Airport America (1954, sound)

Description:

Description: Film about the evolution of the aviation industry and development of regional airports throughout the United States. Discusses usefulness of airplanes to farmers, ranchers, families, vacationers, fish and wildlife services, and pipe and power line patrolmen. Advocates increased airport construction, especially in rural America. Describes the centrality of general aviation to the U.S. economy.

Library of Congress Card Number Fi54-333

Partial shot list:

Many aerials of American townscapes, farms throughout
Steam train
Couple cranking and driving old cranked automobile (supposed to be 1903)
Rutted road
Crowded Los Angeles freeway – many cars in one direction, few in another
The “Stack” near downtown Los Angeles
Old barnstorming pilot; well-dressed couple gets out of old biplane
Passengers at North Platte, Nebraska airport
VS crowds at airport
Passengers greeting plane
Skeletons of new terminal buildings under construction
VS aerials and street-level shots of small American towns (good)
Aerial small-town airport
Old yellow-cab station wagon pulling in at small-town airport
VS small-town airports
Sign: Vicksburg Airport, Vicksburg, Mississippi
VS small private planes at small airports
Man whitewashing lines on stones to form control boundary at small airport
Aerials of rural airports
Construction and survey crews at small airports (VS)
VS harvestable crops (wheat sheaves)
VS wheat harvesting with 2 combines and trucks
Man painting cropduster – sign “South Carolina Aerial Surveying Service Inc.”
VS man starting engine on biplane
VS biplane cropdusting
CU pilot with goggles looking into and onside of camera which is placed in cockpit of cropduster (good obsessive image showing cropdusting)
Farmer paying check to pilot
Airplane lands in field to deliver spare part to harvesting combine
(music same as Goodbye Mr. Roach hatching sequence)
VS harvesting and maintenance
VS burned tree trunks and timber post forest fire
Forest Service plane taking off at airstrip
VS Smokejumpers parachuting out of plane (seen from plane window looking back)
Air-to-air shot looking down on insect-spraying plane, spraying insecticide from both sings
Logger felling tree (Douglas fir?)
VS logging; trees breaking and falling
Logging truck with logs pulling away with sunset in background
Cart pulling gleaming plane out of hangar
VS runways from above
Le Tourneau marked on airplane rudder
Union Oil Company on airplane rudder
Businessmen leaving terminal building
Firestone HQ
Kraft Foods Company HQ
Men in white shirts and ties entering Raytheon corporate plane
Businessmen walking into “Idaho National Bank”
Aerial of open pit mining
Shot of smokestacks (good)
Workers leaving factory
VS heavy industry
CU oil well counterweight rotating
Oil well at sunset (good)
Man puts suitcase into luggage compartment of small plane marked “Fitzpatrick Drilling Company”
Two men unloading stretcher from red air ambulance
Another cropdusting shot
Airplane taxiing thru wheat field
Family getting into small plane
Couple with rifles getting into red plane (sportsmen)
Passengers leaving small plane marked Provincetown-Boston Airline
Small plane taxiing by hangar marked “Aircraft Division”
Aerial (low) of small town
Narrator: “The air is the greatest freeway man will ever know. It doesn’t have to be built or maintained. It touches every city and town.”

Reuse Statement: For information on reusing Prelinger Archives footage and obtaining written usage agreements, please visit www.prelinger.com.

Subjects: 1950s,Aviation and aerospace,Industry,Transportation

Tags: aerials; American townscapes; farms; steam trains; couple cranking and driving old cranked automobile; rutted roads; crowded LA freeways; The “Stack” (near downtown Los Angeles); old barnstorming pilots; well-dressed couple gets out of old biplane; passengers at North Platte airport; crowds at airports; passengers greeting planes; skeletons of new terminal buildings under construction; airports; taxis; Vicksburg Airport sign; whitewashing lines on stones to form control boundary at small airport; construction and survey crews at small airports; harvestable crops; wheat sheaves; South Carolina Aerial Surveying Service Inc.; biplane cropdusting; close-up pilot with goggles looking into and onside of camera; farmer paying check to pilot; burned tree trunks and timber post forest fire; forest Service plane taking off at airstrip; smokejumpers parachuting out of plane; air-to-air shot looking down on insect-spraying plane; logger felling trees; logging; logging truck with logs pulling away with sunset in background; cart pulling gleaming plane out of hangar; runways from above; Le Tourneau marked on airplane rudder; Union Oil Company on airplane rudder; businessmen leaving terminal building; Firestone headquarters; Kraft Foods Company headquarters; men in white shirts and ties entering Raytheon corporate plane; businessmen walking into Idaho National Bank; aerial of open pit mining;

