Quite normal during this time period since this was also during the "post-war" years. Having defeated two formidable enemies on the east and west, I'm pretty sure that would keep your population very happy for a time. Along with this came the "baby boom". Right now, the people who take pride in their jobs don't outnumber those who work just to survive, but I'm sure as hell there were people who didn't love their jobs back then as well.
I'm old enough to have flown on some of these. Scheduled, progressive maintenance is similar to this today... just the equipment is different. This is a good view "behind the scenes" of a critical part of aviation we take for granted. These Periscope Films are wonderful history.
I think flying is still enjoyable but I think innovation in flying machines are a lot blander and more conventional. Flying boats probably had a great chance to find a foothold in luxury flying but they never came.
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As a 34 year UAL mechanic....i missed out on this golden age of aviation......i work in this exact facility shown in this film...yes its still there. But now there are uber drivers everywhere
I worked there too 1998-2001, 2007-2008. We had lapping machines in the Bearing shop from the 1940's. Worked better, more reliable than the newer equipment.
What a lovely documentary or footage and you can see the pride and the effort of the people to keep the airplane flying through regular and rigorous maintaining and overhauling to ensure a safe flight. A massive almost industrial effort indeed. I really have nostalgia of this period and and I prefer the piston engine with it's powerful but harmonious sound. I flew often on the DC-7 (I'm born in 1956..) and I flew the first time to Rome at Ciampino airport with my Italian father and Swedish mother. I literally fell in love with this airplane...
Wonderful UAL 1950s promotional film! Love the shot of the artist's images of the then proposed jetliners by Boeing, Douglas and especially Lockheed's L-193 design (never knew Lockheed had proposed a pure jetliner in the 50s) which looks a bit like the Soviet Union's Tupolev TU-104 from the mid 1950s. Thanks for sharing!
My Beloved Dad became a Senior Manager at South City, and, started in 1946 after combat USCG south pacific. I flew on ALL the "Beloved Propliners . Such a wonderful experience with Mom, and Dad. This is a DC-6B-----only three blade hydraulic props. The "6" was the "sweetheart". The "7" was a fox, but had problems. The mechanics called the power recovery turbines "Parts Recovery Turbines". Keith
Interesting, thanks for your comment. According to the Internet (so who knows how reliable), " Commercial jet engines can cost between $5 million and $50 million, depending on the size and mission requirements."
I love these videos .. some things stick out. Notice the use of "soldering irons". When I served in the Navy I used soldering irons a great deal when repairing electronic equipment. I bet a soldering iron is rarely used anymore. Notice the pilot signalling the flight engineer to adjust throttles? Flight engineers? Most people today can't even spell flight engineer :) When i was kid flying in the old DC-7 at night, I remember the flames coming out of the exhausts stacks ... I was so mesmerized. And only two seats on each side .... Douglas was a great airplane manufacturer as was Boeing. What has happened?
All those United executives, are rolling in their graves today, knowing their planes say United on the fuselages, but have the Continental logo on their tails Horrid!
CastMember 4Life the top gunner was the flight engineer. In Panchito we set up a seat behind the pilot and co-pilot. In emergencies I'm the guy that crawls all over the acft cranking this or reading the different gauges around behind them if needed. The gear extension and flap extension are done by me totally separate of the flight deck. It can keep you downright busy if a failure comes up.
Glad you like them! Thanks for being a sub. Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
Reminds me of the Pan American maintenance facility at JFK. We used to call this type of teardown inspect and rebuild a Pac Service. Many a Boeing 747 and others went through it. I miss that and the Jet Center, kind of wish I was young engineer again.
Those United Airlines Douglas Mainliners are actually DC-6s, not DC-7s, because the DC-6 features three-bladed propellers and the DC-7 features four-bladed propellers. United operated both planes and the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, which is also featured in this video.
One of United's first widebody jets was also built by Douglas Aircraft Company - the DC-10 (by then it became a division of McDonnell Douglas Corporation).
I don't want to fly on modern planes any more. . These planes are obviously better designed and better maintained than modern planes. . The 3,000 dedicated engineers and staff make me feel so safe!
Well, a pilot friend of mine just recently passed away, started his career flying DC3 as the "new" turbo prop deliveries were delayed. He said that "the airplane was nice to fly but those damn radial engines had a habit of catching fire often". That would make for a exciting flight!
