Flying Soldiers is a 1958 U.S. Army film (M.F. 46-8998) that promotes the new tactical air capabilities of Army aviation through developing helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and the tactical abilities that accompany that development. The highlight of the film is a demonstration of the air mobilization of the infantry. The film begins with footage from the point of view of a helicopter flying over a river. The film mentions the evolution of the U.S. Army’s mobility, and features a scene of men riding horses through the American southwest desert. During World War I, soldiers climb out of the trenches and charge across No Man’s Land (01:22). Mechanized warfare quickly developed during the 19th century, and the film shows a number of shots of tanks, trucks, and airplanes (01:47). Army soldiers ride horses (02:00). Hitler watches Nazi troops march; Germany’s Panzer tanks quickly cover ground in Europe. Allied soldiers park a jeep while on a recon mission (03:00). Army trucks move along a snow-covered mountain road (03:25). A European road is crowded with civilians fleeing the fighting of World War II (03:55). Rockets and missiles are fired (04:23). Soviet tanks, trucks, and troops participate in a military parade in Moscow (05:00). Army helicopters fly in the air, including a Bell H-13 Sioux. Large Army helicopters take off at night, most likely Piasecki H-21 Shawnee helicopters (06:48); Army fixed-wing aircraft—what appears to be a Beechcraft L-23 Seminole and a Cessna O-1 Bird Dog—take off and then land on short, rough fields (07:20). Planes paradrop supplies and lay wire (07:58). A Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw transports a missile to a launching site (08:20). Officers are briefed in a command room (08:52). Choctaws fly in to a landing zone (09:40), and troops run out and climb in the ships for transport. Jeeps are loaded into Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave helicopters (10:10). A Choctaw picks up a jeep with a towrope and hauls the vehicle away. Soldiers fire heavy artillery guns (11:16). Several Sioux helicopters fire machineguns and missiles to clear the new drop area. The Choctaws then head in. Soldiers sit and wait in the flying troop carriers (12:42). They land and the infantry quickly moves out. Vehicles and supplies are dropped off for the soldiers. Mojaves land and jeeps drive out of the giant helicopters (14:28). The armed Sioux helicopters provide cover for the Army’s advancing troops (15:33). A de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter troop carrier lands (16:20) in order to bring more troops to the Choctaw transport landing zone. Army tanks break through and join the assault (17:21). Soldiers evacuate wounded men onto the Mojaves. Footage shows the advancing force, troops and tanks, firing on enemy targets and making quick progress. Major General Bogardus “Bug” Cairns lands his H-13 Sioux helicopter (18:58) and talks to the camera about what Army aviation is capable of. At Fort Worth, TX, a new Bell UH-1 Iroquois Helicopter is being tested (21:27). An Iroquois takes off and flies over the Texas landscape. At Long Island, viewers see the new Grumman OV-1 Mohawk plane (22:50), used for low-altitude high-speed observation missions. A man shows where the cameras are placed in the fuselage. He then shows the electronic equipment compartment of the Mohawk. In Philadelphia, a V/STOL type aircraft takes off (24:44). The “Tilt-Wing” aircraft performs a vertical takeoff then flies forward like an airplane. In Toronto, a de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou (25:57) is inspected by Brig. Gen. Ernest F. Easterbrook. The Caribou fires up its engines and then demonstrates its short takeoff and landing capabilities. The film concludes with a montage of shots of men working on Army aircraft, as well as helicopters and planes in flight.

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