An Interview with Fred Sorenson: "Raiders" pilot still shows some backbone

AN INTERVIEW WITH FRED SORENSON:
 'RAIDERS' PILOT STILL SHOWS BACKBONE

By Jerry Saravia

 

When I first saw "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981, I never did forget the pilot, Jock (sporting a New York Yankees cap), who helped rescue Indiana Jones from the perils of the Peruvian jungle in the famous opening sequence. Of course, most of you probably know this little exchange that Jock and Indy had in that plane:

Indiana Jones: "There is a big snake in the plane, Jock!"

Jock: "Oh that's just my pet snake, Reggie!"

Indiana Jones: "I hate snakes, Jock! I hate them!"

Jock: "Show a little backbone, will yah?"

As of June 12th, "Raiders" will mark its 30th anniversary and it is only fitting that I had the great pleasure of interviewing Fred Sorenson, a currently active pilot for Southwest Airlines, who played the pivotal role of Jock in the classic action-adventure film. Definitely a man with a passion for flying, Fred briefly discusses how he got the role of "Raiders" and what he has been up to since. I'd feel safer in a plane knowing he is the pilot.


1.) Naturally, I must ask: what was it like filming those scenes in "Raiders of the Lost Ark"? How many days were you filming, and did you pilot the plane during the takeoff and such? 


Fred Sorenson: "Our entire project was about 10 days on Island. We started by working with Hank 
Strauch, to lease his Waco UBF. This included flying the airplane from Oregon to LAX where the 
airplane was disassembled and loaded on, what was then Flying Tigers DC8 (Later became FEDEX.) 
The floats were trucked to LAX to meet up with the airplane for shipping. 
Once in Hawaii the airplane was reassembled, in Honolulu and then painted from it’s beautiful red and white paint job to the silver “Air Pirates” color. OB-CPO was the registration added. We all know where that came from ("Star Wars" reference to the rest of you who don't know. Look it up). 
We flew the airplane to Kauai and then prepared for the actual shooting. A camera was originally mounted on the left wing, which proved to be a problem on the first take, resulting in damage to the airplane. Over the next 4 days we worked to repair the airplane. 
During the filming I did actually do the flying of the airplane and the scenes were actually filmed with a camera on the plane, in the air over the south side of Kauai. The takeoff scenes were filmed on a small river next to the Menehune Fish Ponds near Lihue." 

1.5) How did you initially get the part of Jock the pilot in Raiders? 

"I was the only pilot that was flying seaplanes in Hawaii, at the time. We had a Lake Amphibian and the film crew initially asked if we could use it to do the scenes. Too modern, so we used the Waco. I had flown FRANK MARSHALL ("Raiders" producer) and HOWARD KAZANJIAN (executive producer of "Raiders") around the islands, in a Beech 18, looking for places to film. We went out to the Cattleman’s Steakhouse for dinner and they asked me if I could put together the airplane project and also asked if I wanted to play the pilot in the movie. “What was the name of the movie', I asked. 'Sure, sounds like fun'."

2.) I understand that you had helped fly the crew off the island of Kauai when a hurricane hit during the filming of Jurassic Park in 1993. How did you happen to be in the area to rescue them?


"I was a DC-8 Captain for Hawaiian Air Lines. I was also instructing in a Super DC-3 for a freight operation, just starting up in Hawaii. The morning after the hurricane, we offered our DC-3 and crew to fly to Kauai for the Salvation Army. We took in a load of blankets and water. We got hooked up with Kathleen Kennedy as she was trying to get the film crew off the island. 
I worked with Hawaiian Airlines and set up a charter flight, using the DC8. I flew the DC3 back to Honolulu and we loaded up the DC-8 with 30000 pounds of water, donated by Safeway. I flew the DC-8 back to Kauai, picked up the film crew, flew back to Honolulu, dropped part of the crew off there and took the rest of the crew to LAX. I went on vacation after that, retired from Hawaiian Airlines and went to work for Southwest in October of 1992." 

3.) I hear you are a pilot for Southwest Airlines now. How long have you been a pilot? Always a dream of yours? 


"I grew up around old airplanes. My father was a Navy pilot. His hobby was rebuilding old airplanes. While other kids in my school were working on cars, I was learning how to work on airplanes, in the garage and backyard. I soloed at 16, in San Jose, California. I became a flight instructor and went to Japan and ran a flying club for the Naval Air Station in Atsugi, Japan. I went to work for Hawaiian in 1973 and retired from Hawaiian in 1992. I have been with Southwest since then. 
While based in Hawaii, I flew tours, cargo, film work, photomapping and started a long range charter operation with 2 Lockheed Learstars. We did search missions, parts drops, research flights and a couple of notable rescue missions, throughout the South Pacific. 
In 1974, I started an aircraft delivery (ferry) company. We deliver all types of small and large aircraft, all over the world. This also led to many other variations of long range flight operations, in the Pacific. 
While working for Southwest Airlines, I also served as the Director of Operations and Chief Pilot for a VIP 737 operations out of Las Vegas. We specialized in domestic and worldwide charter-type operations. We flew many entertainment groups including the Jimmy Buffett tour for 3 years. We flew many different groups all over the world. One trip, I took Bruce and Patti Springsteen to the wrong island in Greece, because our faxed itinerary didn’t come through very clear and the name of the island ran so we thought we were going to another island 90 miles south of Cofu. They got a little extra tour of the Greek Isles." 


4.) Were you ever considered to do a reprise of the Jock role in the subsequent Indiana Jones sequels?


"Well I don’t know if I was considered, but they never did ask me." 


5.) Out of curiosity, what kind of planes do you like to fly?

"Right now, the Boeing 737 is my bank’s favorite, as it makes the most money, and flying for Southwest has been a DREAM JOB. The VIP 737 was my favorite, due to the places we went and the people we took and the things we did. 

My own collection of airplanes includes a 1942 Beechcraft Staggerwing, 1937 Ryan SCW, 1946 Piper Cub and a 1948 Luscombe Sedan 11A. 

My favorite airplane of all times, was the Lockheed Learstar. This was a 1942 Navy transport that was converted by the designs of Bill Lear to be a very long range, fast corporate business aircraft. It is the only airplane I know that could fly 1250 miles, land on a 2500 foot long dirt runway and have enough fuel to come home. We used it for several years in the Pacific.

I have had the opportunity to fly over 100 different types of airplanes, through the delivery business. There is still no comparison to the Learstar. Thank you for your interest."

 "A picture of the 1942 Lockheed Learstar N350A on Palmyra Island. We were there to rescue this shipwrecked family from Canada." - Courtesy of Fred Sorenson