# 1940 U.S. ARMY AIR CORPS DOCUMENTARY "WINGS OF THE ARMY" MILITARY AVIATION 29734

Wings Of The Army is a short 1940 film that documents the history of the U.S. Air Corps, which would later become the U.S. Air Force. The film opens with shots of the interior of a passenger jet, Orville Wright (01:09), and Orville and Wilbur Wright’s famous flight in Kittyhawk, NC. Men move out a new Wright model built for the U.S. Army. The first plane is delivered to the U.S. military at Fort Myer, VA. President William H. Taft is present for the historical moment (02:42). The new plane is set up on a monorail for launch. Lt. Frank Lahm and Orville Wright take off in the Wright military flyer in 1909 (03:42). Orville and Lt. Benjamin Foulois prepare for the first “cross country” flight, from Fort Myer to Alexandria, VA (03:54). Glenn Curtiss, a competitor of the Wright brothers, sits in his plane. Early army planes fly in formation (05:00). The film then cuts to scenes from World War I: a dirigible is shot down by a plane. There is footage of military logging operations, a saw mill that the army built, and factories that produce the new airplanes (07:34). On assembly lines, men build the new Liberty motor (07:52). The film then shows a plane that crashed into the ground nose-first with its tail up in the air (09:12). Generals Mason Patrick and William Mitchell present medals to American pilots of WWI (09:15). The film then shows the first regular flight for air mail service; President Woodrow Wilson stands with the pilot before the flight. Aerial footage of forest fires…

- Kind: Documentary
- By: PeriscopeFilm
- Genres: Documentary, Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/29734wingsofthearmyvwr)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Teens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/29734wingsofthearmyvwr?play=1)