Orville Wright and U.S. Army aviator Frank Purdy Lahm, the first army passenger, test the "Wright Flyer" at Fort Myer, Virginia. A small group stands at the door of a hangar. A crowd gathers around the hangar. The doors of the hangar are opened. Dignitaries greet each other. Notable dignitaries present include U.S. President William Howard Taft and Mrs. Taft, U.S. Army Major General George O. Squier, U.S. Army Major Charles McKinley Saltzman. U.S. Army soldiers open the doors from the hangar. They push the Wright Flyer sideways out of the hangar.
Japanese bombing attack on Midway Island in World War 2 (Battle of Midway). Opening scene shows map with Midway Island in context .of the Pacific Ocean. A Navy Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat is seen among clouds. Closeup of the plane from another in formation with it. View of gunner with machine gun in blister of a PBY. Views from the PBY of Midway Island, from above and from low over the water. Two PT boats in the harbor. A PBY seaplane lands and is next seen being towed tail first up an incline, by sailors using lines. A U.S. Marine Corps color guard leads a contingent of Marines marching in formation along a pier, where some submarines are docked. F lock of white sea birds photographed against blue sky and Gooney birds on the white sands of the Island. Marines silhouetted in front of a beautiful sunset. The are relaxing. One plays an accordion. Sentries are alerted by some thunder from clouds in the distance. Next, B-17E bombers are seen near sandbagged positions on the airfield. Air crews gather for briefings. Camera pans over several B-17s being loaded with bombs and refueled. Glimpse of a railroad engineer who served 38 years on the Ironton railroad, standing next to a steam locomotive.( He is ostensibly related to one of the flyers.) Brief views of the flyer’s mother and sister. B-17 taxiing on number 1 and 4 engines (unusual). Several B-17Es taking off. One is Number 41-2524. Others with readable numbers are 41-2611, 41-2632, 41-2648, and 41-2437. Suddenly, several Japanese aircraft are seen in loose trail formation overhead. Marine fires machine gun from a defensive position. Black flak clouds form from exploding U.S. antiaircraft rounds. One Japanese aircraft falls burning toward the sea. Several U.S. Marine Chance-Vought SB2U Vindicator aircraft take off to engage the Japanese bombers. The U.S. aircraft maneuvering overhead. More machine gun fire from defenders on Midway. A bomb explodes close to the camera, sending debris flying. More machine gun fire, and another bomb strikes near the shoreline with a huge explosion. Explosions on other areas of Midway. A hangar burning. Another bomb strike close to the camera. Marines running past burning and destroyed aircraft, and raising the American flag, as fires burned and the bombing continued.
Views of U.S. Navy pilots, their aircraft, and aftermath of Japanese bombing of Midway Island, in World War 2. Opening scene shows a formation of U.S. Navy Douglas Dauntless aircraft in flight. A U.S. Navy pilot climbs from the cockpit of an F4f Hellcat airplane on the deck of an aircraft carrier. His aircraft displays symbols for two Japanese aircraft downed. Another pilot in cockpit of his airplane that displays symbols for 7 downed Japanese aircraft. He climbs from his cockpit. Other pilots climbing out of their aircraft. One displays symbols for 6 kills. Three of them pose in front of an airplane. Scene shifts to Midway Island where a hangar is still burning from Japanese bombing. Glimpse of Gooney birds. Sentries stand on the airfield, with black smoke rising in the background. Closeup of wing from a downed Japanese airplane. Marines look through tangled pieces of crashed airplanes. One leans on a bent propeller blade. Heavy black smoke from petroleum fire is seen in background. Scene shifts to a PBY Catalina flying boat in flight, searching for survivors of the Battle of Midway. A U.S. Navy aircraft is seen floating in the sea, as a Navy warship heads toward it. A survivor is seen being helped from a PBY aircraft. Earlier picture of him smoking a cigarette inside the PBY aircraft. Sailors help him to a waiting ambulance. Other rescued survivors are seen standing about. Sailors place a litter aboard a PBY and use it to transport another survivor to sick bay. (Narrator states this is the 13th survivor rescued by the pilot of this PBY Catalina.) Ambulatory survivors being covered with blankets as they sit in the back of an ambulance, that then drives away with back door still open. Views of destroyed hospital on Midway Island. Red cross markings on are shown in the debris.
USAAF radio plane OQ-14 as a target plane, maneuvers in El Paso, Texas (operating out of Fort Bliss). The pilot, sitting in an AT-6 (aircraft) used to control the target airplane from the air. The pilot handing out the hand control used to control the target aircraft in flight. The AT-6 which is used to control the Radioplane OQ-14 drone while in flight. U.S. Army team launches the OQ-14 drone from a catapult. The OQ-14 in flight. The OQ-14 performing aerial maneuvers. AT-6 aircraft take off near launching ramp, with Franklin Mountains in background. (This is more accurately a Harvard IIB control plane which is the first Lend/Lease Noorduyn AT-16-ND built for the British). The AT-6 and U.S. aircraft C-45 controller / camera plane taxi. Aerial views of thehe AT-6 in flight and the OQ-14 drone in flight. OQ-14 maneuvers. The OQ-14 parachute deploys and the OQ-14 descends to ground. View of parachute and aircraft lying on ground in Ft Bliss area.
The Arcadia Conference in Washington, DC, during World War 2, from December 22, 1941 to January 14, 1942. American President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, are seated in chairs on a portico of the White House. ( Roosevelt wears a black arm band, in mourning for his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, who died on September 7, 1941.) Behind them stand representatives from various Allied nations. Scene shifts abruptly to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, June 24, 1942, where Prime Minister Churchill and U.S. Army Brigadier General William C. Lee, ride in back of an open white convertible car to inspect U.S. Army troops at attention in a massive formation. Next, the troops are seen marching. Churchill smoking a cigar is seated on a bench watching as the parade continues, to include soldiers in jeeps, and trucks. Closeup of U.S. Army chief of Staff, General George Marshall, conversing with Prime Minister Churchill. Next, Churchill, accompanied by General Lee, personally inspects Army paratroopers in their jump gear. Among others accompanying him is U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, wearing a pith helmet. Churchill listens on a portable radio, as paratroop commanders in flight give orders for their paratroopers to jump. Formations of U.S. Army Air Forces C-47 aircraft are seen overhead, as hundreds of paratroopers jump from them and descend by parachutes. Churchill, seated on a chair, next to General Lee, watches the paratrooper demonstration. Secretary Stimson, sits behind him. British and American officers and soldiers stand behind and watch, as well. Closeup of Churchill with cigar in his mouth, shielding his eyes, with his hands as he watches the demonstration. The second person seated behind Churchill is British Field Marshal Sir John Dill, with his hand on an upright wood support. More views of parachutes floating down into an area of trees, and of more C-47s dropping paratroops from overhead.
Demonstrators protest for removing movie tax in New York City. The demonstrators hold various banners as they protest. They walk with the U.S. flag. A tall building in the background. Banners read 'Why Tax Us..., When The Federal Government Helped Us', 'RKO Theater Home Office' and 'Congress Helped Us, You Want To Ruin Us'. Traffic on a road. The demonstrators in the background. A sign: 'Jefferson Theater'. Three demonstrators hold a banner reading "Kill The 5% Movie Tax". The demonstrators walk along the streets of the city.
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