Rescued from the garbage bin of Rockwell International’s defunct facility in Los Angeles, this silent film (which once had a soundtrack — but we didn’t find one in the dumpster so this is shown silent) features footage of the B-1 Bomber mock-up and General Dynamics’ YF-16 Fighting Falcon prototype. The B-1 mock-up fuselage shown was made almost entirely of wood and debuted in 1971. At 3:10 engineers and U.S. Air Force maintenance crew are shown examining the mock-up and demonstrating how the bomber would be serviced in the field. At 5:30 are shots inside the Rockwell plant showing the assembly of the B-1 and the manufacture of some of its component parts. At 7:00 the crew escape capsule is shown being tested. At 7:10 the B-52 bomber “Balls 8” flies the escape capsule up over Edwards AFB for a parachute test. At 8:23, a mock-up of the aircraft is tested for radar signature. A map at 8:55 shows the various companies involved in the B-1 program which had 65,500 sub-contractor jobs affiliated with it in 45 states (11:12). At 12:38 wind tunnel testing of a B-1 and its munitions payload is shown. At 14:00, crew work in a simulator. A pylon test is shown at 14:28 with a large model. The mock-up is shown again at 15:28.
At 15:41 the film transitions to another movie about the General Dynamics F-16. The YF-16 prototype aircraft is shown at 16:53 flying over Edwards Air Force Base. The reactions of ground personnel at 25:47 appear to indicate that this might be the very first test flight of the aircraft. This prototype YF-16 ( #72-1567) was rolled out at Fort Worth on December 13, 1973 and was air freighted by C-5A to Edwards AFB on January 8, 1974. Its first flight was an unintended short hop around the pattern on January 21, 1974 at the hands of test pilot Phil Oestricher. At 30:56 the F-16 is shown next to an F-4 Phantom. The film concludes with beautiful air-to-air shots of the prototype flying over Edwards.
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,500 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976. Although no longer being purchased by the U.S. Air Force, improved versions are being built for export customers. In 1993, General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation, which in turn became part of Lockheed Martin after a 1995 merger with Martin Marietta.
he Rockwell B-1 Lancer[N 1] is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It is commonly called the “Bone” (from “B-One”). It is one of three strategic bombers in the U.S. Air Force fleet as of 2018, the other two being the B-2 Spirit and the B-52 Stratofortress.
The B-1 was first envisioned in the 1960s as a platform that would combine the Mach 2 speed of the B-58 Hustler with the range and payload of the B-52, and would ultimately replace both bombers. After a long series of studies, Rockwell International (now part of Boeing) won the design contest for what emerged as the B-1A. This version had a top speed of Mach 2.2 at high altitude and the capability of flying for long distances at Mach 0.85 at very low altitudes. The combination of the high cost of the aircraft, the introduction of the AGM-86 cruise missile that flew the same basic profile, and early work on the stealth bomber all significantly affected the need for the B-1. This led to the program being canceled in 1977, after the B-1A prototypes had been built.
The program was restarted in 1981, largely as an interim measure until the stealth bomber entered service. This led to a redesign as the B-1B, which had lower top speed at high altitude of Mach 1.25, but improved low-altitude performance of Mach 0.96. The electronics were also extensively improved during the redesign, and the airframe was improved to allow takeoff with the maximum possible fuel and weapons load. The B-1B began deliveries in 1986 and formally entered service with Strategic Air Command (SAC) as a nuclear bomber in 1986. By 1988, all 100 aircraft had been delivered.
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