U.S. Air Force William Tell Gunnery Exhibition (1965)

Synopsis

Released in 1966, this U.S. Air Force produced documentary shows the 1965 William Tell, a biennial aerial gunnery competition with fighter aircraft held by the United States Air Force in every even-numbered year. In the competition, teams representing the various major commands of the USAF compete in live-fire exercises, using towed banner targets for gun engagements, and obsolete fighters converted into unmanned target drones (currently QF-4 Phantoms) for air-to-air missile engagements. The competition occurs during even-numbered years, while Gunsmoke occurs during odd-numbered years. The film begins with a showcase of USAF and Canadian air defense, including NORAD early warning systems and the ADC, or Air Defense Command. Shown at 3:45 is a RCAF F-101 Voodoo, and at 4:00 a U.S. Air Force F-106 Delta Dart. Air National Guard pilots participate in the competition as well. At 8:00, maintenance on aircraft is seen. At 10:00, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is shown, the "missile with a man", equipped with a 20mm cannon and sidewinder missiles. At 10:50, USAF Ryan Firebee drones are shown being used as realistic targets for intruders. At 11:30, the Tyndall AFB control site is seen, with a controller flying the drone for almost an hour over the target area. At 12:00, B-57 Canberra bombers are shown being used as targets as well, while trying to avoid detection. At 12:39, a Voodoo is shown deploying a supersonic target. A target monitoring system is shown at 13:17, along with a…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

27 minutes

Language

English

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage