U.S. Military Aviation - First 50 Years

Shot List:

00:00:10

Scenes of the first plane purchased by the military from the Wright Brothers in 1907.

00:00:51

The Cold War years of the early 1950s. Scenes of radar planes, the Distant Early Warning Radar Line DEW Line in Northern Canada, Texas tower installations at sea, and navy picket ships. Scenes of the planes of U.S. air power.

00:02:19

Scenes of man's attempts to fly using wings like a bird and wing type devices. Scenes of man's first flight in a plane built by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903. Scenes of other planes that attempted flight in the early pioneering years of aviation. The first man to die in a plane crash was Army Lt. Thomas Selfridge in September 1908, scene of crashed plane.

00:04:05

Scenes of a 1910 Glen Curtiss seaplane or amphibious plane on the water and in flight. Scenes of early Army planes in 1914 used for aerial observation. Later bombs and machine guns added to planes. Early dogfights in the sky.

00:05:04

Scenes of the development of the helicopter flying machines. Scenes of early stunt pilots, barnstormers, and parachute jumper. Short clip of Spirit of St. Louis plane landing and image of pilot Charles A.Lindbergh. Scenes of early mail plane. First auto gyro or gyro plane in flight.

00:07:03

Early tri-motor commercial passenger plane taking off. Scenes of airline passengers in flight in the early 1930s.

00:07:44

San Francisco Chronicle headlines reads “EXTRA! WAR! Battle For Hawaii”. Scenes of women working in aircraft factory in WWII. Rosie the Riveter in WW2 aircraft factory. Line of B-17s in factory, B-17 Flying Fortress rolls out of factory and shown taking off.

00:08:13

Scenes of the air war over Europe in 1942. Flights of U.S. bombers in flight, interior scenes of aircraft. U.S. planes dropping bombs, CU of bombs falling, explosions on ground tagets. CU of B-17 in flight, image of B-17 shot down and going into a death spiral. Scenes of a flight of P-38 Lightning fighter planes. Aerial combat or dogfight over Europe in WW2. Plane gun camera footage of straffing ground targets, one massive explosion.

00:09:56

Short clip of the B-17 nicknamed the Memphis Belle returning from a bombing mission, scene of bomber crew waving, CU of nose art on plane. Memphis Belle crewman exiting the plane and kissing the ground after safe return from mission. Planes taking off from deck of aircraft carrier in WWII.

00:10:12

WW2 scenes of the Pacific theater. Scenes of seaplane catapulted off cruiser. Plane making a rough landing on an aircraft carrier, another plane makes a wheels up landing sliding across the flight deck. Low aerial view of plane landing on aircraft carrier. Scenes of fighters and dive bombers warming up on flight deck of carrier. Scene of B-29 bomber taking off on bombing mission over Japan, flight of B-29s dropping bombs on Japanese city. Scene of one B-29 plane in flight cut to atomic bomb explosion depicting the Enola Gay dropping the atomic bomb on Japan to end WW2.

00:11:48

Scenes of the advancement of military helicopters. Scenes of the Sikorsky H-34 / S-58 Army helicopter and the Piasochi H-21B Shawnee “Flying Banana” helicopter.

00:13:13

Scenes of the Republic PS-475-A jet plane which led to the development of the Republic F-84 Thunderjet fighter plane first flown in 1946.

00:13:20

Shows release of the Bell X-1 rocket plane, the first aircraft to fly faster than the speed of sound. Shows the X-1 in flight and landing on Roger’s Dry Lake bed in the Molave Desert, Kern County, California.

00:13:42

Scenes of the Republic F-84 Thunderjet which went into mass production in 1948. Scenes of the F-84 taking off, scene of fighter pilot's hand on joy stick and depressing button to fire frockets. Scenes of F-84s peeling off into a dive. Scenes of the North American B-45 Tornado, and the the Boeing B-47 Stratojet. One of the most unusal test planes was the Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing. Scenes of the B-49 “Flying Wing” aircraft taking off and in flight.

00:15:16

Shows civilian “bird man” trying out a jet powered bicycle and resulting crash.

00:15:33

Korean War aircraft gun camera footage. Scenes of North American F-86 Sabrejets in dogfight with MIGs over North Korea. Scenes of F-84 Thunderjet firing rockets at Korean ground targets. Scenes of Grumman F9F Panther fighter planes flown by Marines in Korean war.

00:17:34

Scenes of the Cessna L-19 / O-1 Bird Dog observation plane, Sikorsky H-19 troop carrier helicopters, and the Bell H-13 Sioux helicoper used to transport the wounded in the Korean War. Paratroopers jump from C-119 Flying Boxcar. Excellent paratrooper jump footage.

00:18:54

Scenes of the Sikorsky H-37 helicopter and the L-17 Navion. Shows Bell X-2 released from a modified B-50 bomber mothership, X-2 in flight, and landing on dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

00:19:44

Scenes of the Convair XC-99 heavy cargo transport plane. Scenes of one of the cargo decks in the XC-99. Shows the XC-99 taking off and in flight. Scenes of a flight of F-100 Super Sabre, an F-104 Starfighter, and a B-52 Stratofortress taking off and in flight.

00:22:08

Shows early VTOL aircraft in development. Scenes of a one man helicopter taking off, in flight and landing. Scenes of the Army Delackner Aerocycle and the Hiller Flying Platform being demonstrated. Scenes of the Navy Aerodyne research underway.

00:23:54

Scenes of a 1950s engineering department of large company; engineers, drafting tables, and drafting machines.

00:24:33

Rockets and guided missiles. Shows the Dart missile, Nike-Hercules, Honest John, Corporal, and Redstone missiles. Shows missile launched from deck of submarine and deck of a ship. Aerial view of an aircraft carrier with angled-flight deck.