ROYAL AIR FORCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22629, 22 July 1935, Page 11

ROYAL AIR FORCE

A REMARKABLE FILM MISS JEAN BATTEN'S PKEDUDE. (From Our Own Correspondent.) (By Am Mail) LONDON, June 29. A very fine film illustrating the life of officers and men in the Royal Air Force is on view at the Polytechnic Theatre. As a prelude to this, there are pictures showing Miss Jean Batten arriving at Port Darwin and at Sydney, and Miss Batten herself appears on the stage in spotless white flying suit, telling some of her experiences on her several flights. She relates the incidents of her first two unsuccessful attempts to fly to Australia, and then tells the story of her successful flight and her trying experience in the monsoonal rains and her anxious eight hours across the Timor Sea. Miss Batten appears on the platform three\ times a day. If the Government are seeking to attract suitable young men' to the ranks of the Royal Air Force by means of this excellent film which follows, they make it. quite plain that no loose-livers or slackers can hold their own when they jcin up. The picture is a truthful presentation, and if it inspires a lad to join up as an officer or in the ranks he will do it knowing well that his life, though interesting, will be a vigorous one, and one in which he will have to give of his very best. The special interest of the picture lies in the fact that the spectator sees the manoeuvres of the Air Force as though he were taking part in the manoeuvres himself. The photographs of the planes in flight are taken from an aeroplane advantageuosly placed on the flank of the squadrons, or above or below. In the first place, the recruits are shown being drilled into discipline at Uxbridge and then at Halton for their three years' training in the workshops, where they are instructed in the actual construction of every part of an aeroplane. Flight cadets at Cranwell are seen at work. Demonstrations of the learner taking his first trial of "blind" flying are shown, and night bombers are seen going off with their crew of five. Actual bombing in the desert is illustrated, and the spectator in this case looks down from above the Pyramids. A very interesting series of pictures is that giving a closeup view of parachuting. A slow-motion picture shows the learner being dragged into space by his parachute from the wing of a large plane. One sees also practice on the floating aerodromes and the release of torpedoes, the manoeuvring of flying boats, and still another series shows how effectively aircraft can co-operate with the camel corps in the desert and the manifold blessings the Air Force can confer upon the beleaguered by keeping up supplies of food and water. . A fitting conclusion to the film is the wonderful aerobatics of the "Furies," which climb five miles in an incredibly short space of time. In this part of the film the spectators especially appreciates the advantage of seojng the squadron from close quarters in the air. They are reminded that the amazing evolutions are not mere stunting, but a very necessary part of a training which may be the means of saving the airmen's lives when they are surrounded by enemy planes.