Original subtitles

I'm a lady who lives out on a limb. A limb can break under you, you know. I

lost something last night. I think maybe you found it.

I want to race.

Only if I can arrange the proper protection.

I'm not crazy about the idea of killing. Either you take her down or she takes us

down.

Thank you.

Rowan? Cole.

What are you doing here?

I was picking up a few things before I headed up to Reno.

What were you doing in the old man's office?

You know, he left this afternoon.

I know. I left him a note. I wanted to visit some friends up in Lake Tahoe.

You could have told him in Reno tomorrow.

Oh, I will. I just wanted to make it official. You know, put it in writing.

Are you going out?

Yeah.

You got that plane ready to race tomorrow?

Always. How about the Sea Fury?

I just had it overhauled. I got a place special in my mantle where I got to set

that big, huge trophy that's going to say Reno Air Races first place.

Is that so?

Afraid I might have something to say about that.

Yeah, I know. But since we drew a different heat, so maybe I'll see you in

the finals.

I'll be there if you are.

Good luck.

If this is security, we better contact Mr. Stapletford.

We got a problem.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 22nd annual Reno Air

Races. This is going to be the biggest and the best event ever.

We have 32 heats of racing in four classes, formula, AT-6, sports by plane,

and unlimited.

We have dozens of exhibits featuring aircraft from every era of flight.

You'll be entertained by the world-famous Blue Angels, the Army's

Golden Knights Parachute Team, the extraordinary Christian Eagles

Activating Flight Team, and from Canada, the Snowbirds.

You can see the planes gathering at the far end of the field.

Once again this year...

We have the most competitive reboot planes in our history, so the racing

should be spectacular.

They're moving for the taxiway.

We'll be ready to start soon.

Some of the competitors are already airborne, and there goes Jacobson, the

number 84 silver Mustang.

And that's Harris in his P-51, which he calls the panel.

Oh, would you look at that?

You know, this show keeps getting bigger every year.

Don't you just love those old airplanes?

You know, it is kind of fun to do some real old-time cruising in a low-tech

plane.

Hey, remember, I'm putting it back.

I'm going to show you the old Ascendina snapperola.

Yeah, I remember the last time you did that, you lost your spaghetti.

Oh, I'll give you a shot.

Isn't this great?

Just like the county fair.

I don't know.

Looks a little crowded to me.

Oh, come on. You know you love racing.

Come on. The heats are ready to start up. Let's go.

All the planes are airborne now. Once they're warmed up, they'll move into

starting position.

Lighting up now, keep your eye on the starter of the south pylon.

And they're off.

It's a good start.

Jumping into the early lead is Clemens in a P-38.

Then Rogers in an 86, Jacobs in a Mustang, Harper in a C-Curie, and Carver

in a Mustang.

That's Carver moving to third, and now challenging Harper's C-Curie.

But Clemens still leads.

Did you see that move yeah, it's called skill no kidding

Come on, let's go check out that Stapleford plane, eh?

I'm sure you'd all like to meet the man whose company designed and built the X

-400. The president of Stapleford Industries, Lou Stapleford.

For those of you who have not yet heard, the X-400 has just been certified

as a low-level surveillance and support...

aircraft the air force has asked us to start building 200 of them

this craft represents the highest level of aeronautical

conception and design it is built entirely of trylon a composite that

enables it not only to be bulletproof but to have extreme stealth capabilities

against any modern radar systems

Mr. Charles Crane here. Our chief engineer will answer any of your non

-classified questions as best he can.

As for myself, I can only say that as the owner of Stapleford Aircraft, I am

filled with pride that our dream, this fantastic flying machine, will now

become a regular part of our national defense.

Thank you.

There's somebody's hand over there. I've got to shake.

Are you the one that was flying this, baby?

That's right.

Mr... Oh, I'm Stringfellow Hawk.

That's a mouthful.

This is Dominic Santini.

Hi. That was some kind of flying, uh... Roan Carver.

Thanks. This Mustang, uh... Do you own it?

Me and the bank.

Well, I gotta go. Nice talking to you.

Uh, Miss Carver.

It is Miss.

Always.

I just wanted to congratulate you again.

I've got to go check the race schedules. Maybe I'll see you later.

That's a hell of a line string.

I used it myself back in 1941.

Are there any questions?

When will the production on the X400 begin and what kind of skills are you

looking for?

Well, we start in three weeks.

and we're looking for the usual aircraft skills.

It's a very broad-based workforce.

Anybody else?

Yeah, I'd like to know about your plans.

Hey, boss.

Roe, I lost something last night. I think maybe you found it.

