Conquest of the Air was a 1936 documentary film on the evolution of aviation, up until the early stages of World War Two. It features historical footage of the developments of commercial and military aviation; including the early stages of technology developments in design, propulsion, and air navigation aids. It was a London Films production, commissioned by the Air Ministry of the British Government.
It appears that the film was initially commissioned by Alexander Korda prior to the advent of WW2 - and the Air Ministry saw the value in promoting Britain's contribution and leadership in aviation during this period. Some fascinating footage is featured of the early phases of automated flight, navigational equipment, and the transitions between civil and military developments. This includes heavy bombers; fast fighter aircraft and the advent of naval aviation (aircraft carrier), plus the initial experiments with vertical rotary flight (helicopters).
An updated version was released in 1940, and released in the United States on 20 May 1940.
Famous quotes containing the words conquest of the, conquest of, conquest and/or air:
“The great social adventure of America is no longer the conquest of the wilderness but the absorption of fifty different peoples.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“An educational method that shall have liberty as its basis must intervene to help the child to a conquest of liberty. That is to say, his training must be such as shall help him to diminish as much as possible the social bonds which limit his activity.”
—Maria Montessori (1870–1952)
“Have I in conquest stretched mine arm so far
To be afeared to tell greybeards the truth?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“He who wishes to teach us a truth should not tell it to us, but simply suggest it with a brief gesture, a gesture which starts an ideal trajectory in the air along which we glide until we find ourselves at the feet of the new truth.”
—José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955)