Aircraft Films

F4F Wildcat

Reviewed By Charles Landrum, #26328

2-Disc DVD Set

Can be viewed with you DVD player or a DVD drive on your PC

We are in the golden age of modeling and one of the contributing factors is the impact that technology has had on our hobby.  The wealth of information now available as we research modeling subjects is astounding.  Thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of small “studios” like Red Pepper Creative, Inc. we now have another source of primary research, original footage films previously unavailable and forgotten.  Now enter the DVD, which has provided an inexpensive medium to easily reproduce and distribute these films.

This 2 DVD set is packed with a wealth of film footage and photos from the National Archive, the National Museum of Naval Aviation, the Naval Historical Center and the Marine Corps Historical Center.  You will not be disappointed by its contents.  I have always admired the design of the F4F not because of its sleek design and high performance but because of its ruggedness and versatility.  Stunning still photographs do much to convey the technological innovation and skill that went into most warbird designs.  However, nothing beats film to capture the sheer power or ruggedness of these planes.  Especially noteworthy here is the vast amount of footage of carrier landings.  These are not graceful landing sequences of Mustangs on a long grassy strip, these are pounding, bouncing landings on moving steel and wooden decks.  With its narrow track landing gear the Wildcat is ungainly looking enough, but watching with anticipation as a relatively junior pilot tries to bring it down on a pitching and rolling deck is nerve wracking.  For you NASCAR fans there are a few inelegant landings that end in disaster.  It is even more of a visual treat because most of the footage was shot at deck level from the catwalks, so when a plane goes awry you sense the danger faced by the crew on the flight deck.  All of footage in the DVDs looks like it has been restored to its original quality.  The images are crisp and bright.  The menu screens are very professional and easy to navigate with an option to load all films in a section to run sequentially or run the films individually.

The breakdown by DVD is as follows:

Disk 1 contains a 43 minute documentary on the Wildcat starting with its progenitors and lasting through the FM-2.  It is well done.  While not as dramatic as a many of the recent offerings on the History Channel and the Discovery Channel, its also a lot more accurate and the focus is on the archival footage - much of which I have not seen before.  The production is well executed with professional narration.  Disk 1 also provides a slide show of over 150 images, many in color and all sharp and vivid.  You flip through the show on your DVD play with the enter button on your remote and can dwell on an image as long as you desire.  This is quite a nice feature for the modeler looking to capture a subtle detail.

Disk 2 is the better disk for it has the large compilation of archival film footage.  There are 24 films included, mostly in black in white, some in color and most without sound. Again the brightness and clarity is superb.  The films run the gamut from plat camera footage to propaganda pieces about the early war aces like Thach and O’Hare.  There are surprising nuggets like a pre-war color footage of F2A Buffalo carrier landings and a sequence on how to tow F4Fs with a larger aircraft, in this case a DB (A-20 Havoc).  They are invaluable references for color and markings.  These are films that I doubt many have ever seen nor would if not resurrected by Red Pepper Creative.  The disk also includes a walk around of the F4F-3 at the National Museum of Aviation in Pensacola and a computer animation to explain what became the Thach Weave (finally I understand the method!).  Below is a summary of the 24 archival films on Disk 2, excerpted from www.aircraftfilms.com.

F4F
- F4F-3s of VF-6 on USS Enterprise CV-6, early 1942.
- F4F-4s of VF-2 practice landing aboard USS Enterprise CV-6, Spring 1942.
- VF-6 aboard USS Enterprise CV-6, April 1942. This is color footage was taken during support of the Doolittle Raid.
- Publicity footage of LT Edward "Butch" O'Hare and LCDR John S. Thach and their F4F-3 Wildcats at Kaneohe Naval Air Station, 10 April 1942.
- Brand new F4F-4s and pilots attached to LCDR "Jimmy" Thach and VF-3 at Kaneohe Naval Air Station 5 May 1942. (audio: CDR Tom Cheek who joined VF-3 before the Battle of Midway)
- F4F-4s of VF-6 aboard USS Enterprise CV-6 prior to the Battle of Midway.
- F4F-4s of VF-8 aboard USS Hornet CV-8 prior to the Battle of Midway. (color)
- Pilots of VF-3 and their F4F-4s aboard USS Hornet CV-8 following the Battle of Midway. (color)
- F4F-4s of VF-6 aboard USS Saratoga CV-3 at the end of 1942.
- VF-11 "Sundowners" and their F4F-4s at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, 23 May 1943.

FM-2
- FM-2s practice landing on USS Charger CVE-30 in the Chesapeake Bay, 11 March 1944.
- VC-6 practice take-offs and landings aboard USS Kitkun Bay CVE-71 near San Diego, March 1944.
- FM-2s of VC-21 aboard USS Marcus Island CVE-77, September 1944.
- USS Wake Island CVE 65 following a kamikaze attack, 3 April 1945. Color (audio: Aircraft Metalsmith Harold H. Kornmeyer who served onboard the Wake Island.)

Pre-war
- Grumman XF2F-1 prototype during carrier trials aboard USS Saratoga CV-3, 1934.
- VF-6 landing (and crashing) Grumman F3F-2s aboard USS Enterprise CV-6, 1939. (Plus one USMC F3F-2).
- VF-6 F3Fs landing aboard USS Enterprise CV-6, 1940.
- Color footage of F2A-3s landing on USS Lexington CV-2 near California, October 1941.

Battles
- USS Lexington CV-2 under attack by Japanese land based G4M "Betty" bombers, 20 February 1942.
- USS Yorktown CV-5 during the Battle of Midway, 4 June 1942.
- USS Enterprise CV-6 takes two bomb hits during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 24 August 1942.
- USS Hornet CV-8 under attack during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, 26 October 1942.
- John Ford's color film compiled of footage taken before, during, and after the Battle of Midway.

This set is invaluable reference for the aviation enthusiast and modeler alike and I could find no fault with it.  No doubt you will find yourself watching the films time and time again.  There are more in the series on the way, with the F-86 next on the list.  If the first set is any indication, the subsequent releases will be just as good if not better. Highly recommended.  Thank you for the review copy provided to IPMS-USA by Red Pepper Creative, Inc.

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