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)
“While I am in favor of the Government promptly enforcing the laws for the present, defending the forts and collecting the revenue, I am not in favor of a war policy with a view to the conquest of any of the slave States; except such as are needed to give us a good boundary. If Maryland attempts to go off, suppress her in order to save the Potomac and the District of Columbia. Cut a piece off of western Virginia and keep Missouri and all the Territories.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“What girl could fail to make a conquest who collapsed at a man’s feet in the moonlight?”
—John L. Balderston (1899–1954)
“As far as I can see, this autumn haze
That spreading in the evening air both ways
Makes the new moon look anything but new
And pours the elm-tree meadow full of blue,
Is all the smoke from one poor house alone....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)