I did amuse myself for a few minutes with the idea that I was watching an AU John Sheppard, the one with the never-quite-canon Math Genius accessory. It's CoP canon that Flanigan's character was an Air Force pilot, retired sometime after a crash, who went on to be a genius (Collier-winning) experimental plane designer and then inherited a bunch of kids; tell me that doesn't sound like an AU fanfic!

Unfortunately, that was only about 10% of the movie. Yeah, you were right to skip it, I think.