Marketta Davis

mdavis@pnj.com

The IMAX Theatre system at the National Naval Aviation Museum has passed 2.5 billion frames of film through its projector since 1996 — a total of 120,000 miles of film. That's enough to go around the Earth's equator nearly 4 1/2 times.

Upward of 3.5 million people have enjoyed more than 48,000 shows on film, an opportunity that no one else will have after today as the "The Magic of Flight" will play for the last time on a 250-pound, 70-millimeter roll of film.

Early this month, the theater will close for two months while undergoing an extensive renovation, it's first major upgrade in 20 years, which will include a conversion from film to digital with a premium laser-illuminated 2D projection system and full 4K resolution. The screen will be the first of its kind in an institutional theater in the world, ending the era of film at the Aviation Museum.

"For years, this was the most elite type of film projection in the world," said Phillip Crabtree, operations manager of visitor attractions at the museum. "It was the only way to get super-large, giant-screen images on a big screen, clear and focused."

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When the IMAX film projection system was installed 19 years ago, it was the only one south of Atlanta and anywhere along the Gulf Coast for more than two years. It was installed before IMAX Theatres in New Orleans, Mobile, Birmingham and Tallahassee, Crabtree said. There were only about 200 in the world at that time.

"We were among the early pioneers in the Southeast that had an IMAX Theatre," he said. "We were a very small market to have one at the time and that really bolstered museum attendance."

Patrons who have visited the museum and watched a film in the theater are blown away by the experience, said Malerie Shelton, museum director of marketing and public relations.

"We always hear things like, 'It's a larger-than-life experience;' 'I feel like I was there' I feel like I was flying with the Blue Angels,'" Shelton said.

Museum guest Cody Woolfolk and his family visited Thursday from Mississippi and caught a showing of "The Magic of Flight." Being a Navy veteran and having worked on Blue Angels' jets, Woolfolk was excited to watch a film on the seven-story, 80-foot-wide screen for the first time.

"It was amazing," Woolfolk said. "It was definitely worth the money. I used to work with the Blue Angels so it was nice seeing something on the screen that I was a part of."

The transition from film to digital is expected to last through March. In addition to a new movie system, the theater will also feature LED lighting, wider seating with armrests, double-cup holders and custom tables between most seats, new carpeting and more.

Mike Moodispaugh, the theater's technical operations manager for almost 20 years, is excited for the upgrades but said the process is bittersweet.

"There's a lot of hours, blood, sweat, and tears behind the operation of this theater," he said. "Sometimes we'd get a film the day before it was supposed to be shown and we'd spend all night making sure the projector was ready for the next day."

Moodispaugh remembers when the vacuum inside the projector broke and they had to make a new one using a floor vacuum. There was also a time when the gear system malfunctioned and staff had to manually push the gears to keep the system rolling.

"The new digital system will prevent us from having those headaches," he said.

Crabtree said being a 'film jockey' can be dangerous work, having to move the 250-pound reels around in a dimly lit room. Working with high-pressure xenon lamps required staff to wear ballistics gear, including full face protection, welding jackets, double-faced shields, and gloves to protect the skin.If the pure quartz glass envelopes on the lamps shatters, it shatters into tiny shards that X-rays can't pick up on skin, he said.

"If that went off, it would be like a hand grenade going off because of the pressure," Crabtree said. "It's very dangerous without question."

Next week, the old IMAX film projection system will be dismantled, crated and shipped to an IMAX storing facility in Playa Vista, Calif.

INFOBOX

To follow the progress of the National Naval Aviation Museum's IMAX Theatre conversion from film to digital, visit the museum's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NavalAviationMuseum. The museum will provide updates and time-lapse photos of the construction of the new laser-illuminated 2D projection system.