WWII U.S. Navy Recruiting Film ‘Aviation Metalsmith’
This 1944 color restricted film about being an “Aviation Metalsmith” is part of a “Your Job in the Navy” series of recruitment films presented by the U.S. Navy. It opens with a plane hitting the landing hard on aircraft carrier, breaking the landing gear (:20-:28). The Aviation Metalsmith uses a power saw to cut tempered steel needed to repair broken metal pieces while onboard the carrier (:29-:52). Another puts protective glasses on and welds a landing gear brace bar (:53-1:12). Two others make molds for metal parts. The cast for a Catalina bomber speed ring is first cast in plaster of Paris to make the mold for the die. They move it into a wooden box, wipe it off, and cover it in a special sand. They lift the hardened metal lower half of the die out. Antimony lead is poured to create the upper half (1:13-2:28). Two Aviation Metalsmiths feed a metal sheet through a machine to cut it. A drop hammer then stamps the sheet metal into the proper shape. (2:30-3:38). The speed ring is assembled and then placed on the bomber (3:40-4:00). Two sailors work on a ring formed from tempered aluminum alloy upon which a gun turret will be secured. It is then riveted onto the bomber (4:02-4:44). A sheet of heated Plexiglas is removed from an oven. Four Metalsmiths apply simultaneous pressure to mold it around a turret frame. The completed Plexiglas top is installed to protect the gunner (4:46-5:31). A nose turret is installed and shown turning in different directions (5:32-5:50). The bomber moves down the carrier’s flight deck (5:52).
