Carrier Flying | Royal Navy Training Dramatisation (1945)

The British military once again takes a troubled trainee pilot to task in Carrier Flying, an instructional film intended to convey the concepts and complexities of flight deck operations. Released in 1946, the film was produced during 1945 as the war against Japan drew to a close in the Pacific. It centres on the trials and tribulations of Vought Corsair pilots seeking to gain carrier operations certification. It details the logic behind landing circuits, the race-track style course adopted by groups of returning aircraft to maximise the rate of deck landing. It explains the value of deck landing officers (batsmen) in guiding pilots down the last vital few feet where the giant nose of the Corsair obstructed all view of the approaching deck below. It details the purpose and operation of key carrier equipment, such as arresting wires and crash barriers. But, mostly, it walks us through the procedures and lectures Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilots received in the later war years. (This film also includes rare DeHaviland Sea Mosquito carrier operations footage, and clips of prototype Blackburn Firebrand and DeHaviland Vampire making their first deck landings. These can be found after the 16:00 mark.) #documentary #history #WW2 #USNavy #WorldWar2 #NavalWarfare #WWIINavy #WWIIBattles #ClassicDocumentaries