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Aeronautics and Aerospace (18)
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Aviators of Hudson Strait1973 28 minThis short documentary looks at early Canadian aviation through film footage shot by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the recollections of retired Air Vice-Marshal Thomas A. Lawrence, leader of the 1927-28 aerial survey expedition to Ungava Bay and Hudson Strait. The formidable challenge of flying under Arctic conditions, the hazards faced and the emergencies solved, often with the help of Inuit, make an absorbing chapter of northern frontier history.
Please note that this is an archival film that makes use of the word “Eskimo,” an outdated and offensive term. While the origin of the word is a matter of some contention, it is no longer used in Canada. The term was formally rejected by the Inuit Circumpolar Council in 1980 and has subsequently not been in use at the NFB for decades. This film is therefore a time-capsule of a bygone era, presented in its original version. The NFB apologizes for the offence caused. -
As the Crow FliesTess Girard 2016 1 h 23 minEvery summer, the Royal Canadian Air Cadets offers its top cadets the chance to participate in an elite flight-training camp. As the Crow Flies follows a group of these young men and women as they undergo seven weeks of training to get their pilot’s license in an intense program that normally takes six to eight months.
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Bush Pilot: Reflections on a Canadian MythBob Lower & Norma Bailey 1980 22 minThis short documentary offers a reflection on the development of the North, where towns are increasingly being remade in the image of the South and bush pilots are slowly becoming obsolete.
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BlakeBill Mason 1969 19 minDirector Bill Mason's short film focuses on his friend and fellow filmmaker, Blake James. In his never-ending quest for freedom, Blake pilots his own plane. This film is Mason's view of his friend as a "hobo of the skies," but it is also an adventure that beckons the viewer to come along for the ride.
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Bush Pilot - Into the Wild Blue YonderBruno Boulianne 2000 48 minThis documentary paints a vivid portrait of the bush pilots who soar daily above the boreal forests and tundra of Quebec's Great North. Who hasn't dreamed of flying? Head in the clouds, light-hearted giddiness, a surge of adrenaline, exhilarating freedom. Bush pilots of northern Quebec, the last of a dying breed, experience these sensations every day aboard their hydroplanes. Lakes, rivers, forests: this majestic North of open spaces and infinite silence is all theirs.
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Birth of a GiantHugh O'Connor 1957 30 minThis documentary short tells the story of the conception, construction and testing of the largest Canadian aircraft of its time - the Canadair Argus. A marine reconnaissance aircraft, the Argus was designed and manufactured by Canadair for the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Air Force. In its early years, it was reputedly the finest anti-submarine patrol bomber in the world.
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Canadian Screen Magazine No. 81946 7 minExercise Musk-Ox Finishes Three-Month Arctic Trek: A fifty-man team completes its research expedition to the Arctic. War-born Seaweed Industry Assures Peacetime Prosperity: In Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Irish moss is harvested and processed for use in the manufacture of a variety of products. Canada's Flying Wing Passes Flight Tests: Tests on the flying wing--an aircraft without motor or tail--are conducted in Ottawa by the National Research Council. Unique Design for Living Solves Housing Shortage: Veterans who are University of Saskatchewan students, and their families, live in barracks that have been converted into community apartments.
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Wop MayBlake James 1979 5 minThis short animated film is about Wop May, one of Canada's leading bush pilots in the 1920s.
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Double HeritageRichard Gilbert 1959 30 minThis documentary from the Salute to Flight series links the barnstormers and bush pilots who explored Canada's vast hinterland with the aviation heroes who flew the Bolingbrokes, Ansons, Mosquitoes and Hurricanes of World War II.
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Eye Witness No. 231950 11 minThe Magic Isle in Toronto Bay: A short ferryboat ride brings steaming Torontonians to Centre Island where sandy beaches and cool parks help them forget the heat as they swim and canoe. Nature Conscripted in War on Worms: The spruce budworm, which yearly destroys much valuable timber, is itself destroyed by the parasitic dipterous fly, bred for the purpose in a Belleville laboratory. Students Learn Lessons in the Sky: High school students at Buckingham, Québec, put their study of aerodynamics into practice as they pilot gliders at the local airfield.
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Eye Witness No. 471952 11 minTheir Clinic's the World: Operating from Geneva, Switzerland, the World Health Organization brings improved health and living standards to remote parts of the world. Home on the Campus: Manitoba University's coeds qualify for degrees in home economics as they learn to grapple with the problems of housekeeping and baby care. The Plane that Beats the Bush: The De Havilland Beaver, an aerial pack-horse designed to meet the needs of the bush pilot, demonstrates it versatility.
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FlightJosef Reeve 1967 7 minTake flight with this short film about the sport of gliding, and enjoy a captivating journey into near space, where all the beauty of earth and heaven meet at the wide-winged engineless craft poised between them. Filmed over the mountains of the Laurentians and the Canadian Rockies, the film offers breathtaking views and whets the appetite for adventure.
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Global Air RoutesStuart Legg 1944 14 minThis short 1944 documentary is an account of the development of air transport during wartime and a review of issues to be solved in regulating international civil aviation. The film traces air routes established to connect Russia with Canada and the United States and highlights the contribution of air transport to world unity.
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How They Saw Us: Service in the SkyAnn Pearson 1977 9 minMade in 1957, this film glamorizes a service job in which minor emergencies appear as serious and absorbing challenges. Marriage is assumed to be the natural end of the middle-class woman's working life.
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Jet PilotJoseph Koenig 1964 16 minA film showing how the introduction of jet travel changed traditional ideas of space and time. The jet pilot in this film sped from northern cold to tropical heat in only a few hours. The film is a dramatic illustration of how high speed-travel shrinks the world and brings people together.
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Look to the NorthJames Beveridge 1944 22 minThis short film from 1944 depicts the swift development of the Canadian northwest for wartime strategy as well as post-war planning. The Alaska Highway was only one result of wartime prosperity in the northern region, and this film looks at some of the others, including air routes to Europe and Asia.
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Screaming JetsJack Olsen 1951 11 minCanada's progress in jet aviation is seen in relation to that of other countries. Aerial exhibitions show the performance of jet aircraft produced by countries foremost in the field, particularly Britain's Comet and her Sapphire-powered jet fighter, American stratojet bombers and Russia's fast-climbing MiG-15. At Canadair we see production of the Royal Canadian Air Force Sabre jets; at the Avro plant the Jetliner transport and the sleek, black night fighter CF-100. The film concludes with glimpses of aircraft of the future.
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Test PilotFergus McDonell 1957 30 minA suspenseful story by Arthur Hailey about the excitement and hazards of being an aircraft test pilot.
