Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects in New York during the Great Depression. An Eastern Airlines DC-3 passenger airplane with painted words on side "The Great Silver Fleet" taxis on a runway at Floyd Bennett Airport field by Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn, New York City. Narrator describes WPA improvements to the airport. Plane parks atop a novel turntable and then is rotated to desired position. Rear hatch opens and crew member steps out. Trap door on ground near plane opens revealing a stairwell downward which debarking passengers then use to walk toward the main terminal. View of skyport landing and takeoff area on the East River and a pontoon-equipped small aircraft coming in for landing at one of these two skyports providing air taxi service from Manhattan Island. Narrator indicates that one skyport is located at 31st Street and another at Wall Street.
Retrospective view inside a former German submarine pen in France, as narrator mentions its former use in World War 2. View from outside the structure. An American Airlines Douglas DC-4 passenger plane flying over Manhattan Island, New York City, with Empire State Building visible among other skyscrapers below. Aerial view of New York harbor, with ocean-going ships docked at terminals below. Traffic moving in the harbor, including barges, tugboats, and ships, displaying various national flags.
People gathered early on a misty morning at Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York, to watch as Charles Lindbergh attempts to make a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in his airplane, The Spirit of St. Louis. The plane starts its takeoff role between groups of spectators, raising dust. The spectators move to get a better view as the plane continues, out of sight in the fog and mist. It is not clear where the plane is, although engine sound has changed. Spectators strain to see it through the mist. Then, some cheers are raised when the crowd realizes that Lindbergh has successfully taken off in his heavily laden airplane. The opening caption refers to Curtiss Field, where the Spirit of St. Louis was test flown and reportedly maintained in Hanger 16. there, from May 12th through the 20th. However, for the Paris flight, the plane was towed a mile to Roosevelt Field where, heavily loaded with fuel, it could take advantage of the longer runway for takeoff. (Note: Both fields were originally part of the old Hempstead Plains Field renamed Hazlehurst Field when taken over by the U.S. Army in 1917. U.S. Geological survey maps of 1918 show three areas named, respectively, Hazelhurst Aviation Field No. 1; Aviation Field No. 2; and Camp Albert L. Mills, abutting it. Field No. 2 was renamed Mitchel Field on July 16, 1918. The eastern part of Field No. 1 was dedicated as Roosevelt Field, on September 24, 1918. After the war, the western part of Field No. 1 became known as Curtiss Field, associated, as it was, with the Curtiss Aeroplane & Motor Company located there.)
Sailors and people on United States Navy Ship Barrett (T-AP-196) in Staten Island, New York. Empty bunks in a troop compartment. Dependent women and children walk. Hostesses walk on a canopied gangplank. Some children are assisted by sailors. .
Opens showing views of the U.S. Pavilion at the Expo 58 in Brussels, Belgium. An array of international flags and artistic fountains grace the Pavilion. Glimpse of the Exhibition Hall of the Soviet Union with hammer and sickle symbol on front. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser shakes hand with Nikita Khrushchev, 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Nasser speaking to the 600-member assembly of the new United Arab Republic (encompassing Egypt and Syria). Arabs marching with banners. King Faisal II of Iraq and his uncle, Abdul Ilah, step to a podium. Faisal II riding in a horse-drawn carriage. View of seaport in Lebanon. A U.S. Naval task force is visible, arriving in response to a request for aid from Lebanon. U.S. marines in an amphibious landing near Beirut. They establish a beachhead as local Lebanese watch and applaud. The marines load artillery and ammunition on the beach. The scene changes to the island of Quemoy in the Taiwan Strait, where entrenched KMT Nationalist Chinese troops of Chiang Kai-Shek, are seen scrambling as they undergo constant shelling from Mainland China. The American Destroyer, USS Ammen (DD-527) is seen underway on patrol in the Taiwan Strait. U.S. Navy vessels provide relief supplies to the bombarded Islands in the Taiwan Strait. Landing craft are loaded with essential supplies for delivery. Sailors are seen throwing sacks of food over their ship railing into a landing craft below. A line of laden landing craft follows in the wake of a Navy ship. High rise apartments in West Berlin, Germany. West Berlin citizens are seen going about their daily activities. A large sign in German warns “Achtung! Sie verlassen jetzt West-Berlin” (“Warning! You are leaving West-Berlin”). Views of damaged buildings left untouched in East Berlin. Militia in black uniforms perform close order drills in East Berlin. Street sign identifies Unter Den Linden. The formerly elegant avenue is seen virtually deserted. A horse-drawn carriage moves along, and men push a cart full of supplies. Bicyclists ride along the side of the street. Headquarters of the 4-powers administration building is seen without a Soviet flag. French, American, and British soldiers stand guard. (Soviets are absent.)
Gun crew,on the USS New York (BB-34),wearing steel helmets, check out her 3-inch antiaircraft gun on the stern deck, as she departs from U.S. Argentia Naval station, Newfoundland, during World War 2. Sailors are dressed in winter clothing. Snow-covered hills in background. As they are underway, a large transport ship is seen astern. Scene shifts to warmer, sunny weather at sea. Sailors play a game with quoits on the deck of the USS New York. Others relax in a warm sunny spot. Sailors stand on the deck. An island visible nearby. Sailors download a bomb from a Vought OS2U Kingfisher aircraft aboard the battleship New York. International maritime flags displayed near the bridge.
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