This silent, black-and-white and color film primarily features scenes of Luke Air Force Base during the early 1950s. It contains footage of F-84 aircraft, as well as footage of a photographic darkroom and studio / laboratory. The F-84 was one of the main attack aircraft used during the Korean War. Luke Air Force Base was originally built as Luke Army Air Field during World War II and was the largest base of the U.S. Army Air Forces during the war. In 1951 it was reactivated as an Air Force base. Located 15 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona, the base was a training site where pilots trained on the F-84. Squadrons of the Michigan Air National Guard served at the base which could explain why the film includes footage of several F-86 planes assigned to the Michigan Air National Guard and footage of an Air Force ceremony at a base near Alpena, Michigan.
(00:09) Exterior of Luke Air Force Base in Arizona
(00:20) Cars drive onto the base, located near Glendale
(00:48) The base’s headquarters
(01:01) Sign for Luke AFB that includes a St. Luke caricature (?)
(01:13) Mobile control tower on a flatbed truck.
(01:29) An F-84 Thunderjet flies during training
(01:53) The aircraft, deployed extensively during the Korean War, lands on the runway
(02:21) Footage of the P-51 Mustang, marked FF-844, landing
(02:43) Slow pan of the base, airplanes and buildings can be seen
(03:12) A Staff Sergeant (E-5) answers a rotary telephone
(03:30) He pulls folders from a filing cabinet. They read: Luke Interlude! Produced by the United States Air Force. Direction Ric Hill & Casey Davis.
(03:51) The airman opens his magazine “American Photography” to a page featuring female nude models.
(04:18) A soldier uses a darkroom
(04:49) A Speed Graphic large format camera is shown.
(05:12) An airman uses an enlarger to print a photograph
(05:41) The photo paper is then dipped into darkroom trays
(05:55) The men look at the photo
(06:58) A large film processor is attended to.
(07:47) Another man uses the trays to develop a photo
(08:04) Photos sit in the final tray
(09:07) The time is four o’clock, the airmen rush with cleaning supplies
(09:32) Footage of soldiers preparing to board busses
(10:06) Two F-84 planes fly in the distance
(10:16) Aerial footage
(10:39) An airman loads artillery into the plane
(11:12) Aerial footage taken from the plane, possibly of Alpena, Michigan
(11:34) An F-86, assigned to the Michigan Air National Guard, takes off
(11:39) Members of the Michigan Air National Guard trained at Luke AFB during the Korean War
(11:43) The F-86 Sabre was designed to counter the Soviet MiG-15
(11:55) Slow-motion footage of airmen playing baseball
(12:25) Soldiers, including a color guard, stand at attention
(12:31) A man, possibly first Secretary of the U.S. Air Force Stuart Symington, exits the plane at the Alpena County airport, operated by the Michigan Air National Guard who had a base nearby.
(13:28) A military flyover
(13:41) The man in a suit delivers a short speech
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