TRIALS OF THE "LILY" FLOATING AIRFIELD [Allocated Title]
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- Title: TRIALS OF THE "LILY" FLOATING AIRFIELD [Allocated Title]
- Film Number: ADM 1115
- Other titles:
- Summary: The Royal Navy conducts take-off and landing trials on an experimental floating airfield off the Isle of Arran, Scotland.
- Description: START 00:00:00 A view looking down the 520-foot long 60 foot wide "Lily" floating airfield at Lamlash, Isle of Arran, showing Royal Navy and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) officers and one civilian (R M Hamilton) standing on it as it bends with the waves from a passing vessel. The airfield consists of floating hexagonal drums, each secured to the other with flexible hinges that allows the whole structure to cope with the motion of the waves. A travelling shot from a launch of the starboard side of the floating airfield, with a yacht in full sail and two pairs of tank landing craft (LCT-IVs) moored together in Lamlash Bay in the background. 00:00:23 Shots showing an FAA Fairey Swordfish Mk III biplane fitted with two rockets under the main wing to assist take-off (codenamed RATO for Rocket Assisted Take Off), making two take-offs from the floating "Lily" airfield. The second shot is superior to the first. 00:00:35 Shots showing the Fairey Swordfish making three landings on the airstrip, with its lowered arrester gear successfully snagging the arrester wires, thus bringing the aircraft rapidly to a halt. The third landing causes the Swordfish to bounce heavily before it is safely tethered by the arrester wires. 00:00:51 Fade to black and leader for the next film roll. 00:00:54 Repeat of take offs #1 and #2 (better quality, no scratches). 00:01:07 Repeat of landing shots #1 and #2. 00:01:18 The Swordfish begins its taxi down the airstrip (cut in film). It is seen attempting to make a landing and then abandoning it. It makes a successful landing on the "Lily" floating airfield and, caught by the arrester wires, it comes to a stop. It is then pushed back to its take-off position by RN or FAA personnel. Shots of Mr R M Hamilton, inventor of the floating airfield, and him talking to the FAA pilot of the Fairey Swordfish being used in the trials. 00:01:58 An FAA fitter attaches the RATO gear under the starboard main wing of the Swordfish biplane. Filmed from another angle, the Swordfish takes off past the windsock on the floating airfield; a Lend-Lease destroyer-escort in Royal Navy service can be seen steaming through Lamlash Bay in the background. The Swordfish comes into land and bounces heavily on the floating roadway before stopping. A shot of three hexagonal floating drums and one set of flexible hinges connecting two of them which permits the whole structure to bend with the waves. Two FAA fitters carry RATO gear across the floating airfield. A travelling shot past the port side of the "Lily" floating runway, with the Swordfish in position to start its take off run. 00:02:30 A Fairmile B launch heads towards the floating airfield to conduct waves tests; an inshore minesweeper stands by in case of any accidents. A shot of the section of the floating roadway supporting the windsock and two winches. A flashframe showing the Swordfish coming into land. Views showing the floating airfield moving up and down in conformity with the wave pattern in a way that makes it possible for the RN and FAA officers and the single civilian (R M Hamilton) to remain standing, the floating hexagonal drums that comprises the "Lily's" structure, the flexible hinges connecting each drum to its neighbours and one of the two large mooring buoys that keep it safely tethered. At one point, a Royal Navy stills photographer is seen at work. An RN Lend-Lease escort carrier can be seen in the background from 00:03:37 to 00:03:51. 00:03:51 Filmed on another day (?), shots of Mr R M Hamilton and his collaborator in the "Lily" project, Mr J S Herbert, an Eton house master and mathematician (wearing a light coloured suit), on board the floating airfield at Lamlash. A travelling shot of the starboard side of the "Lily" floating airfield that provides a good view of the entire structure. END 00:04:22
- Alternative Title:
- Colour: B&W
- Digitised:
- Object_Number: ADM 1115
- Sound: Silent
- Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
- Featured Period: 1939-1945
- Production Date: 1945-08-30
- Production Country: GB
- Production Details: Admiralty (Production sponsor)
- Personalities, Units and Organisations:
- Keywords: Atlantic 1939-1945 (theme) Combined Operations and Landing Craft 1940-1945 (theme) Fleet Air Arm 1939-1945 (theme) Naval Aviation (theme) Royal Navy 1939-1945 (theme)
- Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent Soundtrack language: None Title language: None Subtitle language: None
- Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 410 ft; Running time: 4 mins 23 secs
- HD Media:
- Link to IWM Collections page:
- Related IWM Collections Objects: