“Golden Wings”
BEHIND THE STORY
History of our film
Robyn Stewart has flown for American Airlines for 55 years. She began before the Boeing 747’s first commercial flight and stayed through deregulation, the boom years that followed, and September 11. She buried her husband Henry in Frankfurt, went through rehab, and returned to the job.
Robyn’s parents, Jay and Maxine Ricks, raised her son Caleb while she flew. He called them Papa and Nana. Caleb shot the first version as a nine-minute college project. He expanded that cut into Golden Wings.
The film draws on decades of home video and archival footage. Jay R. Ricks built American Airlines’ 747 pilot training program. Jock Bethune, whose department produced the 35mm slides for that program, appears on camera to describe what Jay did. Three generations of one family worked for the same airline.
TRAILER
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