Product Description
Just in from Rare Aviation, this DVD covers life on 51st Fighter Wing at Suwon in Korea during April and May of 1952. It runs over an hour. The DVD is split into fifteen distinct sections, and begins on 16 April 1952 with a short film on dust control, with troops digging and planting trees outside what appears to be the base chapel. Like most excerpts, there is no sound, but unobtrusive background music accompanies each film. Next up, taken on the same day, we see General Stearley arriving at Suwon in a B-17 to be greeted by Col. Francis Gabreski, the base - and 51st FW - commander. This film is introduced with two scrolling biographies of both Stearley and Gabreski - a nice inclusion and one that can be easily read as the 'scrolling' is not too fast. Short clips of the Mess Hall, Weather Station (30th Weather Sqn) and Motor Pool (51st Motor Vehicle Sqn) follow, all acompanied by restrained backing music. For many, the highlight of this DVD will be the Sabre footage, and there is plenty of it. First you get an 'On the Ramp' section from 30 April 1952, and there are an abundance of Sabres on view, and even the following '51st Air Police Sqn, May 1, 1952' section has plenty of Sabre action too; I particularly liked the landing views of the aircraft, which are quite unusual to see, and also give a good idea of the terrain surrounding the base. From start to finish this really DVD packs the action in; it's refreshing to see the 'behind the scenes' action included, so the unsung ground personnel also get their five minutes of fame. The film is that much better for it. Whether you were actually there, knew someone who was there, or are just a Sabre nut, this DVD is well worth getting.
