Calvalcade of Aviation with Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, and the Gee Bee Racer

This wonderful historic, silent film shows the "Progress of Aviation" from the Wright Brothers through the Hindenburg disaster, but it's also an excuse to show some awful and deadly incidents. Highlights include footage of experimental craft, including a bicycle airplane, an auto-gyro, a primitive helicopter and an early drone. Also shown is one of the earliest contra-rotating propeller aircraft, Charles Lindbergh and his Spirit of St. Louis, Wiley Post and Will Rogers before their ill-fated flight, Amelia Earhart and aviatrixes Ruth Elder and Ruth Nichols, the famous Gee Bee Racer (which crashes on camera!), and more. One notable sequence shows ground crewmen caught up in a tremendous updraft while trying to help a dirigible dock at Lakehurst; the hapless men fall to their deaths. Originally produced by Universal for the home market, this film is now in the public domain. This film is part of a collection amassed during the making of the documentary film "The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club". For more information visit www.LegendofPanchoBarnes.com

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Amelia Earhart
• Ruth Elder
• aviatrix
• Gee Bee
• Charles Lindbergh
• airplane
• pilot
• helicopter
• autogiro
• autogyro