Title:DAS FERNSPRECHBAUFLUGZEUG : (Fieseler Storch mit Spinne) [Main Title]
Film Number:GWY 1626
Other titles:THE TELEPHONE CABLE LAYING AIRCRAFT [Translation]
Summary: A film showing the use of a specially adapted Fieseler Storch in laying a field telephone cable.
Description: (Reels 1 and 2) The film opens by pointing out the disadvantages of laying cable on foot - two signal troops are seen working their way through a wood and being blown up. The manufacture of the cable is then shown, with shots of two women workers reeling it onto a special drum (capacity 10,000m). The drum is fitted into a special housing under the fuselage of a Fieseler Storch and the inner end of the cable pulled out through the feed roller. A small grapple is attached. The cockpit controls are shown with a demonstration of releasing and cutting the cable. Other items of equipment such as a field telephone set, stakes, a spade are stowed away. Back in the office a group of officers discuss the exact route for the cable. The aircraft is started up and takes off. The pilot releases the cable as he flies slowly over the starting point. The film then shows the correct method of laying the cable across different terrain and obstacles: an overhead power line is approached and the aircraft lands and taxies underneath. The pilot gets out and stakes the cable down under the power lines. The aircraft is seen laying cable over trees, lakes and roads (where the cable is strung over two tree tops). A railway line is reached. Here the pilot cuts the cable and lands. The cable is then passed back under the tracks and joined on to the cut end.
(Reels 3 and 4) The aircraft approaches the limit of the cable (the pilot checks in the mirror attached to the undercarriage which gives a view of the drum housing) and lands. A second drum of cable is installed. The pilot checks the first length of cable with the field set and then takes off. Further examples of laying cable are shown: over a deep railway cutting and under another set of power lines - here the aircraft cannot taxi under and the cable must first be cut. Whilst on the ground the pilot uses a pole to lift the cable into the trees over a road. An unmetalled road without trees is crossed and the cable has to be dug into a trench across it. The cable is also laid across a bay on the coast and over hilly and mountainous terrain - the film contrasts the strenuous climbing enforced on a cable laying team on the ground. Finally the destination is reached, the cable cut and the link with the base established.
Alternative Title:THE TELEPHONE CABLE LAYING AIRCRAFT [Translation]
