World War 2 Allied Aviation News Volume 1
American Military Aviation Newsreels & Air Force Alerts 1941-943

As war spread across Europe and Southeast Asia, the US Army Air Force & the American aviation industry answered President Roosevelt's call to action, gearing up at breakneck speed to meet the growing Axis threat. Then, after the Pearl Harbor attack, the American took its first step towards rolling back then Japanese in the Pacific as the Allies turned the tide in Europe.

Army Air Force Newsreels 1941 (B&W, 36:00) Just some of the many highlights; First public unveiling & testing of the P-38 Lockheed Lightning, test flights (including rare interior shots) of the gigantic Douglas B-19 experimental long range bomber that could fly 4,000 miles with 18,000 lbs of bombs, the largest bomber produced in the USA until 1946, see Curtiss Aircraft build a new factory to crank out more P-40 War Hawks, then watch a WarHawk be bore sited & see it break the world speed record in a screaming 660 mph dive; General George Patton learns how to fly; Rare footage of early B-17Bs & Es: Antiquated Martin B-10 bombers prepare to defend Clark Field in the Philippines; Thousands of pilots and air gunners are trained in new air fields across the USA; Lend Lease Douglas Bostons & Lockheed Hudsons are mass produced in new factories and ferried to Britain; The public debut of Northrop's evolutionary N-1M “Flying Wing;” Allison V-1710 V-12 aircraft engines stream off the assembly line in Indianapolis: Bell P-39 Airacobras roll off the line in Niagara Falls NY & watch them in high speed ground attack target practice, the debut of the Curtiss C-46 transport plane; The first newsreels showing the Japanese attack on Peral Harbor & much more.

American Military Aviation News 1942 (B&W,15:00) New air bases are built across the Pacific; See the first film the American public saw of the historic Battle of Midway: Claire Chenault's “Flying Tigers” take on the Japanese in the air in China as volunteers & then are inducted into the US Air Force; Australia based B-17s & B-26 make the first attacks against Japanese forces on New Guinea: The huge XPB2M-1 Mars Flying takes to the skies, Blimp production ramps up to protect Atlantic convoys from subs, Bomber Gunnery training & more

Army Air Forces Alerts 1942-1943 (B&W, 50:00) were produced by the “Training Film Production Lab” by U.S.A.A.F. Material Command center at Wright Field Ohio to inform airmen about the latest development in aviation and too alert them about potential areas for concern. You'll get a look inside the top secret facility where new weapons, munitions and and aircraft were developed and tested. There's a veritable cornucopia of planes on display, including various models of Hurricanes, Spitfires, P-40s, A-20s, P-47s, B-17s, a Ferry Battles with contra rotating props & more. Segments include a radio controlled mini plane, production of Mustard Gas bombs (just in case the Axis used them first), Helicopter prototypes, an inside out first look at the Rolls Royce Merlin/Packard P-40F, emergency radios for downed air crew, testing large transport gliders, instruction for air gunners on how to avoid jams in .50 cal machine guns, turbo supercharger theory & operation, an extended segment on avoiding aviation accidents introduce by General Hap Arnold & more

US Military Aviation News 1943 (B&W, 35:00) Highlights include: General Douglas MacArthur leads the first counter attacks on the Japanese from Australia, WACs are deployed as aircraft mechanics & air traffic controllers to free up men for combat duty, Air attacks against Japanese positions around Lae, New Guinea, Blimps patrol Atlantic convoy roots, sinking U-Boats, B-25 medium bombers are armed with 75 mm canon for ground attack, B-17s launch air attacks against Germany, escorted by free ranging P-47 Thunderbolts, low level attacks by B-25s & A-20 Havocs against Japaneses bases, \B-17s bomb a U-Boat Base, Clark Gable goes to aerial gunnery school , Paratroopers drop into combat in North Africa, the carrier USS Hornet is revealed as the “secret base” that launched Billy Mitchell B-25 raid on Tokyo, including the first film show to the American public, a thorough description of a precision bombing attack against Axis forces near Rome, air strikes from Guadalcanal & more