I didn't see any DC-7 footage in this video, only DC-6, DC-6B (the aircraft in the test flight footage), Convair 340 and Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. Possibly also a couple of DC-4s near the beginning parked outside the maintenance base. The Stratocruiser footage dates it to not later than 1954 when United sold their 6 surviving Stratocruisers to BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) after only 4 to 5 years service. They were almost exclusively used to Hawaii and arrival of the DC-7 in 1954 cut the west coast-Honolulu flight time by at least one hour vs. the rather slow Stratocruiser. Pretty sure the DC-6 was also a bit faster than the Stratocruiser.
I need to visit United, not so much for “eternal youth” (ugh!), it for loads & loads of their “preventative maintenance”! Love the business propaganda…. But, I’m 58, & have been flying to school on airlines from 1977 to 1981, then fromNew Zealand to the US, (my other citizenship) many times, p,us all the other places. Do I feel guilty? Oh heck yes! No one told us that we were polluting the planet when we flew. Now I do sporadic essential flights only (ie., my father’s funeral). I had no idea I’m so guilty of pollution when I’ve tried to be so careful to be environmentally careful. But, in the days of this video, such concerns were far, far away…
Where were films like these shown? In theaters before the featured movie? I thought that's when cartoons, comedy shorts or other entertaining films were used, or maybe newsreels, not corporate promotional items like this.
Well, they probably do, it makes sense to check if everything is working correct. The problem can be how good or intense this check is. We can look to Boeing for FAULTS in testing and improper training of pilots in their new GROUNDED aircraft. Watch enough air crashes here on TH-cam and you'll see there's still room for improvement. Problem is, everyone wants cheap tickets, so they gotta save money somewhere.
Who inspired McDouglas Engineers to deliberately oppose air resistance by means of the forward retracted DC-7 landing gear?🤨 Unless it was the Airline's Gym Instructor who had ordered pilot-friendly landing paddles in.🤔
The Pratt & Whitney C-series R-2800 engines were a "sweet spot" in terms of power, weight, fuel economy and reliability. Those are what you see being overhauled here. Many DC-6 freighters still make money for their operators in various places of the world today. There are no DC-7s in revenue service today.
Great when people used slide rules and could still do math , many good paying jobs now a few billionaires in computers and e commerce and all the good quality jobs gone.
Why must there be this counter in the middle of the film? It ruins the integrity of the historical representation. That wouldn’t be there originally. Darn shame….
Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films similar to this one have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes. In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous TH-cam users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do. Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
How primitive and risky, 50 year old propeller propulsion technology. The front of the plane looks like the head of a fly. thank god we're not flying in those anymore, however were still flying at the same speed! How pathetic! In the 70s i could fly from ewr to pbi in 2.5 hours now it takes 3.5 hours, Rediculous now matter what the reason is
Why are all airplanes and ships called "she "? I fly a cessna 152 and it is an airplane, not a "she". It flies great. "She" doesn't fly. "It" flies.🇺🇸 i'm a pilot, not a gay wimpy pilot.
Quality and pride in work something that’s missing from the world today
Only among those employees and in companies who choose shoddy work. I worked in the aircraft industry back then.
Ron D'Eau Claire I appreciate and applaud you wish I could have seen the the way it were
Not enough time. Everyone is under a time pressure.
Quite normal during this time period since this was also during the "post-war" years. Having defeated two formidable enemies on the east and west, I'm pretty sure that would keep your population very happy for a time. Along with this came the "baby boom".
Right now, the people who take pride in their jobs don't outnumber those who work just to survive, but I'm sure as hell there were people who didn't love their jobs back then as well.
So much precision and skill with no computers !!!!! Man I bet that was a satisfying job & no one playing on a phone ahhh that must have been great
Found the boomer. 😂 TheSe DaRn YounGstErs always oN thEIr ceLLulAr devIces and what not...... grrrr it grinds me gears it dose 🤣
Ah yes. Back when ceases were more prevalent
At Spirit Airlines, passenger seating is checked and rechecked. Any seats found to be comfortable are discarded immediately.
very good lol
Very nice! Thanks for the laugh!
