This brief film by John and James Love shows sailplanes, and features famed sailplane designer Hawley Bowlus. It was probably shot at Point Loma in San Diego, California. Sailplanes rely heavily on wind currents for movement forcing pilots to behave like birds. The film shows the assembly of sail planes and follows the flight of a newly assembled plane. William Hawley Bowlus was an American designer, engineer and aircraft builder. He was well known for his glider crafts and recreational vehicles during the 1930’s and 1940’s.
The film opens with a special acknowledgment for Bowlus (:07) whom was also the chief pilot for this film. The film was produced by John W. Love (:15). The Wright Brothers first flight is pictured in a glider aircraft (:37). An engine was added to the glider making it the first airplane (:41). An early glider flies low over ground (:58). A sail plane zooms towards the camera (1:13). Hawley Bowlus appears in the cockpit (1:33). The foot pedals are noted for steering (1:40). A glider club works on a glider kit (1:48). They sand down wooden pieces (2:04). The assembled glider is taken to the field for a test (2:19). A car drags the sail plane into the air (2:27). A Hawley Bowlus Baby Albatross, tail NX13399, soars through the air (2:43). It glides down an imaginary slope in the air (2:52). Pilots search for rising currents of air in order to lift them upwards (3:02). The pilot also may search for ‘dust devils’ or thermals (3:20). Thunder head clouds are pictured (3:23). Crows and hawks circle on a thermal (3:30) similarly to how the sail plane might. The narrator mentions contour currents are better suited for the novice flier (3:48). These currents are explained (3:55). A sailplane swims in the air over a coastline (4:02). The pilot bends his ship into the wind for a turn (4:11). Another sail plane is pictured under assembly (4:39). Streamline struts support the wings (4:45). The control column (5:03) moves the elevators (5:07). The wheel (5:11) controls the ailerons (5:13). Pedaling is used to steer (5:15). Bowlus is noted on the rudder (5:17). The release is pulled on the control panel (5:25). The pilot straps on his safety belt (5:36). The wind shield is set over the cockpit (5:39). The helper lifts the wing tip (5:50). The speedometer shows the speed increase as the towing crew moves off (6:05). A good shot from the sail plane shows its lift off (6:09). The tether is released (6:17). The nose heads for blue waters (6:26). It bends in the updraft near a cliff (6:35). Another sail glider floats in (6:57). The camera follows the pilot in the cockpit as the move over the ridges of the cliff (7:38). A view from below captures the expanse of the sail plane’s wings (8:14). The ground zooms near as the sail plane readies for a landing (9:19). It skids against the dirt to a halt (9:30). The pilot and support crew notice a bird floating in the air above (9:47) bending along with the wind.
William Hawley Bowlus (1896 – 1967) was an American designer, engineer and builder of aircraft (especially gliders) and recreational vehicles in the 1930s and 1940s. He is well known for his creation of the world’s first aluminum travel trailer, the Bowlus Road Chief, which Airstream imitated to create the Clipper. He also worked on the Spirit of St. Louis. He also designed and constructed the unsuccessful XCG-16A experimental military glider.
Bowlus was an expert at soaring flight and at building gliders, established numerous records, trained many of America’s earliest glider pilots, and gave gliding lessons to both Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Bowlus was inducted into the Soaring Hall of Fame in 1954.
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