Glider flying ’Windmills Of Your Mind’ film ’The Thomas Crown Affair’ 1968

THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR – GLIDER SEQUENCE DETAILS, click SHOW MORE The real stunt pilot is Roy McMaster, actors are Steve McQueen and German actress Astrid Heeren. Noel Harrison sings ’Windmills Of Your Mind’. The glider sequence in the original Director Norman Jewison Thomas Crown Affair (Steve McQueen and Fay Dunaway) was filmed at the Northeastern Gliderport in Salem, NH (west of Rockingham Park race track) on July 6-7, 1967. The location is now a golf course (42⁰’N, 071⁰’W) and the runway turned into a golf driving range. Between shots the runway became a motorcycle course for Steve to let off steam. The aerial sequences were from a helicopter and the close ups of Steve were done on the ground. The flying sequence Noel Harrison background music,” Windmills of Your Mind”, was the only part of the movie to receive an Oscar. Eight flights were needed for the “in-the-air” sequences. The loops were needed for the script and the music. There were, coincidently, two Schweizer SGS 1-23H-15’s on the field, both painted in Ag Cat yellow. One was placed on a pilon on the hill top and Steve was the “pilot”. Helpers on the tail and wing tip provided the pitch and roll for the facial expressions. The other, N9860E, was piloted by Roy McMaster who was the chief flight instructor for Northeastern Gliderport at the time. The landing closeup used a car tow spliced into the actual landing. Both Astrid Heeren and Steve McQueen enjoyed their first glider flights while there. Steve received about 18 instructional flights in a Schweizer SGS 2-33 and might have been solo except the filming schedule required moving to the next site. He was inspired to later pursue his own pilot’s license. Glider type is Schweizer SGS 1-23H-15 The second Thomas Crown Affair with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo wove in the music with a cameo by Faye Dunaway as the shrink. That Duo Discus flying sequence take-off starts at Harris Hill in Elmira, NY then shifts to Eagle Field in Port Matilda, PA and back and forth with sequences on the Harris Hill ridge.