This short documentary celebrating a halfcentury of flight (the first human flight, powered by the Wright brothers, took place on 17 December 1903) examines the state of aviation in the late 1950s. The question, at that juncture, no longer was whether men could fly, but how fast and how far, and the film describes and reviews the top aircraft of the day: turbojets, stratocruisers, and missiles that outstrip the speed of sound. Part 3 of Salute to Flight, a 3part film series about aviation.

Directed by Richard Gilbert 1959