Produced by Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, Flying The B-24 is a short instructional film that covers “certain of the more fundamental procedures surrounding the handling of the B-24 [four-engine] bomber in flight.” The film uses actual footage of the ship performing the various operations described, complementing exterior shots of the B-24 with matching footage from the cockpit for each maneuver. The film opens with a B-24 on a sandy runway preparing for takeoff (01:21). A pilot sits in the cockpit and begins takeoff operations. The ship takes flight at 150 mph. Footage from the cockpit shows the crew reducing power (03:00), which is followed by a shot of a propeller. The crew blends propeller shadows (03:47). The B-24 climbs 1,000 feet per minute. In the cockpit, the crew monitors the rate of climb (04:45), oil pressure, fuel pressure, and oil temperature. The B-52 climbs to its cruising altitude of 9,000 feet by climbing a little over 9,000 feet then dropping down to that altitude. The copilot resynchronizes the propellers (07:23). The B-52 tries to gain speed under reduced power (08:45). A member of the crew checks to make sure that the flaps and landing gear are fully retracted (09:22) and that the turrets are facing the tail to minimize drag. Footage shows the manifold pressure gauges (11:00). The ship climbs to a higher altitude, and there is good shot of the B-24 flying over mountains (12:23). The plane banks at a 30-degree turn maintaining altitude (12:50), then performs a 60-degree turn (13:25). The next operation is climbing elevation in order to dive the ship (14:44; 16:25). Speed is then reduced to 150 mph for maneuvers with flaps extended (17:34), including turns (17:50; 18:40; 19:30), a stall with power off (20:57; 21:20), and a stall with flaps and gear down (22:14; 22:37). The B-24 climbs to 9,200 feet (24:26) before leveling off at 9,000 feet, then the crew feathers the engines (25:00), increasing manifold pressure and stopping one engine in order to fly with only three engines (25:57). The ship performs a turn away from the dead engine (26:30), followed by a turn toward the dead engine (26:57). The second engine is shut down (27:35) so only one side of the plane’s engines are on. This still allows for flight, but the ship must be flown cautiously. The B-24 turns away from the dead engines (28:08) and then performs a turn toward the dead engines (28:30; 29:09). The crew restarts the second engine (29:40), then the first, holding down the prop feathering switch until the propeller hits 1,000 rpms. The film concludes with a shot of the B-24 flying with mountains in background (31:10).

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