Series Description

Air Power was a 30 minute World War II documentary miniseries on CBS that detailed the progress of flight from the Wright Brothers to the current day (1956). While advances in civilian aircraft was occasionally mentioned, the emphasis was primarily on military developments.

Air Power Cast

Walter Cronkite .... Narrator

Air Power Trivia

The inspirational sound track for Air Power was composed by Norman Dello Joio. The Air Power TV series included footage of historical figures including Hermann Goring, Eddie Rickenbacker, Winston Churchill, and James Doolittle.

Air Power was intended to be an educational (but entertaining) series. It covered the earliest development of airplanes, World War One biplane dogfighting, problems and fighting techniques involved in using aircraft during World War II, the firs Jet aircraft, supersonic aircraft, rockets, and missiles.

There was also coverage of what advancements the experts in the 1950s believed would take place in the future.

Air Power was inspired by the 50th anniversary of powered flight. Production of the series began shortly after that date.

Air Power was nominated for an Emmy in 1957 for "Best New Program Series" but "Playhouse 90" won the Emmy.

For several decades, if you asked the typical person who was the foremost newscaster they'd almost certainly say Walter Cronkite. Cronkite and his staff literally invented the evening news format that we're all familiar with today. In 1951, Cronkite was told to sit at a desk and do the news. When Cronkite asked a CBS stage manager what that meant he answered, "I don't know. Just do it". Cronkite decided that he would simply pretend like the camera was a person to whom he would tell the news. He decided to do the same thing a newpaper did. He'd start with the most important story and finish with human interest stories. Sound familiar?

The more important the story, the more likely that Walter Cronkite would be the one who would report it. He covered the Nazi war criminal trials in 1945. He anchored the coverage of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy's assasination. He was the one who kept us informed while the first men went to the moon. It was obvious that he absolutely loved his job. After retiring at age 65 he said, "Twenty-four hours after I told CBS News that I was stepping down at my 65th birthday I was already regretting it and I've regretted it every day since". Mr. Cronkite didn't disappear though. He did many TV specials and other projects after he left the anchor's job at CBS.