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“Muscle Power for Planes“ was the name of an industrial film made for the Allison Division of General Motors in 1956. Unfortunately, the film appears to be lost, but the good news is that portions of a master print survive. This excerpt from a “lab roll“ shows many aircraft from the 1950's including the Hercules C130; a legendary cargo plane responsible for shaping aviation history, the Northrop F-89 Scorpion and the Regulus I Cruise Missile. The Regulus 1 was a US Navy developed ship and submarine-launched, nuclear-capable turbojet powered second generation cruise missile. These were all deployed between 1955 to 1964. The film opens with footage of the Ryan Firebee BQM-34 (:27). These were target drones developed by Ryan Aeronautical Company in 1951. The craft shoots off leaving a puffy stream in it's wake (:39). The Northrop F-89 Scorpion (:51) follows. This was the first ombat aircraft armed with air-to-air nuclear weapons. Blueprints are unrolled (1:07). The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior (1:16) saw much service in the Vietnam War (1:16). This craft was specially developed nuclear weapon delivery. Another flies over the mountains (1:26). The nose of the Grumman F11F-1F pokes on screen (1:35). The Northrop Scorpion reappears (1:47). The XSSM-N-8 Regulus Cruise Missile (1:51) is pictured. An engine (2:28) and propeller appear in assembly (2:34). A Convair CV-240 Turboliner appears (2:40). These were equipped with Allison T38 engines. Ground support stand at the right propeller (2:42). The craft takes off from the runway (2:54). It flies over an unidentified rural area (3:08). An unidentified sea plane swoops in low (3:16). The Convair R3Y Trade wind is pictured (3:30). The Piaskeci H-16 Transporter follows (3:51) flying over green earth. The Convair XFY-1 Pogo VTOL Fighter swoops into view (4:14). The notorious C-130 Hercules (4:57) is featured. The Hercules saw much military, civilian and humanitarian duty since it entered service in 1956. Propellers spin as it is ready for takeoff (5:07). It runs down the runway (5:23). A side angle shot shows the Hercules inflight (5:31). The Ryan Firebee reappears (5:31). The film concludes with a series of scale models of aircraft (6:01). Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we've worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you'd like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below. 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 and 2k. For more information visit