And the edges of all baggage handling equipment filed sharp before every shift....
That is cool, thanks for the laugh...👍👍
🤣🤣🤣
I'm old enough to have flown on some of these. Scheduled, progressive maintenance is similar to this today... just the equipment is different. This is a good view "behind the scenes" of a critical part of aviation we take for granted. These Periscope Films are wonderful history.
Was a Flight Engineer in the DC 6 I loved that plane
Great trip in the Wayback Machine to a time when airports were fun and flying was enjoyable...
I think flying is still enjoyable but I think innovation in flying machines are a lot blander and more conventional. Flying boats probably had a great chance to find a foothold in luxury flying but they never came.
When flying was "cool" and stews were "hot."
Thank You for making this available to the public. . .You have a great library of American memories
I love it, always makes me wish I could go back in time.
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As a 34 year UAL mechanic....i missed out on this golden age of aviation......i work in this exact facility shown in this film...yes its still there. But now there are uber drivers everywhere
SFO......?
I worked there too 1998-2001, 2007-2008.
We had lapping machines in the Bearing shop from the 1940's. Worked better, more reliable than the newer equipment.
What a lovely documentary or footage and you can see the pride and the effort of the people to keep the airplane flying through regular and rigorous maintaining and overhauling to ensure a safe flight. A massive almost industrial effort indeed. I really have nostalgia of this period and and I prefer the piston engine with it's powerful but harmonious sound. I flew often on the DC-7 (I'm born in 1956..) and I flew the first time to Rome at Ciampino airport with my Italian father and Swedish mother. I literally fell in love with this airplane...
Wonderful UAL 1950s promotional film! Love the shot of the artist's images of the then proposed jetliners by Boeing, Douglas and especially Lockheed's L-193 design (never knew Lockheed had proposed a pure jetliner in the 50s) which looks a bit like the Soviet Union's Tupolev TU-104 from the mid 1950s. Thanks for sharing!
My Beloved Dad became a Senior Manager at South City, and, started in 1946 after combat USCG south pacific. I flew on ALL the "Beloved Propliners . Such a wonderful experience with Mom, and Dad. This is a DC-6B-----only three blade hydraulic props. The "6" was the "sweetheart". The "7" was a fox, but had problems. The mechanics called the power recovery turbines "Parts Recovery Turbines". Keith
The DC-6 and Boeing 377 Stratocruiser are also seen in the first part of this film.
Fantastic flight footage! What a gem! Thanks!
11:26. $54,000's worth of engine. $622,000 today. For one engine. Sheesh.
Interesting, thanks for your comment. According to the Internet (so who knows how reliable), " Commercial jet engines can cost between $5 million and $50 million, depending on the size and mission requirements."
Great video. I currently work at this UAL base.
Darn, I'm old enough to remember those focus screens in grade school!
A very nice video, I do feel quite nostalgic by watching it. Thanks for sharing this...
Boy the way Glenn Miller played... Song's that made the Hit Parade... Gee are old LaSalle ran great...
I love these videos .. some things stick out. Notice the use of "soldering irons". When I served in the Navy I used soldering irons a great deal when repairing electronic equipment. I bet a soldering iron is rarely used anymore. Notice the pilot signalling the flight engineer to adjust throttles? Flight engineers? Most people today can't even spell flight engineer :) When i was kid flying in the old DC-7 at night, I remember the flames coming out of the exhausts stacks ... I was so mesmerized. And only two seats on each side .... Douglas was a great airplane manufacturer as was Boeing. What has happened?
Modern times. Drat!
ok boomer 😂 whatever helps you sleep at night mate...
I’m told for aircraft wires crimp only no solder as per FAA.
@@abdullahahmed7781 Knock off the “ok boomer” crap and go feed your camel.
All those United executives, are rolling in their graves today, knowing their planes say United on the fuselages, but have the Continental logo on their tails Horrid!
Amazing to think this was done every 4 months.
As a flight engineer on a B-25 Mitchell some of this is same stuff we do today to keep her in the air.
Didn't know B-25 Mitchell's had flight engineers. Never heard that.
CastMember 4Life the top gunner was the flight engineer. In Panchito we set up a seat behind the pilot and co-pilot. In emergencies I'm the guy that crawls all over the acft cranking this or reading the different gauges around behind them if needed. The gear extension and flap extension are done by me totally separate of the flight deck. It can keep you downright busy if a failure comes up.
