Great stuff ! I haven't seen RL footage of the Macon in operation since I obsessed over airships when I was a kid. A real F-9 Sparrowhawk in the background of one scene too !
Thanks a lot for posting....I didn't know about this film...and I've followed the ship for years. The sailor who survived the Akron incident, (Camp Kearney, Cal.,11 May 1932 ), was Apprentice Bud Cowart. He hung on for an hour and was eventually pulled up into Akron, shaken but ok. I'd like to find out the names of the two that died.......RIP.
Seaman Robert Edfall from Elkhart, Indiana, and Nigel Fenton from Fresno, California, clung desperately to their ropes but their grips failed at over 200 feet above ground. The pair fell violently to a sailor’s death. That left the third man, Charles “Bud” Cowart, who clamped his feet against a good-sized knot in the rope. Only 19 years old at the time, Cowart held on for dear life as the airship soared half a mile over the heads of 10,000 onlookers on the ground.
I saw that it was two hours. Here's a video about that incident. These guys were inexperienced and missed the first time. After they got it the second time they didn't hear to command to release the mooring lines. ruclips.net/video/pF5_OLJGPQY/видео.html
Edsall and Henton had only the wood handles on their guy ropes to hang onto...and they couldn't have hung on for long. Newsreel cameras were cranking away and captured first one man falling...,then the other. It took 2 hours and all kinds of complex maneuvering with shifting winds for Cowart to be pulled up into the ship. Had they tried to haul on the rope at the wrong moment, he'd have been tossed off and fallen like the other two.
+Robert Brockway My grandfather was weather officer on the Macon when it crashed off Big Sur. He told me some great stories about that and life in general aboard the USS Macon. Our family had some souvenirs from the airship - including my grandfather's life preserver signed by all the survivors - but over time it all vanished.
+Robert Brockway I should. Actually, my grandfather went on to much greater things, so we do have historians contact us (even the Navy) every now and then. Astonishing, how the Macon continues to hold the public's attention.
The preserver is at the Moffett Field Museum inside Moffett Field. I used to volunteer at the museum and I saw it as one of the exhibits in the "Macon room" Where they have a 1:700 scale model of the Macon and several other artifacts from the Macon on display, hope this helps, and God Bless your grandfather, he was very lucky not to have been hurt!
Minor continuity gaffe: Cagney and buddy close the gangway to the control car. Then when being taken out the hangar you can see the gangway open and down again.
Hole-e-wood. Yeah I've never accepted it even when I was a kid. And I had to watch "educational films " of that era.. Moral, do not edit. Phony as hell looking at that mock up of the bridge. Back-projections, the CGI of the day. At least the movie the Hindenburg had much more realism. Sadly these ships could have guarded the Pacific and no loss of the Arizona, yet the rest.
Isn't this the movie that featured the Battleship Arizona in it? I remember watching a documentary on airships including the event where several sailors were pulled up in the air when a sudden updraft caused the airship to shoot skyward. One by one they fell to their deaths except for one man. When interviewed later the farm kid said there was nothing to it, he just wrapped the rope around himself and relaxed. The only one who didn't panic. The others panicked and just held on until muscle fatigue set in. Real sad to see them falling to their deaths.
@Richard C You should go back and rewatch it. The kid that held on had a knot to put his feet one and a wooden peg to hold onto. He didn't "just relax" and hold on for 1 or 2 hours. The other guys didn't panic. Nobody could've held on like they did for long. ruclips.net/video/pF5_OLJGPQY/видео.html
Millions of dollars wasted on these white elephants of the stratosphere.....meanwhile millions of Americans were losing their homes, jobs, livelihoods, and all hope of the future......
One of my favorite actors in a daring rescue involving my favorite airship? This is beyond amazing!
"Those boys on the Arizona are the best!" That is some DARK forshadowning.
Great stuff ! I haven't seen RL footage of the Macon in operation since I obsessed over airships when I was a kid. A real F-9 Sparrowhawk in the background of one scene too !
Thanks a lot for posting....I didn't know about this film...and I've followed the ship for years. The sailor who survived the Akron incident, (Camp Kearney, Cal.,11 May 1932 ), was Apprentice Bud Cowart. He hung on for an hour and was eventually pulled up into Akron, shaken but ok. I'd like to find out the names of the two that died.......RIP.
Seaman Robert Edfall from Elkhart, Indiana, and Nigel Fenton from Fresno, California, clung desperately to their ropes but their grips failed at over 200 feet above ground. The pair fell violently to a sailor’s death.
That left the third man, Charles “Bud” Cowart, who clamped his feet against a good-sized knot in the rope. Only 19 years old at the time, Cowart held on for dear life as the airship soared half a mile over the heads of 10,000 onlookers on the ground.