Complete Record: Description: Film about the evolution of the aviation industry and development of regional airports throughout the United States. Discusses usefulness of airplanes to farmers, ranchers, families, vacationers, fish and wildlife services, and pipe and power line patrolmen. Advocates increased airport construction, especially in rural America. Describes the centrality of general aviation to the U.S. economy. Library of Congress Card Number Fi54-333 Partial shot list: Many aerials of American townscapes, farms throughout Steam train Couple cranking and driving old cranked automobile (supposed to be 1903) Rutted road Crowded Los Angeles freeway – many cars in one direction, few in another The “Stack” near downtown Los Angeles Old barnstorming pilot; well-dressed couple gets out of old biplane Passengers at North Platte, Nebraska airport VS crowds at airport Passengers greeting plane Skeletons of new terminal buildings under construction VS aerials and street-level shots of small American towns (good) Aerial small-town airport Old yellow-cab station wagon pulling in at small-town airport VS small-town airports Sign: Vicksburg Airport, Vicksburg, Mississippi VS small private planes at small airports Man whitewashing lines on stones to form control boundary at small airport Aerials of rural airports Construction and survey crews at small airports (VS) VS harvestable crops (wheat sheaves) VS wheat harvesting with 2 combines and trucks Man painting cropduster – sign “South Carolina Aerial Surveying Service Inc.” VS man starting engine on biplane VS biplane cropdusting CU pilot with goggles looking into and onside of camera which is placed in cockpit of cropduster (good obsessive image showing cropdusting) Farmer paying check to pilot Airplane lands in field to deliver spare part to harvesting combine (music same as Goodbye Mr. Roach hatching sequence) VS harvesting and maintenance VS burned tree trunks and timber post forest fire Forest Service plane taking off at airstrip VS Smokejumpers parachuting out of plane (seen from plane window looking back) Air-to-air shot looking down on insect-spraying plane, spraying insecticide from both sings Logger felling tree (Douglas fir?) VS logging; trees breaking and falling Logging truck with logs pulling away with sunset in background Cart pulling gleaming plane out of hangar VS runways from above Le Tourneau marked on airplane rudder Union Oil Company on airplane rudder Businessmen leaving terminal building Firestone HQ Kraft Foods Company HQ Men in white shirts and ties entering Raytheon corporate plane Businessmen walking into “Idaho National Bank” Aerial of open pit mining Shot of smokestacks (good) Workers leaving factory VS heavy industry CU oil well counterweight rotating Oil well at sunset (good) Man puts suitcase into luggage compartment of small plane marked “Fitzpatrick Drilling Company” Two men unloading stretcher from red air ambulance Another cropdusting shot Airplane taxiing thru wheat field Family getting into small plane Couple with rifles getting into red plane (sportsmen) Passengers leaving small plane marked Provincetown-Boston Airline Small plane taxiing by hangar marked “Aircraft Division” Aerial (low) of small town Narrator: “The air is the greatest freeway man will ever know. It doesn’t have to be built or maintained. It touches every city and town.” Reuse Statement: For information on reusing Prelinger Archives footage and obtaining written usage agreements, please visit www.prelinger.com. Subjects: 1950s,Aviation and aerospace,Industry,Transportation Tags: aerials; American townscapes; farms; steam trains; couple cranking and driving old cranked automobile; rutted roads; crowded LA freeways; The “Stack” (near downtown Los Angeles); old barnstorming pilots; well-dressed couple gets out of old biplane; passengers at North Platte airport; crowds at airports; passengers greeting planes; skeletons of new terminal buildings under construction; airports; taxis; Vicksburg Airport sign; whitewashing lines on stones to form control boundary at small airport; construction and survey crews at small airports; harvestable crops; wheat sheaves; South Carolina Aerial Surveying Service Inc.; biplane cropdusting; close-up pilot with goggles looking into and onside of camera; farmer paying check to pilot; burned tree trunks and timber post forest fire; forest Service plane taking off at airstrip; smokejumpers parachuting out of plane; air-to-air shot looking down on insect-spraying plane; logger felling trees; logging; logging truck with logs pulling away with sunset in background; cart pulling gleaming plane out of hangar; runways from above; Le Tourneau marked on airplane rudder; Union Oil Company on airplane rudder; businessmen leaving terminal building; Firestone headquarters; Kraft Foods Company headquarters; men in white shirts and ties entering Raytheon corporate plane; businessmen walking into Idaho National Bank; aerial of open pit mining;

