Powered Flight - the Story of the Century. Part 2

The second half of the film begins with footage of the Schneider contests (Supermarine S.4 / S.5 / S.6 / S.6B), the long-distance flights of Ross and Keith Smith, Bert Hinkler, Charles Kingsford Smith, Charles Lindbergh and Amy Johnson.
It moves on the Dornier Do-X flying boat, 'Graf Zeppelin' airship and dramatic footage of the 'Hindenburg' disaster at Lakehurst, NJ May 6 1937. Flying boats (Supermarine Southampton, Short Singapore, Short S.8 Calcutta, S.23 Empire Flying Boats - G-ADHL ‘Canopus', G-ADHM ‘Caledonia’), the 1934 McRobertson Race to Australia (De Havilland DH.88 Comet, Douglas DC-2) and then the Cierva C-30 autogiro.
Much of this segment of the film is devoted to the build-up to and subsequent air operations of the Second World War, beginning with the Royal Air Force Air Displays at Hendon and its 1935 Jubilee Review in front of King George V. The Junkers Ju52 and the rise of German military aviation is followed by footage of Supermarine Spitfire K5054 prototype in flight. WW2 air operations are then described and shown including German Junkers JU 87 Stuka dive-bombing, the Battle of Britain (Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire) and the rise of airpower (Vickers Wellington), Shorts Sunderland. The Whittle jet engine (Gloster E28/39) is followed by footage of the V-1 flying bomb, Gloster Meteor, Avro Lancaster bombing, Hawker Typhoon, de Havilland Mosquito, Airspeed Horsa glider, troop-carrying Douglas Dakotas, the rise of aircraft carriers in the Pacific air war followed by the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
Postwar American dominance of airliner development (DC-4, Lockheed Constellation) is compared to British designs (Avro York / Lancastrian).
The film ends with flypasts of various 1950s leading British aircraft designs including Avro Vulcan, Saunders-Roe Princess flying boat, de Havilland Comet, Vickers Viscount, Bristol Britannia / Bristol 173 helicopter closing with Heathrow's London Airport and launch of the V-2 rocket as a sign of the space age to come.
A 53 black-and-white sound made by the Shell Film Unit in collaboration with the Royal Aeronautical Society for which Peter G. Masefield and Peter W. Brooks acted as advisors. Music by Malcolm Arnold.
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Originally available on loan from 1954 to societies on 6 reels of 16mm or 35mm film with sound.