Impak Model 45
Running since 1974 unitl 1984, Impak Model 45 was a Super 8 projector for inflight movies projection with optical sound, 500W Xenon lamp and Angenieux 1.9/5-30 mm lens.
Inflight Motion Pictures was a manufacturer of movie projectors of 16 mm and Super 8 for inflight movies entertainment. The manufacturers of inflight movies projectors were Bell & Howell, Fairchild, General Audio-Visual (GAVI), Inflight Motion Pictures and Trans Com.
"David Flexer studied the systems and decided that the basic works of the Kodak Pageant projector system were the best available. He formed a company called Inflight Motion Pictures, Inc. and engineered an aircraft projection system that adapted that Kodak projection mechanism and fit it into a shallow ceiling area of an aircraft interior. To avoid the dilemma of changing 3 or 4 16mm film reels during a movie presentation, Flexer spliced all the film together and put it on giant 26" diameter reels. Films were normally run in a vertical reel fashion, but he opted for a ceiling mounted horizontal feed and take-up reel system. The technique was ingenious, and it worked relatively well. TWA was the first airline in the world to commit to Flexer's innovation. They truly walked away with the title of being the first airline in the world to show movies on regularly scheduled service. The jet era was then beginning. The Boeing 707 was flying, the DC-8 was introduced, and the speed champion Convair 880 was introduced. These were heady times. Today, trivia and movie buffs alike confirm that in 1961 TWA was the first real exhibitor of inflight movies. That first movie was the relatively risqué (for that day) "By Love Possessed" starring Lana Turner and Efram Zimbalist, Jr. Despite film breaks and mechanical problems, the Inflight Motion Pictures systems were working. Stories are told about unsuspecting mechanics who, while carrying the large, heavy, and cumbersome movie reels onboard the aircraft, were blown off the boarding stairs when high winds suddenly caught the oversized surfaces of the reel cases." (Extracts from A History of Inflight Entertainment, by John Norman White, 1994).
"Movie Orders. New York (UPI) - Inflight Motion Pictures, Inc., has engaged Redlake Laboratories, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., to manufacture equipment for in-flight's new 8-mm. Impak system of showing films aboard airlines. The initial order is for $1.3 milion spread over two years." (Text from 'Wisconsin State Journal', Sunday, November 12, 1972, section 3, page 3).
"Inflight Motion Pictures (485 Madison Avenue, New york, NY), a division of Inflight Services, is now serving 32 airlines worldwide with a complete in-flight film and audio entertainment service. An annual total of 100,000 flights (350,000 projections) use the service, which now operates in 100 747s (four or five projectors per aircraft), 110 DC-10s/Tri-Stars (three projectors) and 200 707s/DC-8s (three projectors). The company has recently added Impak Super 8mm cassettes to its range of 16mm films. The service is available at 80 airports around the world. Films are shown in English, French, Spanish, Italian or Japanese; Portuguese is sub-titled." (Text from 'Flight International' magazine, United Kingdom, 12 December 1974, page 836).