A 1939 Ford commercial advertisement, in technicolor, promoting the balance and performance of the 1939 Ford Automobiles. A motor boat is seen pulling a man on an aquaplane, in a harbor. A woman balances on the shoulders of a man aquaplaning. They are successful, but both fall off the aquaplane, close to the shore. They are met by three friends and they all get into a 1939 two-door sedan and drive away. They pass a wood-paneled station wagon parked at the side of the road.
Aerial view of the U.S. Navy Minesweeper, USS Falcon (AM-28) dispatched from New London, Connecticut, to rescue crew members from the sunken submarine USS Squalus. Closeup from beside the Falcon as crew members open a diving bell that was sent down 240 feet to the ocean floor for the rescue. Several rescued crew members from the submarine are helped out of the diving bell and climb aboard the Falcon. (A total of 33 crew were saved in four descents of the diving bell). Next, survivors reach a dock. A woman speaks with one of the rescued men as he steps into a car. Views of the Falcon and several support vessels. Scene shifts to 13 July 1939, when the first attempt is made to raise the Squalus. An officer officer manipulates valves to send compressed air down into the hull of the Squalus. Next, foam is generated in the water as the bow of the Squalus emerges clearly showing its number, 192. The submarine remains in that condition, with bow elevated and then sinks again. (Note: several more attempts were made in subsequent months to raise the Squalus, until, finally, on 13 September 1939, the boat was successfully raised and towed to the Portsmouth Navy Yard for repairs. The submarine was renamed USS Sailfish and recommissioned in May 1940.)
Opening slate reads: "U.S. Seeks Neutrality."Glimpse of the U.S. Capitol building. Speaker of the House of Representatives, William Bankhead, gavels the assembly to order. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his office signs the Neutrality Act, or Senate Joint Resolution No. 173, on August 31, 1935. Afterwards he chats with Senators who attended his signing. Among those seen in closeup are James F Byrnes, John Nance Garner, and John H. Bankhead II. The Senators shake hands with the President as they leave. Scene changes to German aircraft in flight including Messersmitt Bf 109s and Dornier 17 bombers. A crowd, including civilians and military personnel, stand about the site of a crashed airplane, in Europe. View shifts to U.S. Navy warships at sea. View from one of the Aircraft Carrier, USS Lexington (CV-2) where a Boeing F2B bi-wing fighter airplane is landing on her deck. Closeup of the plane landing on Lexington's flight deck and sailors rushing to arrest and control it. Somewhat fuzzy view of a ship sinking in rough waters. Clear view of an injured sailor in a ship's infirmary. Rescued sailors eating on deck of the rescue ship. One of the sinking victims covered by an American flag, is buried at sea. View of a burning ship.
During World War 1, Americans from various trades, including carpenters, painters, and women seamstresses, at work in an aircraft factory. Men and women work assembling Liberty aircraft engines to power DH-4 aircraft. Workers placing propellers on a row of assembled DH-4s in the factory. New DH-4s being started and tested on factory airfield. After testing, a DH-4 is painstakingly disassembled and packed for transport by train and ship to American units in France. In France, women carry airplane wings to an assembly shed where they are put back together and delivered to the flying units. Truckloads of aerial bombs being delivered to the airplanes. Armorers fusing and loading bombs under an airplane's wings, under watchful eye of the pilot.
Brigadier General Billy Mitchell taxis in a Boeing Model 15 ( or a Curtis P-1Hawk) airplane, after landing at an airfield. . Battle ships underway at sea. Mitchell organizes 1st provisional Air Brigade for bombing demonstration against battleship target.. Crews and airplanes train and prepare at Langley Field, Virginia. Soldiers load bombs under plane wings. Planes take off to bomb the obsolete U.S. battleship USS Alabama. View from airplane in flight as it drops phosphorus bomb on the Alabama. View from water as bomb strikes with huge explosion. Armorers prepare heavier bombs for the next demonstration. Planes take off and bomb the USS Alabama again. General Mitchell crouched down beside a bomb loaded on an airplane for new tests in 1923. General Pershing, Admiral Shoemaker, Assistant Secretary of War, Davis, and General Patrick on deck of the Ship, USS St. Mihiel (AP-32) to observe the tests. Views of planes dropping bombs on Battleship USS Virginia and the ship rolling over and sinking. Large formations of 1920s era Air Service aircraft in flight.
Circa 1927 views of aviation celebrities. Charles A. Lindbergh, standing by his airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis. One-eyed aviator Wiley Post standing with humorist Will Rogers. Amelia Earhart. .An overloaded airplane takes off and failing to climb scrapes a wing on runway and crashes.
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