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Gene passed away at age 95. Most probably don't know that Gene built airplanes with his son at Santa Paula Airport in CA. Glasair, I think a 3, and a Pitts or maybe a Christen Eagle.? I think Gene had heart problems and stopped flying.? A photo of him with Top P. in the EAA museum in late 80's can be found.?

Do a search "Movie Actors who were pilots." Gene is not on that list and the list is very incomplete. The list was much longer just after the end of WWII. Steve McQueen was at Santa Paula in his final years. Tyrone Power was a Marine Pilot in the war and owned a DC3 after the war.?

A friend taught Johnny Carson to fly at Teterboro in the early 60,s. My friend was on the Carson show in that era as was Art Scholl. A few years ago Johnny's log book was on display at EAA Museum. The book was open with a signature Earl J. Sollien. Earl was from Hamilton NY and was a couple or years ahead of me in high school. His father in law was a local pilot and taught Earl to fly. Earl was a EAA Member when he passed away at his retirement home in FL. Ed McMahon and Skitch Henderson from the early Carson shows were both pilots. Ed was career Marine Reserve fighter pilot.?

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I got to meet Gene Hackman once many years ago, my family's house happened to be a block away from his house, and his son went to school at the same place I did. For reasons completely irrelevant to this forum, I was summoned to their house to answer for something I had said to his son (6th or 8th grade school kid mischief stuff), and he was pretty gruff talking to me about it.

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He had a wood model of a Pitts Special on his bookcase, and in the middle of him chewing me out about I pointed to the model and said "Is that your Pitts?" and he couldn't be angry after that

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Never saw him or spoke to him again after that.?