Uh, Lou, I really can't talk now. I've got a lunch date.

Come on, cheer up, will you?

The lady said she may see us later. What are you talking about?

Oh, listen.

Hey, don't play games with me. I'm not blind, you know. That lady pilot really

tumbled your gyros.

Oh, thank you.

Oh, listen to him.

Uh, promise me something, will you?

That, uh, if I tell you that the lady's coming back, you won't turn around so

fast that you'll hurt yourself, will you?

Did you say you wanted to buy me lunch?

I didn't, but I will.

Stop begging. I'll go.

Something wrong with your legs?

Looks as if we're going to be playing some games.

So, you run an air service?

Yep.

I work for a clandestine government agency. I have a top secret aircraft

that I keep in a cave.

I live in a mountain cabin and I have a dog that looks up gross dresses.

Unemployed, huh?

What do you do?

I'm a lady who lives out on a limb.

Limbs. A limb can break under you, you know.

And they have, often.

Momentarily, I'm one of Stapleford Aircraft's test pilots.

So Stapleford Aircraft picks up the racing costs for your Mustang?

My Mustang and also a Sea Fury.

Well, if you're gonna have a sponsor, have a heavyweight.

You win very many races with that sweet old warbird?

A few.

Of course, I figure I win every time I pull those wheels up.

The lady's a gypsy.

It's true, but it's a tough act to keep on the road these days.

It gets tougher every year.

Mustang looks plenty quick enough to stay ahead of most of them.

It is, and it does.

May we have your attention, please?

All race pilots still in the competition, please report to the

official... That's me. Gotta go.

Thanks for lunch.

Uh, say...

You gonna be around later on?

Listen for the sound of breaking limbs.

I've got a feeling that lady is walking a narrow line.

You noticed that too, huh?

You know what I'm thinking?

What?

I'm thinking that you're thinking that this place isn't so crowded anymore.

You know, now that you mention it, it does look like it thinned out a little

bit.

Rowan, I think we better talk.

I was rather surprised to see you here today.

But I guess you figured that I wouldn't notice the tapes were missing until

after this week.

That was the general idea.

So when I came early to the air show, you grabbed the test data. But you see,

my people checked the company on Friday night. So, Rowan, I'll take those tapes,

please. I can't, Lou.

Not until you agree to my terms.

You don't have the experience to know what happened. You don't have the

expertise.

Come off it, Lou. I'm a damn good test pilot, and you know it. Yes, I know

that. I'm the one that gave you the chance to prove it, remember?

No one else would hire a lady jet jockey.

No, you're the only one in the business, and I'm the one that got you there.

I know that, and I'm grateful. I've always been grateful.

And why don't you show it? Oh, my God, Rowan.

We have worked years to get where we are. This contract is the entire future

of Stapleford Aircraft.

And the jobs of 1,500 people, you're putting that in jeopardy. Don't you see

that?

Don't you think I know that?

I haven't thought about anything else for days.

Ask me to do anything else for you, Lou, and I would.

But I can't do this. And you can't either. You've got to do what's right

and fix it.

Otherwise, I'll have to.

It's your move.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, overhead is Lieutenant Commander Ellis of the Blue

Angels. How's that for low-level aerobatics?

Doesn't she understand?

We'll all be ruined. Of course she understands.

But all of a sudden, she's on a...

Crusade, Joan of Arc in a jumpsuit. If we could just ship enough planes to

break even, then we could find this problem and report it.

Why don't I talk to her?

I can convince her the chance of in-flight failure is virtually zero.

We've tried everything else.

Go get her, will you?

Right down to the deck as he goes to the lead.

State of the Aircraft looks tough to me today.

Hey lady, Mr.

Stampleford's getting a little impatient with you.

Okay, that wasn't necessary Hey,

I Can take care of myself look like that to me

I'm not your concern Don't take it so personal lady out of the same thing for

anybody else. I'm not just anybody. Hey, how about it lady? Three darts for one

dollar try your luck, huh? How about you mister?

Thank you

You know, you may be one hell of a pilot, but you're sure lacking in social

embraces.

I know that.

You do?

Yes, I do.

I'm sorry, so forgive me, okay?

You know,

you didn't finish your lunch today.

Maybe you'd like to have an early dinner.

One condition.

What's that?

No questions about those two guys back there.

What guys?

She's always been stubborn. We just can't reason with her. Listen, I'm the

official test pilot of record.

If she compromises me, it could cost me dearly.

It could cost us all.

I win again?

No, wait a minute.

No, who wins?

I think you switched monkeys on me.

Hawk, will you answer one question for me, honestly?

Who are you, really?

