CHECKOUT DAY IN THE 526th

Year Published: 1950s

Format: 16mm

Description: This silent, amateur "gag film" was apparently made by members of the 526th U.S. Air Force 526th Fighter Squadron sometime in the 1950s. The unit provided Air Defense of western Europe throughout the 1960s-90s in Munich vicinity. Its last assignment was with the 86th Operations Group, based at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It was inactivated on 1 July 1994. The film shows the unit's new F-86, meaning the film likely dates to summer of 1953, the squadron completed its move to Landstuhl and was reequipped with the F-86F Sabre Jet, the first unit in USAFE to fly the most modern American fighter. The F-86F had been very successful as both a fighter and fighter bomber in the Korean War, and marked a quantum increase in the Wing’s capabilities. A year later the squadron was redesignated the 526th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and assumed a new mission of air defense for the central European region. For this mission, the squadron was re-equipped with the rocket-armed F-86D Sabre interceptor which provided an all-weather capability. The film begins with a car moving at high speed on German roads and then pilots are shown arriving for a "day's work" at :51. At 1:05 the Commanding Officer arrives in a big convertible car, which is then revealed to be a scooter lol! At 1:40 everyone celebrates the arrival of the F-86s but they are then killed by the engine. Further antics are seen throughout this hilarious film.