Cole Palen’s Flying Circus

“Near the village of old Rhinebeck in New York’s peaceful Hudson Valley is a place where aircraft from the golden age of aviation enjoy a full and productive retirement, a “living museum” – a sort of airplane heaven on earth. It’s the brainchild of Cole Palen, a man of many talents: collector, curator, craftsman, restorer, pilot, mechanic, ham; but most of all, visionary and incurable optimist. Palen’s dream comes true on weekends, when his planes perform once more the maneuvers for which they were designed…except that this version of World War One includes slapstick and sootbombs. The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome turns into a land of makebelieve, where the evil Black Baron in his red Fokker Triplane engages in deadly dogfight with Sir Percy Goodfellow, all for the favours of a nurse in pigtails. COLE PALEN’S FLYING CIRCUS is a documentary about the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, its collection of unique planes and the cast of remarkable characters that surround its founder. It’s a film about the kind of passion that can become a lifelong obsession – and the tragedy that is part of the price.”

“Cole Palen’s Flying Circus is a documentary about the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, its collection of unique planes and the cast of remarkable characters that surround it’s founder. It’s a film about the kind of passion that can become a lifelong obsession-and the tragedy that is part of the price.”