Beautiful planes ❤❤❤❤❤God bless you you made things wonderful good useful make human life happy
The majority of these men received on the job training between 1941-1945.
you still can get on the job training today in the us air force
@@dknowles60 Yes, as soon as you successfully complete formal Air Force technical training.
Excelent videos, thanks a lot for bringing them to the present. I could see some of them a long time ago during my airplane mechanic training.
Glad you like them! Thanks for being a sub. Love our channel? Help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
Reminds me of the Pan American maintenance facility at JFK. We used to call this type of teardown inspect and rebuild a Pac Service. Many a Boeing 747 and others went through it. I miss that and the Jet Center, kind of wish I was young engineer again.
The Douglas in maintenence in this film is a DC-6.
The film description is wrong. The planes were mainly DC6's !!
I love the THX style announcement at the beginning.
54 grand for an engine? Can we go back in time? I truly wish i lived back then .
You do know that 50 grand back then is equal to 500 grand today.
Me too…seems like the best time..
@@RandomShit169 that’s correct but a 5 to $10,000 home is worth , depending on location $600,000 and up
Look where they put the camera in some of those in flight shots.
Unbelievable, that they performed a complete D-check ?, including engine rebuild in 4 days.
Look at all those people earning a good paycheck with no computers!
Well of course ... it's all worked out on CARDS. Talk about reliability!! +++
@@keywestjj Yeah and using a slide rule of all things.
Ah, those were the days.
Cool intro. I haven't gone through that process for a long time. Good sound and a clear crisp picture or someone will be knocking on the door.
Those United Airlines Douglas Mainliners are actually DC-6s, not DC-7s, because the DC-6 features three-bladed propellers and the DC-7 features four-bladed propellers. United operated both planes and the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, which is also featured in this video.
One of United's first widebody jets was also built by Douglas Aircraft Company - the DC-10 (by then it became a division of McDonnell Douglas Corporation).
Almost a 100 planes across the country, during this time period. Grew up in the 60s, clear skys all the way.
93 flights at a given moment. Imagine if they could see the congestion in the airways today
Dad started at United in 1955. United was family back then. Today?
I don't want to fly on modern planes any more. .
These planes are obviously better designed and better maintained than modern planes. .
The 3,000 dedicated engineers and staff make me feel so safe!
Well, a pilot friend of mine just recently passed away, started his career flying DC3 as the "new" turbo prop deliveries were delayed. He said that "the airplane was nice to fly but those damn radial engines had a habit of catching fire often". That would make for a exciting flight!
BEAUTIFUL beautiful
I didn't see any DC-7 footage in this video, only DC-6, DC-6B (the aircraft in the test flight footage), Convair 340 and Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. Possibly also a couple of DC-4s near the beginning parked outside the maintenance base. The Stratocruiser footage dates it to not later than 1954 when United sold their 6 surviving Stratocruisers to BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) after only 4 to 5 years service. They were almost exclusively used to Hawaii and arrival of the DC-7 in 1954 cut the west coast-Honolulu flight time by at least one hour vs. the rather slow Stratocruiser. Pretty sure the DC-6 was also a bit faster than the Stratocruiser.
8:08 is my uncle Walter Benoit.
Seems this kind of service isn’t done anymore
The registration number for this aircraft states this is a DC-6B, not a DC-7.
Both the DC-6 and DC-7 are featured in this film.
DC-7s had four bladed props, DC-6s had three. They seem to mix up the aircraft models.
Agree, the video title should refer to DC-6, not DC-7. I didn't see any DC-7s in the video.
If the name "United" is in all-capitals, its a DC-7; if not, its either a DC-6 or Stratocruiser.
I need to visit United, not so much for “eternal youth” (ugh!), it for loads & loads of their “preventative maintenance”! Love the business propaganda…. But, I’m 58, & have been flying to school on airlines from 1977 to 1981, then fromNew Zealand to the US, (my other citizenship) many times, p,us all the other places. Do I feel guilty? Oh heck yes! No one told us that we were polluting the planet when we flew. Now I do sporadic essential flights only (ie., my father’s funeral). I had no idea I’m so guilty of pollution when I’ve tried to be so careful to be environmentally careful. But, in the days of this video, such concerns were far, far away…
Where were films like these shown? In theaters before the featured movie? I thought that's when cartoons, comedy shorts or other entertaining films were used, or maybe newsreels, not corporate promotional items like this.
