Editing Con Air (section)

==Production==
[[File:Jailbird.jpg|thumb|[[Fairchild C-123 Provider|C-123]] used for taxi scenes at Wendover Airport, c. 2011.]]
With [[second unit]] work beginning on June 24, 1996, principal photography began shortly after in [[Salt Lake City]], on July 1, 1996 and continued until October 29, 1996, at a number of locations.<ref>[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/324215/con-air#notes "Con Air (1997): Miscellaneous notes."]  ''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: December 19, 2011.</ref> While most of the interiors of the [[Fairchild C-123 Provider]] transport aircraft were filmed in [[Hollywood Center Studios]] soundstage #7, [[Wendover Airport]] in [[Utah]], as the stand in for the fictional Lerner Airfield, was used for the C-123 flying and taxi scenes.<ref name="Production">Rigoulot, Leslie. [http://www.filmscouts.com/scripts/matinee.cfm?film=con-air&file=productn "Con Air: About The Production."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426041426/http://www.filmscouts.com/scripts/matinee.cfm?film=con-air&file=productn |date=April 26, 2012 }} ''Film Scouts,'' 2008. Retrieved: December 20, 2011.</ref> Director Simon West chose the barren and remote Wendover area "because it looked like the surface of the moon ... My idea was that it was perfect for the convicts who had been locked up for 10, 20, 30 years in little cells."<ref name="Locations"/> The old wartime [[Wendover Air Force Base|bomber base]] was also used for the [[aircraft boneyard]] scenes while the original swimming pool at the base was used in a scene where Garland Greene was talking to a young girl.<ref name="Bateman">Bateman 2004, p. 248.</ref>

On August 29, 1996, Phillip Swartz, a welder employed by Special Effects Unlimited, a Los Angeles-based firm, was crushed to death at Wendover when a static model of the C-123 used in the film fell on him. The film credits end with "In Memory of Phil Swartz".<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-08-31-me-39486-story.html "Plane Crushes Worker on Disney Film Set."] ''[[Los Angeles Times]],'' August 31, 1996. Retrieved: December 17, 2011.</ref>

Other filming locations included [[Ogden Airport]] where the exchange of prisoners is seen. The scene where the aircraft's left wing hits the [[Fender Stratocaster]] sign of [[Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas)|Hard Rock Hotel and Casino]] (which later played host to the film's premiere), was filmed using a replicated guitar sign and a ''Jailbird'' miniature model. The crash site was filmed in the [[Sands Hotel]] before its demolition on November 26, 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/con-air-at-25-the-anarchic-making-of-nicolas-cage-action-classic/|title=Con Air At 25: The Anarchic Making Of Nicolas Cage's Action Classic|date=6 June 2022|work=Empire Magazine|access-date=7 June 2022|archive-date=June 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220606212327/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/con-air-at-25-the-anarchic-making-of-nicolas-cage-action-classic/|url-status=live}}</ref> Producer Jerry Bruckheimer found the right spot for the climactic finale, originally planned for a crash at the [[White House]], but Las Vegas was more in keeping with the theme and visual pun of convicts "cashing in". "We got very lucky ... The Sands was going to be demolished anyway. They blew up the tower on their own. We arranged to blow up the front of the building." The [[2nd Street Tunnel]] in Los Angeles was also used for the tunnel chase scene near the end of the film.<ref name="Locations">Girod, Russell W. [http://www.cinemareview.com/static-htm/059718n2.htm "Con Air: About The Locations."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100128055012/http://www.cinemareview.com/static-htm/059718n2.htm |date=January 28, 2010 }} ''Touchstone Pictures & Five Star Publishing,''1997. Retrieved: December 20, 2011.</ref>
[[Image:ConAirC123crashdenali.JPG|thumb|Crash site of the C-123 from ''Con Air'', Mount Healy, Denali National Park, Alaska]]
Three C-123's were used during production and were painted with the ''Jailbird'' livery. The actual flying C-123 model used during flight scenes in the film had a series of both military and private owners. In December 2003 it was sold to All West Freight Inc. in [[Delta Junction, Alaska]].<ref>[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20100801-0 "Accident Report: Fairchild C-123K Provider, August 1, 2010."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026235712/http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20100801-0 |date=October 26, 2014 }} ''Aviation Safety Network.'' Retrieved: December 21, 2011.</ref> On August 1, 2010, the C-123 was destroyed when it crashed into [[Mount Healy]] within [[Denali National Park]] in [[Alaska]].<ref>Rettig, Molly. [http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/8980392/article-Federal-investigators-arrive-at-Denali-crash-site--victims-identified?instance=home_news_window_left_top_1 "Federal investigators arrive at Denali crash site; victims identified."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807062500/http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/8980392/article-Federal-investigators-arrive-at-Denali-crash-site--victims-identified?instance=home_news_window_left_top_1 |date=August 7, 2010 }} ''newsminer.com,'' August 2, 2010. Retrieved: December 17, 2011.</ref> The three member flight crew was killed in the crash.<ref>[http://wireupdate.com/wires/8300/authorities-identify-victims-of-alaska-con-air-movie-plane-crash/ "Authorities identify victims of Alaska "Con Air"-movie plane crash."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806192143/http://wireupdate.com/wires/8300/authorities-identify-victims-of-alaska-con-air-movie-plane-crash/ |date=August 6, 2010 }} ''[[BNO News]],'' August 3, 2010. Retrieved: December 17, 2011.</ref><ref name="old wings">van der Voet, Aad. [http://www.oldwings.nl/content/con_air/con_air.htm "C-123 Providers starring in 'Con Air'."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502203734/http://www.oldwings.nl/content/con_air/con_air.htm |date=May 2, 2009 }} ''oldwings.nl,'' August 2, 2010. Retrieved: December 17, 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.adn.com/2010/08/02/1392511/probe-starts-into-deadly-crash.html "Probe starts into deadly crash at Denali."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804201907/http://www.adn.com/2010/08/02/1392511/probe-starts-into-deadly-crash.html |date=August 4, 2010 }} ''Anchorage Daily News'' via ''adn.com,'' August 2, 2010. Retrieved: December 17, 2011.</ref> Another C-123, formerly registered as N94DT, was used for the crash scene in Las Vegas and then scrapped following production. The third ''Jailbird'' movie model used for the taxi scenes was later donated by the filmmakers to the [[Wendover Air Force Base|Historic Wendover Airfield Foundation]], where it remains on display at the ramp as an attraction for visitors.<ref name="Bateman" />

The film used several highly detailed models at 1/15th scale, and a multitude of military and private aircraft assembled for the desert boneyard scene.{{refn|A [[Convair C-131 Samaritan]] transport aircraft and [[Piasecki H-21]] helicopter were prominent among the scattered wreckage of the boneyard scene.<ref name="IMPD">[http://www.impdb.org/index.php?title=Con_Air "Con Air."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208112850/http://impdb.org/index.php?title=Con_Air |date=February 8, 2012 }} ''The Internet Movie Plane Database.'' Retrieved: December 20, 2011.</ref>|group=Note}}