Dating to 1946, “Target Kite Manipulations” is a training film that shows how to use target kites in ship defense gunnery practice. Target kites were developed by the Special Devices Branch and Dr. Paul E. Garber, who later gained fame as the founder of the National Air and Space Museum and its senior historian. Garber’s interest in kites dated to childhood, when he was approached by none other than Alexander Graham Bell — who showed him that his kite was not assembled properly. Many WWII target kites were manufactured by the A. G. Spalding & Bros. company, a leading sporting goods manufacturer, others were constructed by Comet Model Airplane & Supply Co. and Ballard Aircraft Corp. Over 250K kites were made during the war.

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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