Thinking big, an aerospace engineer takes on Hollywood: challenging movie-making tradition, Joe Bok's oversize, radio-controlled models for "The Aviator" flew better, faster, and safer. Why? Higher Reynolds numbers, for starters.(Aero Telemetry Corp)

From: Design News | Date: April 4, 2005| Author: Murray, Charles J. | Copyright information

Shortly after producers of "The Aviator" began gearing up to make their epic film biography of Howard Hughes, aircraft engineer and USC grad Joe Bok received his first Hollywood contract. But when Bok, who normally builds flying drones for the military, pored over it, he noticed an unusual stipulation: It called for not one, but two copies of every aircraft model to be used in the film.

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"I asked, 'Why two?'" recalls Bok (also correctly ...