This movie seems made in 1953, I'm not sure. Anybody knows about wich year it could be?
All things considered, I'm curious if airlines still have test flights like in this video.
Yep. Very much the same. It’s absolutely the most dangerous time to be in an airplane, right after maintenance
Well, they probably do, it makes sense to check if everything is working correct. The problem can be how good or intense this check is. We can look to Boeing for FAULTS in testing and improper training of pilots in their new GROUNDED aircraft. Watch enough air crashes here on TH-cam and you'll see there's still room for improvement. Problem is, everyone wants cheap tickets, so they gotta save money somewhere.
Was a tester on the MD 11 after maintenance It was a real treat
Usually on an A thru D inspection program...
Incredible turbocompound in the 50.s
Who inspired McDouglas Engineers to deliberately oppose air resistance by means of the forward retracted DC-7 landing gear?🤨
Unless it was the Airline's Gym Instructor who had ordered pilot-friendly landing paddles in.🤔
I wonder if the between-flight cleaning crews today do such a thorough job of cleaning the interior…other than just picking up food scraps?
One might compare this with the 1970s overhaul film also on this channel from United Airlines
I see a day coming when the airliners will be powered by jet engines, and the maintenance scheduled by computers.
Years later the phrase Flying Colors was registered by Braniff Airlines for use as their tag line,
how do you pre-focus a Mac Book Pro?
You need to take "Jet Age" out of your title. No jets in this 1955 film. Commercial jet service in the U.S. started in 1958.
A total of 93 united flights at any given time…I wonder how many nowadays..
From what I've heard and read, the dc7 was inferior to the dc6 - reliability issues
The R-3350 in the DC-7 was more powerful but less reliable than the R-2800 in the DC-6.
The Pratt & Whitney C-series R-2800 engines were a "sweet spot" in terms of power, weight, fuel economy and reliability. Those are what you see being overhauled here. Many DC-6 freighters still make money for their operators in various places of the world today. There are no DC-7s in revenue service today.
United retired their remaining DC-7s in 1964. The last of UAL's DC-6Bs were retired in early 1970.
The free food days and good legroom days and not pay for bags days..
An that's the way it was....In the jet age somewhere...?
how often did a radial engine need an oil change ?
Correct answer: Never, you just add oil.
4 days and nights when in the 70s it’s 5 days…
D check in four days ?!?!
Back when brylcreem was the number 1 import.
Think God it was not called a MAX
Was this facility at O"hare?
San Francisco
自分用 5:35 Lockheed L-193
"alright alright alright"
Great when people used slide rules and could still do math , many good paying jobs now a few billionaires in computers and e commerce and all the good quality jobs gone.
Aaahh thé Dâzé ov thé Śťôķkk-Âńđ-Â-ĞhâýĐê
Time to bring those fuel guzzling propeller planes back. Vote Trump and he will ban all jet aircraft, just to "make America 'great (?)' again ..."
🛩️🛩️🛩️
Why must there be this counter in the middle of the film? It ruins the integrity of the historical representation. That wouldn’t be there originally. Darn shame….
Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films similar to this one have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes.
In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous TH-cam users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do.
Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.
United is an awful experience now, I had to fly from florida to Seattle and it was miserable
Warning this is extremely gay ! If you are not already a flamer ,, you will be after watching this !
What are you talking about? Your attempt at a joke? Not so funny…
How primitive and risky, 50 year old propeller propulsion technology. The front of the plane looks like the head of a fly. thank god we're not flying in those anymore, however were still flying at the same speed! How pathetic! In the 70s i could fly from ewr to pbi in 2.5 hours now it takes 3.5 hours, Rediculous now matter what the reason is
Esthetically ugly industrial interiors
B
Why are all airplanes and ships called "she "? I fly a cessna 152 and it is an airplane, not a "she". It flies great. "She" doesn't fly. "It" flies.🇺🇸 i'm a pilot, not a gay wimpy pilot.