This early-1940s-vintage film is a time capsule of the Lockheed Aircraft Co. at a key moment in its history. The company was just at the beginning of its war-driven growth trajectory. The film focuses on Lockheed's commercial division. It highlights the Model 18 Lodestar airliner, and offers only a glimpse of the hundreds of Hudson bombers -- the Lodestar's military variant -- then in production. Meanwhile, the P-38 Lightning -- "a man-made comet!", the narrator says -- makes a cameo appearance at the end. If you look closely, I think you see actual footage of legendary designer and Skunk Works founder Kelly Johnson in a wind tunnel at the 14-minute mark.

Produced: 1940

Length: 30 Minutes

This beautifully filmed Lockheed promotional film hits the propaganda points hard, but makes up for it with the rare footage of Lockheed factory assembly lines and historic shots of famous flight celebrities. In addition to the great factory footage, there is also an explanation of how they used test pilots to try out their newest inventions, and to set records for speed. We watch as the Yankee Doodle, a Lockheed Vega, lands after breaking the speed record for a flight from NY to LA. There is also footage of the Wright brothers, Lindbergh and his wife, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Ruth Nichols, and others.