Fleet Fighter | World War II dramatisation (1942)
Channel: Armoured Archivist
Date: 2024-03-06

This is a surprisingly frank and detailed dramatised account of training Fleet Air Arm pilots during World War II. Made in 1942 and released March 1943, it is filmed "on location" in the training rooms, simulators, lecture theatres - and cockpits - used at the time to turn trainees into qualified fighter pilots.
FAA training was conducted using Sea Hurricanes, which by this time were being replaced by Seafire IIs and Marlet IVs.
Unexpectedly, the effort was made by the producers to capture air-to-air training manoeuvres - such as deflection shooting - to put the relevance of otherwise "dry" training charts, diagrams and tables into context.
This resulted in some nice footage of Sea Hurricanes in flight.
Pilots would undergo conversion to more modern Seafires and Corsairs before becoming operational.