It's a typical war-time training film on how to fly the P-51B, the one with the Allison engine. Curious to see Lee J. Cobb hosting two Army officers in the control tower while Arthur Kennedy, the pilot, goes through his check list, takes off, describes such fascinating topics as how much manifold pressure to maintain under a given set of circumstances and how much flap should be used during take offs and landings. Kennedy manages to project both confidence and competence as the "experienced pilot." There is a brief introduction at the beginning by an Air Force historian who knows his business and gives a concise and coherent explanation of what made the P-51 different from other airplanes of the period. If you don't know what a "laminar-flow wing" is, he'll tell you.
This introduction is followed by some combat footage, mostly gun camera photos, of enemy airplanes disintegrating and enemy locomotives hemorrhaging steam. You'll be familiar with much of it. You won't see the gun camera footage of a frantic Frenchman galloping along a dirt road in his horse-drawn carriage and disappearing in a cloud of dust. That footage is out there somewhere, floating around in the ether, but is rarely seen. Who wants to watch a farmer and an innocent horse die? The focus of the film is the entire twenty-minute training film for novices being trained to fly the P-51. Nice aerobatics.
This introduction is followed by some combat footage, mostly gun camera photos, of enemy airplanes disintegrating and enemy locomotives hemorrhaging steam. You'll be familiar with much of it. You won't see the gun camera footage of a frantic Frenchman galloping along a dirt road in his horse-drawn carriage and disappearing in a cloud of dust. That footage is out there somewhere, floating around in the ether, but is rarely seen. Who wants to watch a farmer and an innocent horse die? The focus of the film is the entire twenty-minute training film for novices being trained to fly the P-51. Nice aerobatics.
