Gun camera footage aboard the P-38 Lightning aircraft of Lieutenant Fritsch, 44th Fighter Squadron, U.S. 13th Air Force, shows another P-38 from his squadron in flight ahead of him. The scene then shifts to view from his P-38 camera of a U.S. Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bomber in distress. The bomber crew bails out. Several of their parachutes are seen opening. Lt. Fritsch then proceeds to fire on the abandoned B-24. Tracers can be seen as Lt. Fritsch fires at the bomber.. Then smoke is seen rising from water where the bomber crashed.
A PBY Catalina of the U.S. Army Air Force, 2nd Emergency Squadron rescues a P-38 pilot. The PBY Catalina flies over water. Two P-38 planes in flight. The PBY Catalina lands in water. A P-38 pilot in water near the raft. The pilot climbs aboard. He writes on a paper. Another man near him. The pilot dries himself and wraps himself up in a blanket. He talks with the pilot of the PBY Catalina while the co-pilot is at controls. He is handed a steel cup with a spoon. Aerial view of Norotai air strip. The PBY Catalina lands. The rescued P-38 pilot climbs out. Another man follows. The rescued pilot shakes hands with a man.
A graduation ceremony for West Point Military Academy Cadets. 514 cadets graduate into the American Army. General Henry H Arnold, Chief of the Air Force, presents "wings" to one of the future Army Air Force officers. The graduate salutes back. The Cadet Corps parade in front of the commanding officers and pass in review.
Activities of the U.S. Army Air Service at Kelly Field in Texas. Six parachutists and crew stand in front of air transport carrier C-1. They board the aircraft. Parachutists leave the plane and descend. The parachutists in flight. They land at a field.
The Liberty L-12 engine. Scenes of its manufacture in American war plants. U.S. Air Service crews training in DeHavilland DH-4 aircraft. An airplane falling and crashed, with wreckage seen on ground. Head of the U.S. Army Air Service, General Patrick, and General Billy Mitchell, presenting medals to Captain Eddie Rickenbacker and other fliers of the U.S. Army 94th Aero Squadron, in France, during World War 1.
Views of extreme destruction from an earthquake in Chile, on January 24, 1939, that killed 25 thousand and injured 40 thousand persons. Homeless people stand out side wreckage. Relief supplies that the U.S. Army Air Corps flew from Panama are seen. Since all Red Cross medical planes were already being used, U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered additional medical supplies to be transported on the U.S. Army Air Corps XB-15 bomber, a single prototype, operated by the 2nd Bombardment Group at Langley Field, Virginia. Views of pilot, Major Caleb V. Haynes, supervising the loading of supplies. With Major Haynes,at the controls, the XB-15 is seen taking off on its earthquake relief mission in February 1939. Later, it is seen landing back at Langley Field, Virginia, after completing its mission. (Note: For this exceptional flight, Major Haynes and his crew were awarded the MacKay Trophy, in 1939.)
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