The history of aviation. Aircraft parked on an airfield in France. Wilbur Wright adjusts a transporting wheel on the airplane. He places the wheel beneath a wing and attaches it by the means of a strap. A horse and two wheel cart to which the rope is attached, pulls the Wright aircraft across the airfield. Two men pull the propellers through on the Wright aircraft. Wilbur Wright in the background making adjustments upon the aircraft motor. Men check the launching rail. The aircraft is moved into position on the launching rail. Men pull weight up to the top of a launching tower. Wright aircraft demonstration in France in 1908. Spectators attend the demonstration. They include military and civilian men and women.
United Airlines DC-3 Mainliner aircraft lands and taxis to the airfield ramp,at Oakland, California. U.S. military and civilian officials, and newsmen gather around the airplane as its doors open. A crowd of spectators and well-wishers fill an area at the airfield terminal. Closeup of three Soviet flyers, standing and waving from the top of stairs at the plane's door. They are Pilot Valery Chkalov; Co-pilot Georgy Baydukov and Navigator Alexander Belyakov. They left Moscow, Russia, June 18, 1937 in a single-engine Soviet Tupolev ANT-25 aircraft on a flight over the North Pole and finally landed after 63 hours and 25 minutes, at. the U.S. Army Pearson Field in Fort Vancouver Barracks (Washington State, USA). Scene shifts to Pearson Field, where their airplane is being prepared for shipment back to Russia. U.S. Army soldiers package up recording instruments preserving evidence of the flight necessary to document their accomplishment. They remove and package loose articles, such as parachutes. View of the airplane being completely covered in protective tarp wrappings.
Flight tests of Ercoupe airplane without and with an auxiliary jet propulsion at March Field in California. Check posts made of aluminium sheets at an airfield. A sign on a check post: 'Explosives'. Solid propellant sections leave thrust to be used in Ercoupe airplane flight tests at the airfield.
Film opens showing entrance to cockpit of a U.S. Air Force Troop Carrier Douglas C-124 Globemaster aircraft en route from France to Indochina. A pilot is seen at the controls in the left seat, and the Aircraft Commander is observing from behind and between the pilots' seats. Close-up of number 3 and 4 engines with propellers turning as viewed from copilot's window. Two crew members are seen asleep on bunks in rear of flight deck compartment. Another is napping in a bulkhead seat. More views of engines running and propellers turning. Glimpse downward of land and clouds below. Close-up of Copilot in right seat of cockpit, wearing headset and making an announcement through his microphone. View of French paratroopers seated in cargo compartment, listening to the announcement from loudspeaker above them. Next, a French paratrooper passenger is seen opening contents of a flight lunch package. He uses the tiny can opener included in the package to open a can (with some difficulty). Paratroopers eating flight lunches.Two of the passengers playing chess on a miniature board with plug-in chessmen. Close-up of the chessboard. Co-pilot speaking on intercom again and a French paratrooper, wearing headset and microphone, speaking as well (likely translating). Glimpse of engine running on left wing. A different person (not in flight suit) at the controls in copilot's seat. The crew's Flight Engineer making throttle adjustments at his panel. View on the ground of French greeting party on the destination airfield to meet the arriving aircraft. Arriving C-124 aircraft taxiing on inboard engines only, as it proceeds along layers of pierced steel plank (Marsden matting) comprising the surface of airfield ramp. Views of French military waiting to greet arriving paratroopers. The aircrew's loadmaster lowering one of the aircraft's front loading ramps. French paratrooper passengers use it to leave the aircraft. (The other ramp is partially down and contains cartons and boxes.) Close-up of a French major in the greeting party. A woman greeting troopers, individually, as come down the ramp from the aircraft. Some French aircraft lined up on ramp, in background. (They appear to be Grumman F8F Bearcat aircraft.) Glimpse of an armed French Colonial (Tirailleurs Sénégalais) sentry standing near the aircraft. Troopers carrying cartons of rations from the aircraft and joining others preparing to board trucks for a ride to their quarters. Uniformed French soldiers in the greeting party help load heavy crate into an Army truck. Some troopers leave on trucks.
