Aviatrix (Woman pilot) Nancy Hopkins, who was invited to fly in the 1930 Ford Reliability Tour, is seen in the cockpit of her Kitty Hawk B4 biplane, manufactured by the Viking Flying Boat Company. ("Kitty Hawk" is written on her plane's vertical stabilizer.) She has been assigned the number 22 for this event, which starts at the Ford Airport in Dearborn Michigan. Scene shifts to A Waco CSO J6-7 airplane, serial number NC634N, taking off. A large formation of U.S. Army Boeing P-12 biplanes flies overhead. Crowd of spectators is gathered on ramp behind the airport terminal. The Army airplanes fly back overhead again. In foreground, a Ford Trimotor passenger airplane sits with its 3 engines running. Bill Stout of Ford's Stout Metal Aircraft Company shakes hands with Texaco Company's pilot, Captain Frank M. Hawks, in the cockpit of his Travel Air Model R "Mystery Ship," named Texaco 13. Photographer takes their picture. (Hawks is a tour referee, and about to depart for Grand Forks to make advance preparations there.) Mrs. Henry Ford steps up and also shakes Hawks' hand. He waves goodbye and taxis out for takeoff.
Production of Ford B-24 aircraft in Michigan, United States during World War 2. Ford B-24 aircraft in flight. Interiors of the Ford Willow Run aircraft manufacturing plant. B-24 bombers on an assembly line at the factory. Men and women war production workers are seen working on the assembly line, wiring, and assembling airplane component pieces. Workers install canopy, a twin-tail section and aircraft engines. A landing gear is seen as an aircraft moves on the assembly line. Propellers being installed. Workers polish a finished airplane. A woman cleans a bombardier's window.
Production of Ford B-24 aircraft in Michigan, United States during World War 2. A Ford B-24 aircraft rolls out of an assembly line. The aircraft taxis along a field. The aircraft takes off during a test flight. Aerial view of the ground below. The aircraft in flight.
Production of Waco CG-4A gliders at a Ford plant in Michigan, United States during World War 2. C-47 aircraft towing gliders. view of a glider from open door of a C-47. A CG-4A glider landing on a grass field and sliding to a halt just in front of the camera. A pilot seated in the front with a glass panel across the top half of the cabin. Soldiers march to load up in CG-4A gliders. A glider comes in for a landing in sand on a beachhead, followed by another. Exteriors of Ford glider plant near Iron Mountain, Michigan. Workers cover a part of a fuselage and set up wings. They attach wings to the glider.
U.S. Army Glider operations in World War 2. Men set up two poles 20 feet apart on a field, for a so-called "Snatch" operation. (This involves a flying pickup, by an airborne tow plane, snatching the towline of a glider that is still on the ground. It is intended for glider retrieval. The actual operation is not shown in this sequence.) A C-47 aircraft takes off towards the camera, towing two CG-4A gliders. Close view from nearby airplane, of a glider being towed (its tow line visible).
The Detroit News Balloon Race in Dearborn, Michigan. Balloons ascend near a mooring mast during the Detroit News Balloon Race.
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