This silent film, “Astrojets in Turbulence” was a “rough cut” of an American Airlines training film for pilots. The marks you see on the film were made by the editor with a grease pencil, and indicate where fade-ups and fade-downs would have been added in post production. The sound for the film has unfortunately been lost. The film shows various shots of AA Boeing 720 aircraft, cockpits and pilots at work, with an obvious focus on how to avoid loss of control issues in turbulent conditions. The film was most likely produced after a fatal accident. On February 12, 1963, Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705, a Boeing 720-051B (reg. N724US), suffered an in-flight break-up over the Florida Everglades about 12 minutes after leaving Miami, bound for Chicago. All 35 passengers and eight crew died. The cause of the crash was determined to be an unrecoverable loss of control due to severe turbulence.
The Boeing 720 was conceived in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, and first flew on November 23, 1959. Compared to the 707-120, it has a length reduced by 9 feet (2.7 m), a modified wing and a lightened airframe for a lower maximum takeoff weight.
The Astrojet was a nickname given to the carrier’s new aircraft which were of a retro design with vivid red stripes on a polished aluminum fuselage. The film was created to be a part of training material for pilots and provides direction in order to guide am astrojet through turbulence safely. Captain Fred Illston; Director of Flying Procedures for American (1:05) opens the film. Records and memos from the Federal Aviation Agency are presented (1:32). Another memo on Turbojet operations from February 26th, 1965 follow (1:34). Pilots enter a flight simulator inside a large centrifuge (2:12). The angle of attack is highlighted on an animation of an Astrojet (4:38). Pilot controls and radar screens are pointed to prior to turbulence (4:50) as well as after (5:18). A scale model of the astrojet is presented to show what it might look like as it bounces through turbulence (5:29). A pilot adjusts his gears as he enters the so called ‘bumpy air’ (5:52). Co-pilot and pilot bounce side to side in unison as they ride through turbulence (7:42). An animation shows the plane tipping downwards (9:26). In a scene of heavy turbulence papers float in the air over the pilots hands as he struggles to grip controls (12:24). Papers and charts indicate the initial buffer boundary (13:41). The Boeing 707 operating manual follows (15:45). This film was produced by American Airlines flight Academy Audiovisual services (20:06).
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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
