| The July Special
Buy P-47 Thunderbolts Attack!" and get "Winning Your Wings" FREE
P-47 Thunderbolts Attack! DVD c 2008 Zeno's Warbird Videos. All rights reserved.
* The 362nd Fighter Group: On the prowl over Germany (Color 28:00) Exclusive Production. This video contains some of the most exciting color air action sequences to come out of World War II. Select 362nd Fighter Group P-47 Thunderbolt fighter/bombers were especially equipped with extra color movie cameras to capture thrilling ground and air attacks as they happened. These squadrons were tasked with striking targets inside Nazi Germany as the war against the Third Reich entered it’s final act in Spring, 1945. The result is unique “from the cockpit” views putting you in the middle of attacks on tanks, airfields, trucks, rail yards, bridges, trains, fighters, and more. You’ll even see antiaircraft fire arcing up from the ground, bursting around the big Thunderbolts as they make their low level strikes. You’ll meet 362nd CO Col. Joe Laughlin and the pilots and crews of the 377th, 378th and 379th Fighter Squadrons and their aircraft in living color.
*The 365 Fighter Group "Hell Hawks" (Color 18:00) Exclusive Production More exciting P-47 Thunderbolt action from the skies over Germany, Spring, 1945. CO Col. Ray J Stecker leads the men of the 386th, 387th, and 388th Fighter Squadrons into action. You’ll see extensive color footage of the 365th Thunderbolts in their forward bases in France and Belgium and exciting air-to- air and air-to-ground attacks, including rare gun camera film of the shoot down of a Messerschmidt Me 262 jet fighter! As an added bonus, there’s rare color footage of the “Operation Varsity,” the airborne assault across the Rhine.
* Bonus feature: Gun camera slow motion replay. (Color 32:00) When an aircraft is traveling at 300+ mph during an attack run, things happen in a hurry. It's often difficult to make sense of everything you’re seeing in the gun camera film. So, we have taken the very extensive gun camera footage in these two videos, isolated it into an additional video, and slowed it down so you have time to see what’s really happening.
Naval Aviation Cadet (Color,
1942, 18:00) Narrated by Joseph Cotton (Citizen Kane, The Third Man).
This color film follows the career of a Navy cadet from enlistment soon
after Pearl Harbor through Primary and Advanced Flight training and on
into combat. Especially memorable are the many scenes shot at Pensacola
Naval Air Station flight school. You'll see all aspects of cadet
training, including flight, gunnery, navigation and bombing, along with
a generous serving of cadet social life. This film is also notable for
extensive, rare color footage of a wide variety of USN training and
early war combat aircraft, including Vought OS2U Kingfisher catapult
float planes, Boeing N2S Kaydets, North American SNJs, Vultee SNV-1
Valiants, Brewster F2A Buffaloes and SB2A Buccaneers in flight,
Consolidated PBY Catalinas and Grumman F4F Wildcats operating off a
carrier deck.
Winning Your Wings
(B&W, 1943,18:00) Narrated by Oscar Winner and decorated bomber
pilot, Jimmy Stewart This rousing recruiting film was designed to show
the many benefits of joining the Air Corps. The United State's entry
into World War II seemed to happen almost overnight. That meant that
the Air Force needed thousands qualified air and ground crew yesterday. "Winning
Your Wings" is hosted and narrated by Capt Jimmy Stewart. Already an
accomplished pilot, Stewart enlisted early and served as a bomber pilot
and squadron leader throughout the war. The film shows that joining the
Air Corps provides a quick path to noncom and high paying officer
status and an advanced training program that would prove beneficial
after the War. The film points out that every U.S. Air Force
bombardier, navigator and pilot was an officer (a sore point with the
RAF). It also emphasizes that lack of a college degree is not a
prerequisite for advance rank or pilot training. And last, not but not
least, that the girls sure go for those pilot's wings! "Winning Your
Wings" is also notable for interior and exterior footage of rare prewar
vintage B-17s used to film in-flight sequences. "If you're not ready to
sign up after hearing the enthusiastic, stirring pitch from Jimmy
Stewart, well brother, you're just a Palooka from Palookaville!" Zeno
Cadet Classification
(B&W, 1943, 18:00) Narrated by Lt. Ronald Reagan. Most young men
who joined the Air Corps, wanted to be a pilot, but it was up to the
the training schools to determine where they made the best fit,
"Bombardier, Navigator or Pilot." Candidates went through an extensive
screening process, including physical fitness, high altitude survival,
mental aptitude under stress (graded by an early computer), physical
reaction time, ordination and agility, and more. One of the pleasures
of this film is seeing the wide variety analog of "high tech" equipment
(circa 1943) used to test the recruits. One of the purposes of the film
is to show that classifications are reached through scientific
methodology rather than subjective opinion that gives a a war winning
result. It's better for the Air Corps to have a great Bombardier or
Navigator than a mediocre Pilot.
Wings Up
(Originally released as "Sustineo Alas," B&W, 1943, 18:00 )
Narrated by Academy Award Winner Capt. Clark Gable. This film was
developed by the Army Air Corps to show men what to expect when they
entered Officer's Candidate School in Miami, Fla. There was a lot more
to becoming an officer than learning how to fly. You'll see the
physical amd mental testing and screening process that winnowed a
thousand prospective candidates down to a couple of dozen officer
candidates. who include (in this class) Olympic athletes, a circus
performer, symphony conductor, a Mayor, refugees from fascism, baseball
& football players, veteran enlisted men, and actors Gilbert Roland
and Robert Preston.This diverse group is sent through 12 weeks of tough
physical training, and classroom training in 33 subjects including
camouflage, strategy, leadership, and administration. A year of college
& West Point all rolled into one! |
