Flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat video contains four World War II era films and the F6F Hellcat pilot's manual.
Film #1 is Flight Characteristics of the Grumman F6F Hellcat. The F6F Hellcat was the Navy's workhorse fighter/bomber, faster and more durable than a Zero, and secured air superiority for the USN. This step-by-step F6F pilot training film was produced by the US Navy during World War II. In B+W with a run time of about 20 minutes.
Film #2 is Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter. Lieutenant 'Jimmy Saunders' (Ronald Reagan) learns how to tell a P-40 from Japanese A6M Zero, the hard way. (That's a very angry Craig Stevens aka 'Peter Gunn' on the receiving end.) Contains plenty of interesting info about what US pilots were told about Japan's most produced and feared fighter and how to spot it. Includes seldom seen footage of a captured Zero doing spectacular aerobatics. In B+W with a run time of about 20 minutes.
Film #3 is Spins & Stalls. Why they happen & what to do about them. F6F, F4U & more. In B&W.
Film #4 is Don't Kill Your Friends -- Range Safety for Fixed Gun Aircraft. Believe it or not, 'Dilbert' cartoons started in World War II. The first 'Dilbert' cartoons were created by U.S. Navy Lt. Richard Osborn, based on the Navy flier name for operational errors --'dillies'. The 'Don't be a Dilbert' warning and character was featured on a wide variety of posters promoting safety. As played here by 'Dead End Kid' Huntz Hall, Dilbert is a deadly combination of over confidence and bumbling incompetence who wreaks havoc among Naval personnel and innocent civilians. A nice feature of this film is a good look inside and outside the Navy F4F/FM carrier fighters used in training. In this humorous, yet deadly serious US Navy training film, Dilbert fearlessly provides a string of negative examples of what not to do during aerial gunnery practice. In B+W with a run time of about 15 minutes.
A 60-page F6F Hellcat pilot's manual is included on the DVD. It is in .pdf file format with photos, detailed systems diagrams, performance charts, flight procedures & more. The manual can be accessed on a computer equipped with a DVD drive.
The DVD is in NTSC format and region-free. It is packaged in a plain clear plastic C-Shell DVD case without paper graphics.
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