This silent footage from WJBK-TV in Detroit shows an air show and demonstration of the the-then new M48 Patton tank. The tank is marked “Detroit Arsenal” (:50). It’s believed that the base shown in the film is at Selfridge. Also on display is the Nike Missile (1:05) operated by the 1st Army Missile Group. At 1:38 a blimp from the U.S. Naval Reserve flies overhead. At 1:42 an unidentified man narrates as the tank crushes a car repeatedly. At 2:10 men inspect the destroyed car. At 2:20 a flight of what appear to be F4U-4 Corsair aircraft cruise overhead. At 2:24 is a demonstration of firefighting capabilities in the event of plane crash. Firefighters spread foam on a simulated wreck while a rescue helicopter Sikorsky UH-19B Chickasaw (3:18) hovers nearby and retrieves a dummy. At 3:41 a Navy seaplane drops a payload by parachute. At 3:55 a Navy Grumman Albatross lands on the runway. At 4:14 an F-86 Sabre taxis and does flybys to the crowd’s delight. At 5:00 an “official pace car” for a jogger has the crowd in stitches. At 5:07 a pilot climbs out of the F-86D Sabre marked FU-293. The pilot speaks with the jogger shown earlier.

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”

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