The film begins showing an airborne B-52 bomber and then a copilot in the cockpit. View down through the bomb bay of a B-52. View from another Aircraft of a B-52 dropping numerous conventional bombs on enemy positions in Vietnam. The open bomb bay is shown again, only this time clusters of bombs are seen dropping from it. Aerial view of the ground as the many bombs strike creating a line of explosions and smoke. Closeup of a crew member wearing an oxygen mask. Another view of bombs being dropped and exploding on the ground. Bomb bay on a bomber being closed after it has finished a mission. More aerial views of bomb strikes and damage on the ground. View from cockpit of a B-52 following another that is leaving condensation trails. An Air Force officer working on the ground with mechanics. An Air Force sergeant working with a Navy technician in a headquarters. Strategic Air Command (SAC) crew members in flight suits descend from an aircraft upon arriving at an Air Force Base. An Air Force General presenting a major with some type of an award. A B-52 taxiing on an airfield. An F-104 Starfighter aircraft taxiing on an airfield. War supplies for American forces being offloaded from a ship in Vietnam. An Air Force drill team marching. A mechanic replacing a bulb on a large high outdoor light. Brief glimpse closeup of some school children. Air force personnel rescue a person from a flooded house. The Air Force drill team, seen earlier, spinning their rifles. Air Force ground crews moving a thousand pound bomb on a trolley and installing it into a B-52. View from a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker as it refuels a B-52 in flight. View of the tanker hooked up to the B-52.
First scenes show United States Marines riding in a landing vehicle tracked (LVT) heading toward a Japanese occupied island in the Pacific. View from one of the landing craft of heavy smoke obscuring the island coast. Next, a dozen landing craft from the USS George Clymer (APA-27) are seen with mountains of the target island looming in the background. View from a different perspective shows several landing craft heading toward an inlet to the island. View from a landing craft of a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" airplane flying overhead. Closeup of American soldiers in a landing craft headed toward a different Japanese occupied island. U.S. soldiers leaving a landing craft in the surf. View from inside a landing craft as U.S. Marines head ashore. Soldiers splashing in the surf. Troops wading ashore. Soldier dug in on beach near underbrush, firing many round from his Browning M1919 machine gun. Marine firing his rifle behind a palm tree. Troops seeking cover at very edge of shore. Some lying in the water, before moving on. A soldier firing an automatic weapon through foliage. A bomb explodes near an invasion ship. Troops descending on rope nets from the troopship, USS Crescent City (APA-21) and entering her Higgins boats. Heavy equipment and ammunition being offloaded from the troop transport ship. Marines coming ashore. An LVT in the background. Marines behind a barricade built by the Japanese. Marines throwing hand grenades and firing Browning M1919 machine guns. Flame throwers being used to force Japanese from strongholds. Marines gathered all along a shore line. A bulldozer driving along the waters edge. Soldiers rolling steel mesh across the sand. An antiaircraft machine gun with a side magazine mounted on a jeep, moves on the sand. Several ensuing scenes show flame throwers being used. Marines near a wrecked Japanese structure and then escorting a Japanese prisoner. A group of Japanese prisoners being spoken to by a Marine with a microphone. Marines hunkered down on a beach. One is cranking a hand powered radio transmitter. Front ramp of a landing craft is dropped down with a splash at waters edge. An M3A1 light tank drives off the landing craft. A truck being offloaded onto the shore. A heavy field artillery piece being moved into position. Troops work to move another field artillery piece into position. Trucks and other vehicles wading through shallow water as they leave an LST. Troops wading ashore from the LST. Trucks arriving on the shore. A tractor pulls a canvas covered vehicle. Soldiers ride aboard a light tank. Unusual view of troops assembled on shore of a mountain with ice seen in places on it (likely in the Aleutians). Crowded beachhead with LST 477 seen beached. Marines looking at destroyed Shore defense installation containing heavy gun. Remains of a 4-engine Japanese Kawanishi H8K2 (Emily) flying boat in the water. Seabees building an airfield with heavy construction equipment. Troops gathered around a Navy F4F aircraft that landed on the new (unfinished) airfield. Closeup of the smiling pilot climbing down from his plane. Troops saluting as the American flag is raised on remains of a Palm tree trunk, on Eniwetok, February 1944. Remains of a Japanese shrine and views of dead Japanese soldiers.