Army Air Corps

ARMY AIR CORPS FLYING CADETS WWII RECRUITING FILM 79124

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• published: 06 Jul 2016
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"Flying Cadets of the United States Army Air Corps" is a 30 minute short that was directed and written by Captain John H Fite, A.S.C. who was known to develop, direct, and write various propaganda films for various different branches of the American Armed forces between the late 1930's, to early 1950's, mostly for the Air Force during the years that America was engaged in World War II. The film features great footage of pre-WWII airplanes including biplanes used for training purposes, including PT-22s. "Flying Cadets" tells the typical story of four all American boys during their training period in the Army Air Corps. The film at the 1 minute mark opens up to shots of various different planes from bi-planes, to more recent and modern (for the time frame) all-metal, single-wing propeller and twin bladed propeller planes in service at the time. It stars Chad, who was someone who worked his way through college. Bob, who owned his own plane. Dill, who gave up a career in sports as a promising half back at a prestigious university, and Tex, who was a recent high school graduate. All four boys in the film had received their acceptance letters at their various different locations that they were found in, and subsequent shots show how each character inevitably made it to the initial training base. Some simply drove by car, others by bus (what appears to be a White Coach is seen at 2:04) , and others by train and airplane. All inevitably make it to the training barracks and meet one another where they become training cadets known throughout the Air Force as "Dodo's", which was a humorist name meant to signify a trainee in the air corps academy who had not undergone a solo flight yet. The film in the first half predominately show cases the beginning training that the "Dodo's" Chad, Bob, Bill, and Tex all go through together during the WWII era of the late 30's, and late 40's, transforming the trainee cadets to proper airmen who know the basic functions of how a plane works within 10 weeks. First they go through basic, receiving medical attention at the 3:30 minute mark, and then enter the barracks where afterwards footage is seen of the characters having access to the planes. Throughout the Basic Training segment of the first half, the characters also receive classroom training as well. Learning the basics of aerodynamics, mechanical attention to the plane, how to fly, what the controls do, and much more. At the 7:00 min mark, we see one of the Cadet Dodo's attempt a solo flight after their instructor has allowed them to do successfully. Afterwards the cadets, one by one, start to improve and even start to make solo flights themselves. After 10 weeks, the Dodo's move up from their self-imposed titles, to mere Cadets who have earned their wings, and now know the basic fundamentals of how Airplanes operate, and how to fly them themselves. However, their training is not yet complete. At the 11:00 minute mark we see that the characters training instead moves to Randolph Field, which is known as "The West Point of the Air", and considered at that point one of the best Air Force bases in the United States Armed Forces, and it's not hard to see why as it's also considered the most beautiful training center as well. From there the film goes through the daily life of one of the Cadets, following Chad, Bob, Bill, and Tex as they continue another 10 weeks in their training. Which of course includes receiving their Cadet uniform and further clothing, earning the equipment that they must maintain, going through a barber to receive a proper haircut, as well as scenes in the mess hall. At the 17:00 minute mark, Lieutenant Hale cordially meets with the new Cadets themselves as they show up, and from there the Cadets move onto other habits and techniques that will come in handy in their time in the Military. Including learning how to send, receive, and read Morse code, as well as other mental exercises such as how planes work, function, are produced. All in all, the film is about how the characters learn and continue on with their training and education before officially becoming pilots in the United States Air Force. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference." This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com