This untitled, silent, color film from 1968 documents flying practice of two U.S. Air Force jets: the McDonnell F 101 Voodoo and the Lockheed NF-104A Aerospace Trainer 56-756. The film is not edited but rather a sequence of raw footage of the two jets that is pieced together with make-shift clapperboards denoting changes in shooting. The footage focuses on various aspects of the flying drill from prepping the planes, the pilots, and their uniforms to washing the exterior body of the jets. This film is a significant historical archive because, based on the jets featured in this film, it might portray tests and flight runs at the United States Air Force (USAF) Experimental Flight Test Pilots School at Edwards Air Force Base during the height of the space age.
Clapperboard (0:06). Dry, arid, sandy landscape and McDonnell F 101 Voodoo speeding along tarmac to takeoff (0:11). U.S. Air Force pilots wearing orange CWU-1/P flight suits assisted into the jet’s cockpit (0:28). Camera pans exterior details of the jet as it drives along the aerodrome (1:12). A pilot’s jumpsuit is adjusted with the help of a USAF lieutenant and mechanic (1:38). The pilot receives adjustments in the cockpit of the jet by jet engineer (2:08). Camera does close-up pan of exterior details of perhaps the Lockheed NF-104A Aerospace Trainer 56-756 – including rescue instructions (2:26). Two men in white jumpsuits coordinate cleaning the exterior of the Lockheed NF-104A Aerospace Trainer 56-756 (3:29). Engineers check fuel and interior mechanisms (4:04). The jet drives along tarmac (4:58). McDonnell F 101 Voodoo and Lockheed NF-104A Aerospace Trainer 56-756 side by side as they take off into the sky (5:37). Footage from cockpit of the Lockheed NF-104A of the McDonnell F 101 Voodoo as it flies amongst the clouds (5:50). Footage of the two jets flying side by side (7:33). “C” model zoom contrails (7:45). More views of the two jets flying side by side as seen from below and beside them (9:13). Footage from perhaps cockpit of the McDonnell F 101 Voodoo of the Lockheed NF-104A as it flies amongst the clouds and above arid and mountainous terrain (11:16). More footage of contrails contrasted against blue skies (11:43). McDonnell F 101 Voodoo and Lockheed NF-104A Aerospace Trainer 56-756 flying side by side (12:17). Close-up perspective of two planes (12:42). Two jets descend (13:00). Clapperboard laid on open page of an instruction manual (13:40). Close-up shot of different dials indicating oxygen levels (13:52). Cloud trails coming from the Lockheed NF-104A Aerospace Trainer 56-756 (14:57). Slowly the Lockheed NF-104A Aerospace Trainer 56-756 comes into view identifiable by its shiny metallic exterior (15:25-18:11).
McDonnell F 101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initial design on the Voodoo began just after World War II in response to a USAAF Penetration Fighter Competition in 1946. This called for a long-range, high-performance fighter to escort a new generation of bombers.
Lockheed NF-104A Aerospace Trainer 56-756 was an American mixed-power, high-performance, supersonic aerospace trainer that served as a low-cost astronaut training vehicle for the North American X-15 and Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar programs. The Lockheed served the Aerospace Research Pilots School between 1963 and 1971 and reached a maximum altitude of 120,000 ft.