I saw that it was two hours. Here's a video about that incident. These guys were inexperienced and missed the first time. After they got it the second time they didn't hear to command to release the mooring lines. ruclips.net/video/pF5_OLJGPQY/видео.html
Edsall and Henton had only the wood handles on their guy ropes to hang onto...and they couldn't have hung on for long. Newsreel cameras were cranking away and captured first one man falling...,then the other.
It took 2 hours and all kinds of complex maneuvering with shifting winds for Cowart to be pulled up into the ship. Had they tried to haul on the rope at the wrong moment, he'd have been tossed off and fallen like the other two.
Great to see the doors opening on Hangar One and the Macon emerge.
I remember going through FRAMP in VP-31 in Hanger One at Moffet Field...Then 4 more years in VP-40! ... 78-83
My wife's company is going to be redoing the outer skin of hangar one.
Love this film, the full film features a major part of it filmed on the U.S.S. Arizona. Have not been able to see it anywhere online
Has run on TCM from time to time.
ok.ru/video/350765845155
It is on RUclips. You can watch the full movie on this site.
"Those boys on the Arizona are the best in the world."
Dang it, Cagney and O'Brien were the backbone of naval and marine aviation for awhile in the 30s.
i have been looking for this a while thanks
Hanger 1 moffet field back then it was sunnyvale before it became Mt. View.
My favorite fearless US Navy ABH portrayal featuring our Beloved USS Arizona and Her Crew.
Hope You can Bounce Kid.
Good footage of the Macon though.
+Robert Brockway My grandfather was weather officer on the Macon when it crashed off Big Sur. He told me some great stories about that and life in general aboard the USS Macon. Our family had some souvenirs from the airship - including my grandfather's life preserver signed by all the survivors - but over time it all vanished.
*****
You still have the stories, you should write them all down. Bet they would be great reading.
+Robert Brockway I should. Actually, my grandfather went on to much greater things, so we do have historians contact us (even the Navy) every now and then.
Astonishing, how the Macon continues to hold the public's attention.
*****
Yes they do, the new air ships and blimps prove that.
The preserver is at the Moffett Field Museum inside Moffett Field. I used to volunteer at the museum and I saw it as one of the exhibits in the "Macon room" Where they have a 1:700 scale model of the Macon and several other artifacts from the Macon on display, hope this helps, and God Bless your grandfather, he was very lucky not to have been hurt!
Awesome greenbox shots
Gloria Stuart was right in "Titanic", she *was* a dish!
Minor continuity gaffe: Cagney and buddy close the gangway to the control car. Then when being taken out the hangar you can see the gangway open and down again.
Hole-e-wood. Yeah I've never accepted it even when I was a kid. And I had to watch "educational films " of that era.. Moral, do not edit. Phony as hell looking at that mock up of the bridge. Back-projections, the CGI of the day. At least the movie the Hindenburg had much more realism. Sadly these ships could have guarded the Pacific and no loss of the Arizona, yet the rest.
As Cagney would have said:" so what what?!
Isn't this the movie that featured the Battleship Arizona in it?
I remember watching a documentary on airships including the event where several sailors were pulled up in the air when a sudden updraft caused the airship to shoot skyward. One by one they fell to their deaths except for one man.
When interviewed later the farm kid said there was nothing to it, he just wrapped the rope around himself and relaxed.
The only one who didn't panic.
The others panicked and just held on until muscle fatigue set in.
Real sad to see them falling to their deaths.
Richard C that was the Akron
@Richard C You should go back and rewatch it. The kid that held on had a knot to put his feet one and a wooden peg to hold onto. He didn't "just relax" and hold on for 1 or 2 hours. The other guys didn't panic. Nobody could've held on like they did for long. ruclips.net/video/pF5_OLJGPQY/видео.html
@@justinjett017 it featured both, which is why in hindsight it makes it more the interesting film as we see two doomed vessels as they lived
Great video!
Great stuff! FLY NAVY!
brilliant.
I have an athletic photograph signed by the Captain and Crue of the 1935 Usa USS Akron Airship hanging in my living room,
The cap is stuck to his head
By God, that's a big ship...
Not as big as her Captain, I think
Is it not surprising where the crew stood on uss arizona is where the bomb hit dec 7 1941?
Darn no Jimmy Cagney dancing
Sure there is , early in the movie .rent it. But the last 5 minutes is terrible
Couldn’t they just have wound the rope back in?
Just go to 4.48 and watch clutz trip over the rails!
Wow
GREAT MOVING
4:46 Corporal Doofus takes a faceplant
Thats not real, they could have pulled the rope up... :)
That actually happened on another airship only two fell to their deaths
Millions of dollars wasted on these white elephants of the stratosphere.....meanwhile millions of Americans were losing their homes, jobs, livelihoods, and all hope of the future......
Fajny film