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Thank you rebelness. Just like Balto, I have always had this fascination with aircraft ever since I found out what they were. XD And this incident really sparked out my curiosity. XD

I asked my dad since he actually DOES KNOW a lot of something about planes. I didn't bother going to fetch the movie, so I asked him by describing the scene to the best of my memory. And he thinks ice on the wings is the most probable culprit, as planes of the 1920s would have some form of liquid to keep the insides fine (greased where they should be and no ice). That along with what Reb and others have said fairly explain it for me.

Though one thing my dad and I did agree on about Duke. Not a bright guy to be flying his plane in such altitudes and weather. I good pilot would better know his plane, the weather, and what weather the plane can handle.

Thank you for that interesting insight.

Open-cockpit biplanes were old fashioned by the 1920s, and notoriously unreliable. By then, there were already more advanced aircraft in use, and with better engines.

Ice on the wings would certainly have been a factor, but the major one was that biplanes of the time had water-cooled engines. And at that latitude, and at varying altitudes in which a biplane could operate, flying at that time of year was generally considered foolish, if not suicidal. At least in that type of aircraft.

Indeed. I agree with those facts. Duke should have taken off knowing that there was a blizzard or snow storm approaching.

Or maybe shouldn't have...

I got wrung through the wringer the last time I said this, because a bunch of noobish fans thought I was trashing the character (which is ludicrous) but, in the real world back then, a good bush pilot would not have taken the risk. In fact, most of these old planes were partially disassembled and stored out of the weather during the harshest months.

It's just another fallacy of what is shown in the Balto movies. While I tend to LIKE Balto 3: Wings of Change as a storyline (or most of it), the notion of any bush pilot flying a bi-plane in foggy or very foul, icy weather is patently ridiculous.

Indeed it is. The movie makers should have taken the real life circumstances into account. Real pilots in those days would never fly into harsh weather conditions knowing that their planes would break apart.

You didn't just say that.

When was the last time any production company in Hollywood, or elsewhere in the world, took real life into any serious account when making "based on a true story" movies? Hmm?

I am just saying. There are some movies (only not cartoons) which have good cinematics and real worl Physics that are put into to it.

I know of none. lol

lol XD