Directed by Jerry Hartleben, who’s had a long career as a documentary filmmaker, and shot by award winning cinematographer Conrad Buff, “Down to the Wire” is a portrait of naval aviation cadets struggling to receive their carrier wings circa 1970. To become qualified as a carrier jet pilot, a variety of tasks must be mastered from “touch-and-go’s” on land to that first hairy carrier landing at sea. The famed Essex class carrier USS Lexington (CV/CVA/CVS/CVT/AVT-16), known as “The Blue Ghost”, appears in the film. By the end of the film, these cadets are on their way to earning their Naval Aviator ratings.

The aircraft shown in the film are the North American T-2 Buckeye. They were the United States Navy’s intermediate training aircraft, intended to introduce U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps Student Naval Aviators and Student Naval Flight Officers to jets. It entered initial service in 1959, and was replaced by the McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk in 2008.

Jerry Hartleben got into Hollywood at age 10, playing Van Heflin’s son in 3:10 to Yuma. While he acted in a few films (most notably, he played Lon Chaney as a boy in 1957’s The Man of a Thousand Faces), it was never his passion—that was photography. He went on to become a respected cinematographer, working on feature films (Wilder Napalm, 1993), television series (thirtysomething), and commercials.

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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, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com