Episode Details

In honor of Cliff Secord's birthday, 10/26, I'm reading the third chapter of the Peter David penned movie novelization of the 1991 Rocketeer film.  (What I really love about the bio Dave Stevens penned for Cliff is that it gives both backstory and motivation for his character as well as why, in 1938, he is flying the Gee-Bee Z, a plane from the early 30s, for the first time in 1938.  You can tell that Dave had put quite a bit of thought into the character and the history of the era.)  This chapter basically picks up in the spot in the film where Cliff, already in the air, gets show down by a gangster being chased by the police and the FBI.  Although we never really get to see Cliff fly the Gee-Bee racer in an actual race, the fact that he is able to land the plane after the engine gets shot out and without landing gear suggests he has more than enough skill as a pilot - not surprising since he later becomes the Rocketeer.

https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2024/10/28/the-thirteenth-hour-podcast-481-and-like-a-hood-ornament-60-reading-the-rocketeer-movie-novelization-chapter-3/