sixty-three years later, in 1998, johnson recreated his father's journey with his two sons. johnson undertook the journey, documented in a 2001 film called "carnauba: a son's memoir", in a replica sikorsky s-38 amphibious plane like the one his father used. during the course of the film, johnson reflects on his somewhat difficult relationship with his often-absent father as well as his own battle with alcoholism. said johnson of the journey, "i started to get this idea that some people thought was crazy, but something was telling me to do it… to recreate my father's airplane and retrace his journey. [my wife] gene said i was doing it to spend more time with my father after all these years... in the end that turned out to be true."