CIVIL AIR PATROL INTERNATIONAL CADET EXCHANGE 1958 w/ JIMMY STEWART 61524

Ambassadors With Wings is a short 1958 film, narrated by Jimmy Stewart, that gives viewers a glimpse at the Civilian Air Patrol’s (CAP) International Air Cadet Exchange program and celebrates the program’s 10th anniversary. The film opens with footage of the Wright Brothers flying one of their first planes at Fort Myer, VA, and Charles Lindbergh’s plane flying in the sky. American CAP cadets climb into an Air Force transport plane to head to Europe as part of the International Air Cadet Exchange program. The film shows viewers a little back story to CAP cadets training prior to participation in the program. CAP planes take off from an airstrip. CAP cadets march in a drill in Sherman, TX. Cadets train in pilot seats as well as in the classroom. Cadets fly Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars with their trainers. The film then cuts to the start of the exchange program, beginning with the cadets’ arrival in England. CAP cadets look at the British Parliament from across the Thames (04:58). The film also shows other scenes from London. CAP Cadets are reviewed by British Air Marshal Sir Douglas Macfadyen (06:00), before visiting the Royal Air Force Hawkinge Base in Dover where they study a British Spitfire. The American cadets greet British police officers, then head to Buckingham Palace where Queen Elizabeth II and her family appear on a balcony (06:54). The next stop is Brussels (07:13), and the cadets visit the Grand-Place, have breakfast with a host family, and watch a bike race (08:25). In Paris, cadets visit the Eiffel Tower (08:36) and the Paris Opera; they also stop at other famous landmarks, including La Madeleine, Notre-Dame de Paris, and Champs-Elysees. The film then goes to Portugal, with its rocky coastline. In Alava Province, Portuguese perform a circle dance for the cadets. In Spain, CAP cadets watch a bull fight and, later, young women dance to traditional Spanish music. The mayor of Ankara greets the newly arrived CAP cadets (11:08); as part of their visit to Turkey, they stop at the Memorial of Ataturk. The cadets also visit Israel (11:44), Athens and the Acropolis (12:06), Rome, and Pompei. They tour the famous Caserta Technical School outside of Naples before flying over the Western Alps to Switzerland. Stops in Switzerland include Lake Lucerne, lunch at water-side café, and a boat ride on the Rhine to Dusseldorf and its memorable castles. In West Germany, the cadets go gliding (14:50) and meet with West Germany’s Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (15:04). Back in the United States, Vice President Richard Nixon welcomes cadets from other countries on the steps of the Capitol Building. The foreign “Ambassadors With Wings” visit the sites of DC and go to Griffith Stadium to watch a Washington Senators game—a young Israeli cadet gets pointers from third-baseman Eddie Yost. The primarily European cadets watch an air show at Andrews Air Force Base, then they visit Lehigh Valley Cooperative in Allentown, PA, a dairy cooperative. Meanwhile, the American cadets also visit a dairy plant; they tour the plant in Dordrecht, the Netherlands (18:04). While in Holland, they also see windmills and meet Queen Juliana at the Hague. Next, the cadets visit Denmark (19:10), and see Frederiksborg Castle and Copenhagen. In Norway, they watch the reinlender folk dance and visit a paper and pulp production plant (21:30). The cadets watch an airshow in Sweden (21:38), featuring the J-35 Dragon; the cadets then dine with officers of the Swedish Air Force. Back in the U.S., the international cadets visit Times Square, take the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, then watch as young airmen and airwomen march down the Avenue of Americas (Sixth Avenue) to Rockefeller Plaza where young American cadets compete in the finals of the CAP’s National Drill Competition. The film concludes with shots of the U.N. Building (24:27) and the young men of the International Air Cadet Exchange—the “Ambassadors With Wings.”

The International Air Cadet Exchange is an annual student exchange program designed to promote character, good-will, and cooperation among the world's civilian auxiliary aviation programs. Participants come from organizations such as the Air Training Corps, Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets, Australian Air Force Cadets, United States Civil Air Patrol, German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics, Royal Canadian Air Cadets, Turkish Aeronautical Association, Hong Kong Air Cadet Corps, Singapore National Cadet Corps, along with fifteen other equivalent groups in other nations. Cadets spend approximately two weeks every July/August with their foreign counterparts. The first exchange occurred in 1947.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com