I told you.

I know. You fly some secret weapon that you keep in a cave, and you work for

some secret agency, and you live with a dog on a mountain.

Level with me.

I told you.

What I said was all the truth.

You almost make me believe that.

Well, believe it.

Why did you lie to me before?

I haven't lied.

Everything I said was the truth.

But you made it sound like a lie.

Well, yeah.

I can't really talk about it.

What about you?

What did you do before you went to work for Stapleford?

I don't like to talk about what's behind me.

I don't either.

And this is a good reason.

Is there?

What do you think?

Well, I grew up next to a small airport in the Midwest, hung around and got my

first plane ride at 8.

From then on, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life.

I always hated feeling closed in, and up there I felt so free, so right.

Let me guess.

You sold it at 16.

14.

Then worked my way up from there.

Multi-engines, jets.

I was working for an executive jet charter when I met Mr. Stapleford.

He liked the way I handled a little emergency we had, so I asked for a test

pilot tryout.

And the rest was aviation history.

Are you planning on leaving, Mr. Stapleford?

Could be.

I'm beginning to feel a little crowded there.

I guess he wouldn't be very happy about that, huh?

How do you figure that?

Well, those two guys that were hassling you, they had Stapleford's logo.

What two guys?

Well, Mr.

Stringfellow Hawk, I can see you didn't learn all your moves in the cockpit.

You keep talking like that, you and me are going to be a four-point rollover.

There you go getting gushy on me.

Gushy?

Six is my lucky number.

Yeah.

Let's just hope it's mine.

One hell of a housekeeper.

Where is it?

Your friends from Stapleford do this?

Probably.

Why?

They're looking for these.

What are they?

The cockpit computer tapes from the test flight of Stapleford's X-400.

Why do you have them?

I lifted them from Stapleford's flight center night before last.

You lifted them or you stole them?

Depends on how you look at it.

Cole was the test pilot of record, but I flew the X-400 first.

So what do they mean?

They mean that the Air Force is about to spend a billion dollars on 200 copies of

the X-400, and any or all of them could suffer an in-flight failure.

Pretty scary.

I really can't believe this.

Lending for sure.

I'm not leaving you here tonight.

Just stay with me.

Oh, forceful type, huh?

Yeah.

Well, Haver and Morgan tore a room apart.

They came up empty. Not surprised.

What'd they expect?

She's too smart to leave that flight data just lying around.

They wrote a threat on her mirror.

Figured it would scare her.

They are idiots.

This woman power-dives experimental aircraft at over 1,500 miles an hour.

It's gonna take a lot more than that to frighten her.

A lot more.

So... What do you suggest?

I suggest we all get ready for a very hard fall.

No way.

Look, Lou Stapleford is not going to let some hysterical female bring his whole

operation down.

He can play hardball if he has to.

Yeah, maybe so. But it looks to me like he's running out of options.

He can't scare her off. He can't buy her off.

So what's he going to do, Cole?

This morning, Dom and I are going to take you to meet General Hillman. He'll

put you together with all the right Pentagon people.

I'm racing in the finals today.

Well, that doesn't seem just all that important right now, does it? Well, it

is to me. I've got a payment due on the Mustang.

Stapleford threatened you last night.

I think it's about time you vacated the area.

Lou wouldn't hurt me.

Not while I've got the X-400 test flight data.

Besides, last night was his last hurrah.

You don't really believe that, do you?

Sure I do.

Listen, Hawk.

Lou Stapleford is a businessman.

He's not a thug, not a spy.

Sure, he'll threaten me and have his men trash my room.

But when it comes right down to it, he's not going to hurt me.

Listen to me.

You can't be sure of that.

That guy's got a billion reasons why he'd want you out of the way.

I'm not going to stand by and watch you get hurt.

Suddenly it gets personal.

Yeah.

Suddenly it does.

I told you I don't like being crowded.

You know, you can't always be alone.

And if you try it, you're going to crowd yourself right into a corner.

I know.

I know because I tried it.

I want to race.

I need to.

Please. Then I'll act like a big girl.

Okay?

Only if I can arrange the proper protection.

I don't know all the details yet, Michael. She says that the X-400 is

seriously flawed.

I believe her.

A billion dollars worth of substandard aircraft?

Newspapers could have a field day with that one.

I know you think Ms. Carver's credible, but can she supply any documentation?

He's got the cockpit computer tapes from her test flights.

Excellent. I'll call the Pentagon and make sure you have access to General

Hillman as soon as possible.

Listen, we should be there this afternoon.

Fine. Anything else you need?

I think that's it. Thanks, Michael.

You're welcome.