Transcription

e [Music] City squares buses churches plowed fields of black soil tractors trucks and Grain in the elevators Rolling Hills hometowns friends and neighbor backyards and streets and the highway over to Junction City this is America young Lusty where necessity has been indeed the mother of in the westward push for 250 years we spread thin across a continent another 50 years and the job was done the new rawness gave way to dignity and a way of life people were established it was time to turn to new things with great daring and a certain amount of apprehension a man could buy one of those new fangled buggies a Horseless [Music] Carriage this was the year 19003 that the brothers named Wright Orville and Wilbur at Kittyhawk North Carolina put Wings on the engine and flew [Music] these were the days people said Auto cars not practical why we don't have autocar roads by the 1920s cars were old hat but to most people the right brother invention was still new it was at this time they saw their first airplane the day of the barn Stormer had come you saw them at county fairs they landed in pastures took a few of the daring for a ride and moved on it wasn't all joy rides airplane people were serious they flew the mail from coast to coast by 1927 there were 240 airports in the land City fathers debated the question of where to put the air [Music] airport today there are 7,000 airports every major city has at least one almost half of America's airports are publicly owned they are a public facility like parks and streets libraries and auditoriums they are the basis of new Industries and the extension of others they are in growing demand and strive mightily to meet that demand a third of America lives in small towns and on farms or ranches these towns have less than 2500 people and are centers for the surrounding country since the first Barnstormer landed in the levest adjacent pasture he could find the small towns have discussed and planned airports the biggest question then and now is where should the airport be how far from town or how close to town will Air visitors walk or will there be commercial ground transportation or courtesy cars the land immediately available was often accepted as solving the question today the town fathers the Civic planners are more thoughtful there are examples to study there is experience to draw from but most important is the nearly phenomenal growth of airplane usage to be considered airplanes aren't an occasional site anymore they are common they are almost old hat and airport is a terminal a Depot it should be easily available as close to town as possible airport specifications vary according to altitude and temperature local specifications are available from State Aeronautics departments how big is the job of building a community airport the biggest investment is the land 15 to 40 acres level and clear with good airplane approaches at both ends [Music] airport expansion must be considered longer runways future parking space and more hangers wise men look back over the past two decades and plan for the 20 years to [Music] come farmers and ranchers are Ardent and faithful airplane users the big ground distances in Rural America are reduced a third or a quarter by flying this flying is having a strong effect on the economy of raising a crop and bringing it to harvest Growers have streamlined Agriculture and since the introduction of farm machinery they have put it on a mass production basis since World War II the airplane to the farmer has been a useful piece of farm machinery the local airport has become community headquarters for seeding and fertilizing the application of harvest sprays the control of weeds the control of insects and all the principle crops an airport is no luxury item it is the Hub of thousands of Acres of farmland and to the surrounding Community the rural airport reduces the cost of aerial dusting and spraying the airplanes can be based close to the job and by this the savings can be as much as a dollar an acre for each acre fertilized seeded dusted or [Music] sprayed one season's work of crop dusting has often paid for an airport many farmers and branches are airplane owners they have an airst strip at the home place but if the combine is down they are not averse to Landing in the stubble to see that the machine is soon going [Music] again they've learned to use the airplane like a pickup truck to go into town for plow shears axles or seed tomorrow they'll go over to Eden to attend the farm auction and they'll make a dozen trips into town before the plowing is done the government services use Community airports in the management of the public domain at one time the protection of our 150 national forests depended upon ground Crews that often had to hike TR ail into the [Music] fire today the forest surface contracts for fixed base airplanes to spot and Survey fires older planes are usually used for this work since they have short Landing field characteristics and are especially suited to the job smoke jumper firefighting Crews parachute to a position near the fire and put it out before it has a chance to spread this system of reaching fires while they are small has been in use for well over a decade it has save billions of boarded feet of Timber smoke jumping has also contributed to the protection of the nation's water supply the small airport both Municipal and private plays an important role in the protection of Natural Resources aerial conservation work is done by the US Bureau of Entomology and plant quarantine in the East and in the west large for Forest land areas have been sprayed to kill destructive insects the Gypsy moth the Tusk moth the spruce budworm the pine butterfly since more Timber is lost to Insects than to fire this work by airplanes is significant it has an indirect effect on all Americans it reaches out to us through our lumber industry through our nation 's wood supply into paper and furniture and housing and all the products of wood American industry and business in the West in the south in the East is the number one user of airplanes and airports most Municipal airports of the manufacturing centers of New England the Great Lakes region and the South are constructed to handle a constant flow of air traffic runways are paved they are long and there are several of them they are built for heavy multi-engine aircraft they are built to handle the executive aircraft of American industry as industry builds Branch factories as it follows the pattern of decentralization the smaller cities face an airport problem there are a few large Industries today that are not airplane users many use both large and small aircraft the smaller business planes are used by the engineering division by production and by the spearheading sales division as one sales manager said we use our airplane because it makes us independent we make our own schedules we don't have delays in route we gain from 2 to 3 days a week we figure the cost of a trip by regular public transportation and apply it to our airplane fund the salesmen with big territories to cover are turning to the airplane they visit the town with an airport like they used to visit the town on the Railroad and then the town on the highway more and more they will come to the town with an airport where is the industry that isn't dependent upon sales where is the industry that doesn't want to maintain the position it's reached where is its payroll the flow of America's products from manufacturer to Consumer is vital the consumer is the market the market found and and developed by a [Music] Salesman airports serve in local emergencies they are part of the plan in case of National [Music] Emergency airports are terminals for Freight airports are a necessity to a multi-million dollar dusting and spraying business they are used by Farmers by ranchers they are used by families by Sportsmen and vacationers they are used by the fish and wildlife services by pipe and Powerline patrolman by by local Airlines in outlying districts the first 2 hours after sunup is when most of the planes go out they may be going on business for a Construction Corporation for an oil company for a diesel engine distributor it may be a local real estate man or an orthopedic surgeon or a mining engineer they may land at Winnipeg Atlanta Mexico City they may land at Oak Bridge Fairbanks Flagstaff or anaconda they may land at your town or mine for the air is the greatest freeway man will ever know it doesn't have to be built or maintained it touches every city and town so little is needed to use it an airplane a smooth strip of ground [Music]

Online Copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgrZD022nWQ

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