behind its existence; it has no actual valid purpose, since a government should neither be secretly spying on its own population, or mowing them down with chain-guns. So ultimately while everything it does is practically possible, easy to accomplish even, it should be difficult to seriously propose such a machine for either purpose and get a government to allow its use, again hence the need in the film for the secret project THOR, to create a justification for the machines existence and usage.

Much has been revealed recently, of the very secretive monitoring of our communications by government agencies, and its been going on for a very long time.  Reaction has been a mix of shock, outrage, acceptance, even approval and to some it was merely a confirmation of what they already suspected.

With his Blue Thunder script and concept, Dan O'Bannon warned us about putting total faith in the powers that be; not everything they implement may be in our best interests, even if it seems that it is; or that one individual or small group can through negligence or design pervert these interests for their own ends. Even if we consider we have nothing to hide, even if there are some valid reasons for secretive letter and number agencies knowing every aspect of our lives, everything has a downside. Our governments are not infallible and the individuals who form them are flawed human beings just like the rest of us. From corruption to the commonplace hacking of government systems; malignant industrial influence or sheer incompetence like leaving laptops full of data on public transportation.

Whether you trust your governments with your data or not, who knows where it could end up. So it is perhaps not such a bad idea to place limits on what we let them know about us, and that's probably going to be our personal responsibility to try and stay ahead, we will only live in the Orwellian style state that O'Bannon feared if we allow it to happen.  However, if monitoring the people is kept secret, like in some fascist dictatorship like the USSR or North Korea; if we aren't informed about it, by our governments, by Google; Microsoft; et-al, then how can we even make that choice? Isn't democracy and a free market about the right to choose? How do we justify all of this?

Finally, lets add some near meaningless numbers to lighten the mood, a bit.

Scores in each category out of a maximum of 5.

Design: 4 - Totally conveys a sinister purpose with its mean looks and over the top cannon.

Speed: 2 - Quick enough off the mark to dodge an incoming sidewinder, but overall not a speed demon, unable to outrun either a fully loaded police Jet Ranger or an MD-500

Maneuverability: 4 - Capable of swift changes in direction and free travel in three dimensions with 6 axes of freedom, what could be more manueverable than a helicopter? It also was able to out-maneuver the same Jet Ranger and MD-500, to the point where they crashed and stalled out respectively.

Lethality: 3 - With its dastardly purpose and stealth systems, this is one bird you don't want sneaking up on you. Limited to cannon, no long-range or guided armament, but what a gun!

Practicality: 5 - Perfectly crafted for its heinous purpose, plausible and something you could really build.

Durability: 3 All over one inch thick armour is fairly impressive, but not impenetrable to anything heavy-duty enough. Also lacks any active defensive systems like ECM, flare dispensers etc.

Feel-Good Factor: 0 - Its systems were eventually put to good use by Murphy, but this really wasn't the machine's intended purpose and so do not count. Neither does anything from the far lighter TV series with Hightower from Police Academy, and Garth from Waynes World.

Dark-side Factor: 5 - Probably the most evil super vehicle devised, too evil to live.

Cool Factor: 4 - Coolness knows no ideological boundaries.

Total: A highly respectable 30 out of a maximum 45.

Thanks for reading, its taken a long time put this together so if you liked it at all please hit the share buttons below! I wish this could have been more definitive, as I know there is still some mystery here. Blue Thunder also dips into some heavy territory, which may be even more relevant today - normally I'd like to keep the blog more escapist and fun, but that's not the case here. Feel free to leave a comment if you'd like to add something, tell me how unbelievably wrong I am about something, or would like to suggest which super-vehicle to cover for the next article.

Catch you later....