Fleet Air Arm (1962)

Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire.



An item filmed at the annual Royal Tournament In the Open Air.



Various M/Ss of the Women's Royal Army Corps Band marching through some public gardens.



Meanwhile at the Fleet Air Arm Base ...



C/U of a man in a close fitting flying helmet, the director of operations, blowing a whistle. Men in flying helmets are seen running towards several fighter planes on a runway. One group of men are pushing a cart with missiles on which they fix to the underbelly of a plane - they are re-enacting the battle scene on an aircraft carrier's deck. C/U of a man opening the cockpit, other men are seen running frantically around the plane preparing it for battle. C/U of four men in lifejackets - the pilots - looking at a map. The last of the ground crew leave the runway and the pilots climb into the cockpits. C/U of a pilot in a cockpit doing up his helmet. Various shots of the planes taxiing down the runway to take off. The launching crew squat on the ground waiting to attach the steam launching catapult - a British invention that allows a plane to take off on the confined space of a ship's deck. The launch crew make various last check signals to each other. Low angle shot of the aeroplane taking off.



According to the narrator, all the stories in this issue were also supposedly filmed at the 1962 Royal Tournament - this is confusing as paperwork suggest they were filmed at different locations... (I think the idea is that this is Pathe's version of an outdoor Royal Tournament, with contributions from around the country - SL.)



There is much documentation on file. Cuts exist - see separate record.
FILM ID:189.1

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