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Military Aircraft and Airfields (13)

  • Birth of a Giant
    Birth of a Giant
    Hugh O'Connor 1957 30 min
    This 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.
  • Canada's Snowbirds
    Canada's Snowbirds
    Joan Henson 1980 1 min
    This installment in the Canada Vignettes series depicts the Canadian Forces Air Demonstration Aerobatics team at work.
  • Canadian Screen Magazine No. 4
    Canadian Screen Magazine No. 4
    1945 10 min
    Big Liz Brings Home 12 000 Happy Canadians: Canadian soldiers return home from Europe on the S.S. Queen Elizabeth. Troop Carrier to Airliner: Military aircraft are converted for use as commercial airplanes. B.C. Salmon Run: Commercial salmon fishing and processing in British Columbia is shown. Vets Regain Efficiency with Artificial Limbs: Rehabilitation programs for Canadian veterans allow them to become proficient in the use of artificial limbs. Students Produce Art China in New Industry: In Woodstock, Ontario, high school students participate in local ceramic-ware production.
  • The Defender
    The Defender
    Stephen Low 1988 54 min
    This documentary is about Bob Diemert of Carman, Manitoba, and his dream of building the world's next great fighter plane. His worldwide reputation as a genius at restoring "warbirds" enables him to finance his dream. The Defender is a lively, sometimes wild and funny, tale about a remarkable, modern-day folk hero.
  • Double Heritage
    Double Heritage
    Richard Gilbert 1959 30 min
    This 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.
  • Eye Witness No. 79
    Eye Witness No. 79
    Walter A. Sutton Grant Crabtree , … 1955 11 min
    Ferries, Tankers, Frigates - "Made in Canada": Craftsmen of Lauzon, Québec, carry on their forefathers' shipbuilding skills. Caviar Comes from Canada's Queerest Fish: Much in demand for export markets, sturgeon provide a profitable business for fishermen of the upper Ottawa River and for Mrs. Harry Donaldson of Temiscaming, who processes caviar. New Aircraft Joins Maritime Command: The Royal Canadian Air Force tests and approves the electronically equipped Neptune, the new medium-range aircraft of the Maritime Air Command.
  • Ferry Pilot
    Ferry Pilot
    1942 19 min
    This wartime short examines the Royal Air Force Ferry Command, a ferry system created by the Allies to bridge the gap between the aircraft factory and the fighting front of World War II. As the film shows, former bush pilots and transport pilots risked their lives to keep the planes flowing in an endless stream across the Atlantic.
  • Neptune Mission
    Neptune Mission
    Walford Hewitson 1958 30 min
    Royal Canadian Air Force submarine hunters--Neptune aircraft--patrol the Atlantic, and in a realistic training exercise lead Royal Canadian Navy destroyers to an "enemy" submarine.
  • Northwest by Air
    Northwest by Air
    1944 15 min
    The construction of chains of airfields in northwestern Canada was a difficult job of strategic importance in the war effort.
  • Rosies of the North
    Rosies of the North
    Kelly Saxberg 1999 46 min
    They raised children, baked cakes... and built world-class fighter planes. Thousands of women from Thunder Bay and the Prairies donned trousers, packed lunch pails and took up rivet guns to participate in the greatest industrial war effort in Canadian history. Like many other factories across the country from 1939 to 1945, the shop floor at Fort William's Canadian Car and Foundry was transformed from an all-male workforce to one with forty percent female workers.
  • Snowbirds
    Snowbirds
    Doug Cole 1982 14 min
    The Snowbirds, The Canadian Armed Forces Air Demonstration Squadron, performing across Canada. The film portrays the role and close associations among all members of the air and ground crews, which are essential to safe and impressive demonstrations.
  • Screaming Jets
    Screaming Jets
    Jack Olsen 1951 11 min
    Canada'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.
  • Target - Berlin
    Target - Berlin
    Ernest Borneman 1944 15 min
    The story of the Lancaster airplane, the first large bomber built in Canada. Shown are the workers involved in its construction, and the crew who ferried it overseas, as well as the combat crew who took it on its first flight over Berlin.