The Jack Thompson Collection - F-111 Training Film With Sexy Schematics

Duration: 8:51

Year Published: 1960s

Format: 16mm

Sound: No Sound on Film

Description: This late 1960s training film from donor Gordon Smith features bikini-clad women with schematics painted on their stomachs in the style of the ladies of “Laugh-In”. The film was made by Jamieson Film Co., possibly for General Dynamics in Fort Worth, and was likely providing instruction for a new system that was installed in General Dynamic’s F-111 fleet. One possibility is a new ground radar system that General Dynamics developed right around the time of the analog to digital shift in technology. One of the features of the radar system was that it could be used to set the F-111 to fly at a certain altitude above the terrain. After the radar system experienced problems detecting bodies of water and dropped several pilots into the water, detecting only the sea bottom as terrain, new training tools had to be developed to help pilots work with the radar system. It is possible that the presence of the lake in this film indicates that this new radar system and its subtleties with bodies of water may be just what this film is addressing, with the aid of ladies in bikinis, of course! If you have another theory, please let us know!