The Magic of David Copperfield IV: The Vanishing Airplane (1981)

This is the 4th CBS Copperfield TV special, introduced by the host Jason Robards and then presented by David Copperfield himself, inside a flying Lear Jet. For the first time he is also the producer. This special is officially titled "THE MAGIC OF David COPPERFIELD", but is better known as "The Magic of David Copperfield IV: The Vanishing Airplane", in which "The Vanishing Airplane" is a reference to the last illusion, a feat that for the first time in the history of magic had to be performed in the open, outside the television studios, because of the dimensions of the object: a Gates Lear Jet model 25, year 1976, registration number N564CL, 7 tonnes, produced by Gates Learjet Corporation. And never before an illusionist has been able to vanish an airplane, or in any case something that big. To demonstrate the absolute absence of camera tricks or video effects, the illusion itself has been filmed in long take. The Lear Jet is surrounded at 360 degrees by a ring of 40 blindfolded spectators and also by external walls that have hidden all within a square area. Until a few seconds before the disappearance, only the shadows of the Lear Jet and of the ring of spectators were visible on the front wall thanks to some headlights. So, the illusions performed are: "Jet Emblem Vanish", "Picture Frame Illusion", "Zig-Zag Laser" (aka "Upside Down Laser Cutting"), "Doll To Life" (aka "The Ballerina"), "Clubhouse", "Finger Ring In Rose" (aka "Ring Flight To Rose"), "Love Isn't Just For The Young", "Levitating A Boy", "C.J.'s Card Trick" and then "Lear Jet Vanish", which is also one of the few illusions no more repeated by Copperfield during his own career.