Ordinary people, immigrants, and citizens of the United States in the early 1900s. An old woman, a man with a hat, a man with a cigar in his mouth. His son reads a book. A farmer with his wife. A woman in her traditional dress and a father with his daughter on a chair. Credits for the documentary.
The high frontier of X-15 in United States. Rocket powered aircraft X-15 is towed and taken out from a hangar. Various symbols on X-15. A sign reads 'North American Aviation Inc'. Models of aircraft from earliest to most recent are shown. B-29 launching Bell X-1 rocket plane on October 14, 1947. View inside cabin of B-29. Airspeed indicator in the X-1 shows Mach 1 plus. View of X-1D rocket plane landing in Mojave desert, July 24, 1951, as nose wheel collapses and the plane sends up plumes of sand as it spins around before coming to rest, facing backwards. Test pilot Jean Ziegler is seen afterwards in the cockpit, breathing a sigh of relief. Jet fighter seen exceeding mach 2 airspeed. Animation of B-52B Stratofortress launching X-15. and its landing on desert.
" X-15 Research Airplane Request for Bids" issued by the U.S. Air Force Air Materiel Command, Washington, DC. Documents labeled 'Confidential Information'. Cover of another document reads: "North American Aviation Inc." View of North American aircraft design engineers at work designing and drawing sketches of landing gear, fuel system, hydraulics, surface control and study it. A sketch of X-15. Wind tunnel tests. Sketches of various aircraft designs. Vehicles outside North American Aviation Inc. A sign reads 'SABRE JET'. A sign reads 'Unauthorized personnel Keep Out' and 'Closed Area Admittance by Authorization Only'. Engine testing. Airframe fabrication. More wind tunnel tests.
Activities at the Wright Air Development Center (WADC). Two F-86 Sabre taxi and take off for the formation. A formation of seven F-86's, one set of three and one set of four, flying low across airfield. F-86 in flight. A maneuver of F-86 as it goes into a roll. The graph giving years and progress in speed of jet aircraft. Jet aircraft during wind tunnel test at WADC of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. A wind tunnel. A technician seated at instrument panel which gauges various steps in wind tunnel. A hand pulls switches. Several view of technicians at work. Aircraft leaves fire. 3-25 aircraft in flight. A title 'Electronic Equipment'. Nose to tail section of F-86. A part of fuselage is cut away. A covering of tail section is removed and shows the electronically controlled tail pipe eyelid in motion. Bell X-1 takes off. A title 'Supersonic Speed'. Bell X-1 is refueled with liquid oxygen. A technician wearing protective clothing takes a shower. A rocket fuel stands at Muroc in California. Bell X-1 is refueled. Bell X-1 in flight. X-1 comes in for landing. Matador Missile launched. A subtitle appears 'Guided Missiles'. A book titled 'Nuclear Powered Aircraft'. Hand stamps book Top Secret, restricted data. A picture frame squared in four sections. Upper left hand corner shows buzzing of an F-59A Hawker Hunter, lower left hand corner shows Matador missile, Upper right hand corner shows the F-86D Sabre Jet, lower right hand corner shows the Nuclear Book. At center of frame is the Bell X-1 in flight. There is an action with each section. USAF organizational chart. Animated map of United States shows the locations of Wright Air Development Center (WADC).
Jupiter missile test in United States. Jupiter missile on a test tower. Static fire arises from the missile and the smoke is released. Blanket of smoke covers the tower as well as the missile. The fire and the smoke reduced.
Army Material Command (AMC) logistic support of Air Force B-58 Hustler project in United States. B-58 pod in flight over desert. B-58 in flight and drops a pod in the desert. The pod touches the ground and smoke arises due to explosion.
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