Zeno's Warbird Video Drive-In March 2007 Newsletter

You're invited to drop by Zeno's Drive-In www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com
for this month's "finger four" of World War 2 plane videos playing
live online.

As always, every film on our web site is showing for free.

This month "At the Matinee," you'll see the fighter action favorite
"The Fight for the Sky," the Drive-In carrier classic, "The Fighting
Lady," low level bomber action over New Guinea in "Air Operations Lae-
Salamaua"," the irrepressible Ron Reagan learning to deal with those
pesky Zekes in "Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter."

"Fight For the Sky" In February of 1944 General Jimmy Doolittle
"turned loose" 8th Air Force fighters to go after the Luftwaffe where
they lived. This marked a radical change in strategy from the
disastrous tactics of 1943 that kept escorting fighters chained to
bombers. Now, US fighters, including the P-51, probed deep into
Germany, catching the opposition on the ground, inflicting mortal
damage. This feature combines thrilling combat footage filmed by
combat cameramen with some of the most action packed, down and dirty
World War II gun camera film you'll see anywhere.

"The Fighting Lady" follows the fictional career of an Essex class
aircraft carrier from the Marcus Islands campaign, through Tinian,
Truk, the "Mariana's Turkey Shoot" and much more. But don't let the
term "fictionalized" miss lead you. All of the footage shown in this
fascinating composite documentary is real -- shot on board ship and in
the air, showing actual Navy and Marine pilots and crewmen up close
and personal. ("The Fighting Lady was actually the nickname given to
the Yorktowns, CV-5 & CV-10.)

"Air Operations Lae-Salamaua" covers a key battle of the oft-
overlooked 1943 New Guinea campaign in the South Pacific. General
Douglas MacArthur and his staff put together a brilliant combined arms
strategy that utilized Air Power as a key element to leap frog over
rugged jungle terrain and isolate and destroy Japanese strongholds.
While tough Australian jungle fighters spearheaded the frontal ground
assault, American paratroopers accompanied by Aussie light artillery
volunteers dropped on, seized & secured a Japanese air base behind
enemy lines so that an Aussie division could be ferried in on C-47s
and attack the enemy from the rear. This film effectively uses maps &
illustrations to show the strategy and tactics used in this this
classic battle. In this almost impassable terrain, that made transport
of heavy guns slow and difficult, air power functioned as "flying
artillery." You'll see spectacular in cockpit views of B-25 Mitchell
medium bomber making strafing runs on Japanese bases at tree top level
as well as some of the first ever "on the deck" tail gunner views of
delayed action and "para frag" bombs dropping & exploding right behind
the hedge hopping Mitchells. Some nice A-20, B-24 & P-38 action
footage too!

"Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter" Lieutenant "Jimmy
Saunders" (Ronald Reagan) learns how to tell a P-40 from Japanese A6M
Zero, the hard way. (That's a very angry Craig Stevens aka "Peter
Gunn" on the receiving end.) Contains plenty of interesting info about
what US pilots were told about Japan's most produced and feared
fighter and how to spot it. Includes seldom seen footage of a captured
Zero doing spectacular aerobatics. Even though this is "only" a 20-
minute training film "the Gipper" gives a very convincing performance
as the cocky yet apprehensive new P-40 pilot, Jimmy Saunders. This
earnest commitment to give his very best, regardless of the size or
scope of the job, was a hallmark of his long and distinguished career

If you haven't stopped by Zeno's Drive-In before, we also feature
1940-45 vintage WWII Army & Navy films and pilot's manuals on how to
fly the F4U, F6F, P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47, P-51, P-61, TBF/TBM, AT-6/
SNJ, B-17, B-24, B-25, A-20, A-26, B-26, B-29, and Stearman
N2S .Alert! - Alert! There's just been an F-86 sighted over Zeno's
Drive-In!

That's over 14 hours of rockin' World War II props for free viewing
over the Internet!

Zeno
Zeno's Warbird Video Drive-In
World War II Aviation Videos Playing Online 24/7
http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com