Take good care of Miss Carver and those tapes.

Right. I'll see you.

If it's got any design flaws, you can't tell by looking.

When operating at max speed and firepower, there's a tendency to set up

structural shockwave harmonics. The vibration is deadly, and it can cause

aileron reversal.

Even commercial jets experience momentary aileron reversal.

Yeah, but this isn't momentary. And it's self-accelerating, severe, and it can

happen at any altitude.

Look, I've got a pilot's meeting.

Hey!

You're sharp.

You know, String, you gotta remember, she's not an engineer.

And the X-400 did pass the Air Force flight certification test.

Yeah, but she pushed it beyond the Air Force requirements.

Oh, we all know that every aircraft has its limitations.

Yeah, she knows that. Every airplane has its margin for error between its legal

limitations and its actual fail point.

She's just saying that the margin is too narrow.

Oh, you're talking about a very gray area, String.

Well, if she's wrong, why is Stapleford so worried about her?

You got a point.

I'm going to stay with her until this race is over, but...

Maybe...

You mean, bring

the lady here?

I'm with you.

I'm on my way.

Keep out of trouble.

I want you to arrange for her an accident in the finals. A fatal

accident.

Listen, a man could get hurt trying something like that. I'm aware of the

risks. No.

No, I don't think you are.

Now, I'm not too fond of the girl, but I'm not crazy about the idea of killing

her.

especially in front of a crowd.

Make it look like an accident. They happen all the time at air races.

Yeah. Yeah, they do. But I'm not going to be one of the victims.

You are one of the victims. Don't you see that? We all are.

Now, look.

Either you take her down or she takes us down.

And I'm not just talking financially.

The Air Force could file criminal charges.

You did remind me you are the pilot of record.

Are you saying that we could do prison time?

That's exactly what I'm saying.

We're getting carried away, fellas, okay? We're overreacting. I don't

believe the X-400 is going to fail.

And I ought to know. I designed it. But you didn't fly it. No, she did.

As long as she is alive, if the Air Force finds any fault whatsoever, we are

exposed. She could turn a minor doubt into a major catastrophe.

What you're saying is I really don't have much choice.

None of us has a choice.

Now a special treat, folks. The Incredible Eagles acrobatic flight team

and their crystal eagle.

Thank you.

I'm gonna win. Why aren't you smiling?

I'll smile when you get out of this thing.

As soon as I win this, the three of us are leaving with you.

Before you pick up your trophy?

Hey, winning it is my trophy.

The planes are getting airborne, so be ready for action.

Lined up for the start, and they're off.

Barely going, it's Kruger in his AP-6, followed closely by Carver in her blue

Mustang. Then it's Cole in the Stapleford Sea Steward.

He claims he's invulnerable.

If Rome gets down alive, she'll spill her guts. I'm going after her.

For the love of God.

Covering a killing with an accident was bad enough, but using the X-400?

That's insanity.

Charlie, we've made our move. We are committed.

I'm not going to let her ruin us.

Now, come on. Help me get this thing cranked up.

There's a Mesa ahead.

That'll be your best shot.

Lower the nose.

Full flaps.

Watch it as slow as possible.

You're about 40 feet.

30 feet.

Lift your left wing.

I'll tell you when to chop and flare.

Chop it.

You're freezing.

He's taking another pass.

The hell he is.

Boy, is he following us?

Following? He's running over us.

Friend, you picked the wrong plane to mess with.

Combat mode, Dom.

Combat mode.

Full turbo.

Missile fired. Dropping sunburst.

We're 30% past maneuvering speed now.

Still all over us.

Let's run him through the maze.

Around the next turn, I want full reverse turbo.

String, you slam on the brakes, I'm not sure she'll hold together.

She's gonna have to.

Nice shot, String.

Well, that's so much for the X-400.

Let's get back to Rome.

Sorry, Ron.

The fire got to the fuel tank. I tried. I couldn't stop it.

I know.

I'm going to do a quick ground check. Make sure she didn't spread anything

important.

When I was little, we had a pair of eagles that nested on our property.

And I'd watch them early in the morning and then soar together way up in the

sky.

I always wished I could be up there with them.

With her, I could.

Well, you know, Roan, there's other eagles.

No.

I think we only get one.

After that, we call them airplanes.

Hawk, Dom and I can take care of the Stapleford thing.

Then I think I'd like to hide out for a while.

Well, you're... Contact me?

Yeah, I'll just look for that mountain hideaway that a super spy and his dog

might live in.

Hey, I was just kind of blowing smoke about that spy stuff.

Yeah, just like you were about that classified helicopter you fly.

No.