The new movie at Pacific Science Center, Air Racers 3D, will take your family on an inspired, high-flying journey with some of the fastest airplanes in the world.
If your kids get excited by motorsports and speed, be sure to go see this film. And, given my husband’s reaction to watching the P-51 Mustangs in 3D, my recommendation goes for the teens and adults in your family, too.
In Air Racers 3D, the audience gets a bird’s eye view of the National Championship Air Races at Reno-Stead Airport, aka the “Valley of Speed.” Most of the racing planes are vintage World War II aircraft that have been restored and modified to achieve top speeds (500 miles per hour, at least twice as fast as a NASCAR race car). Although the movie touches on several different times in aviation history, the heart of the film is at the air races, where we get to ride in the cockpit with top-notch performers and racers.
The thread throughout the 40-minute documentary is the story of 22-year-old aviation-lover Steve Hinton, who is on track to become the youngest winner of the “Unlimited Class” event at the air races. Kids will relate to and admire Hinton: He’s young, has an ambitious dream, and works very hard to achieve this dream. And who wouldn’t idolize someone as daring and adventurous as an air racer?
Hinton is destined for his path. His parents own an aviation museum in California and his dad, a two-time National Air Race champion himself, held the “youngest champion” title his son was striving for. And who better to strip him of the accolade?
The film opens with an exhilarating World War II air fight, which helps us understand what these planes endured before they were rescued from being stripped for parts and restored into racing planes. This scene offers some nifty 3D shots as the American pilots hone in on enemy planes. While there are planes that get shot down, none of the young kids in the audience seemed affected.
The air races date back to 1909, which is a mere six years after the Wright Brothers’ inaugural flight. In fact, the film gets some comic relief in its middle segment when they show black-and-white clips of failed aviation attempts.
The movie concludes at the air races in 2009, and Hinton’s successful attempt at securing the honor of youngest champion.
My 8-year-old son particularly enjoyed the movie. Like his dad, motorsports get his blood pumping, especially when there is a competition involved. In this specific order, he liked the suspenseful race at the end, the World War II air fight at the beginning, and the facts about the airplanes (such as how the crew checks “every nut and bolt” on the planes before race time to ensure safety).
My 6-year-old daughter liked the Jelly Belly airplane, a surprisingly maneuverable stunt plane with colorful vapor trails and jelly beans painted on its sides, which performs at the air races each year. She was concerned about a crash that happens during an emergency landing in the film; thankfully, the pilot ends up with barely a scratch.
Air Racers 3D is a great opportunity to introduce kids of all ages to a brief history of air racing and the science of flight, all wrapped up neatly with the tale of a young person’s dream becoming reality.
