Night Flight (French title:Vol de Nuit) is the second novel by the French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in 1931 and became an international bestseller.
The taking off of the Lancaster bombers was filmed at an old RAF Bomber Command station at East Kirkby in Lincolnshire, England. This is now a privately owned museum. One Lancaster was actually used for the ground shots, one of only four left in the U.K. The aeroplane used was 'Just Jane'NX611 (displayed at the East Kirkby museum) and as it is not airworthy, it was only allowed to race 'tail wheel up' along the runway at 80mph for 10 seconds before powering down. The pilot for the taxi-ing was a pilot with the R.A.F. Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The scenes where the Lancaster is seen flying, footage of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster PA474 is used.
The first MGM film to have a producer credit.
There was to have been a scene in which Clark Gable jumped out of a plane at an altitude of 25,000 feet. The stuntman Jim Unger, who was to double for Clark, passed out at 20,000 feet from lack of oxygen and the shot never got made.
