A-36s. P-47s & Stearman N2Ss Flying Free at Zeno's Drive-In

Hello All --

You are invited to drop by Zeno's Warbird Video Drive-In

and catch our End of Summer September Triple Feature of World War II aviation films for free online video viewing.

• This month "At the Matinee," we're featuring the return of an all time Drive-In favorite, the P-47 fighter combat classic "Thunderbolt!," and the online debuts of two films, "A Day with the A-36s" and "Conquest by Air!"

• New in the permanent on line collection of free aircraft videos: "Primary Flight Training with the Stearman N2S" biplane trainer.
  formatting link
  films in this series are now playing 24/7 at the Drive-In. The films star and were produced and directed for the US Navy by actor and silver screen legend Robert "Bob" Taylor, who starred in over 80 pictures including "Waterloo Bridge," "Bataan," and "Billy the Kid." Taylor was a Lieutenant in the USNR and an active flight instructor during the War, and it shows in this comprehensive presentation. The other star of these films is the beloved Stearman N2S biplane trainer, AKA "The Yellow Peril." This sweet handling ship was the first step up into the sky for tens of thousands of pilots during World War II, and many are still flown to this day by it's legion of loyal fans. You'll get to know the Stearman inside & out!

Now Playing "At the Matinee"

* A Day with the A-36s Very rare color combat footage of an A-36A "Invader" (the ground attack version of the P-51 Mustang) fighter/bomber squadron in action in Sicily. The A-36A was equipped with the Mustang's original Allison engine (as opposed to the Rolls Royce Merlin adapted so successfully in the escort versions) which worked just fine for low level work. Note the quad

20mm canons on this fast and powerful attack plane, very unusual on an American fighter. ( This exciting film includes incredible cockpit views of actual ground attack runs as well as fascinating views of a captured Axis air base. You'll also see ground crews doing their critical support work, including fueling, re-arming and maintaining these sleek birds. One of the hidden gems in this film are up close views of captured or destroyed Axis aircraft, including an He 111, FW-190, JU 88, and rare view of an intact Italian Macchi 202 "Folgore" in full desert cammo.

• Thunderbolt! - an all time Drive-In Favorite This exciting film chronicles the exploits of the P-47 Thunderbolt pilots of the "Fighting Gamecocks" of the 65th Fighter squadron, 57th Fighter Group. Based on the island of Corsica off the northwest coast of the Italian boot, they flew from behind the enemy's flank. As part of "Operation Strangle," they continuously attacked highways, bridges, ammo dumps, railroads and just about anything that moved to choke off the flow of supplies to the Axis front line. This film not only features one-of-a-kind P-47 combat footage, it also shows day-to-day life on a MTO forward air base, including vintage pilot slang. This has to be finest combination of great photography, a hard bitten, realistic script, stirring music, powerful narration and full bore Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59W Double Wasp radial engine roar I have seen or heard in a World War II documentary. "Truly memorable and highly recommended."

*Conquest by Air. This is an excellent summary of the strategic air campaign in Europe. Produced right after the war, it benefits from captured enemy evaluations of allied bombing and after action photos of important targets. You'll also hear testimony form German leadership on the effects of the bombing on their war effort See extensive footage of before and after bomb damage on oil refineries, tank production factories, as well as gun camera footage of air-to-ground attacks. Plenty of B-17 & B-24 air combat action too!

(Matinee features change every month.)

If you haven't stopped by Zeno's Drive-In before, we also feature 1942-45 vintage WWII Army & Navy pilot training films on how to fly the F4U, F6F, P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47, P-51, P-61, TBF/TBM, AT-6, B-17, B-24, B-25, A-20, A-26, B-26, B-29, and more.We just added the SNJ/AT-6 "Harvard" trainer and the Brewster SB2a too. And every month there are new feature length world War 2 aviation documentaries playing "At the Matinee."

That's over 13 hours of rockin' props for free viewing over the internet. See detailed charts, diagrams, and interior photos from original WWII pilot's manuals too. And all of our flicks are now available at our video store on DVD, including pilot's manuals for almost all aircraft with a different DVD "on special" every month.

Finally, our "Control Tower" page has the largest collection of World War II Aviation links on the 'net

So drop your flaps & drop in! That's

Zeno