This 1970s educational film, “Air Defense Command” was produced for the
Canadian Armed Forces and provides information on the 22nd NORAD region
in Canada. On May 12, 1958, the U.S. and Canada sign the North American
Air Defense Command (NORAD) agreement [today known as the North American
Aerospace Defense Command and based at Colorado Springs, Colorado]. The
film opens with a pair of McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo interceptor aircraft
taking off, flying, and landing. These planes were used between 1961 and
1984 (:07-
1:03). North Bay, Ontario is the headquarters for the 22nd NORAD region (
1:04-
1:33). A government car drives into the granite entrance of the three-story complex (
1:34-
1:53).
More than 600 feet below ground is the SAGE (semi-automatic ground
environment control system). A diagram is shown of the 10,000 feet of
tunnels before the car continues driving through the darkness, its red
revolving light shown turning and flashing (
1:54-
3:02). The airman arrives and enters the building (
3:03-
3:23). A pointer highlights on the map the continent’s geographical areas for the air defense of both countries (
3:24-
4:17). The airman picks up a phone and turns on switches and dials on the system. A rapid succession of equipment images is shown (
4:18-
4:50).
The facility has kitchen and dining facilities (shown), a hospital and
infirmary, a canteen, wash rooms, and showers. It also has underground
generators (
4:51-
5:05). Airmen are seen wearing headsets and viewing an air traffic control screen (
5:06-
5:32).
The ‘warning line’ is shown on the map, and the 22nd is responsible for
the four distant early warning sites in the Canadian Arctic as well as
other radar points (
5:33-
6:28). Pilots scramble to their planes, which take off and fly in pairs (
6:29-
7:44).
For training purposes, a T-33 Shooting Star “T-Bird” has intruded. The
lead Voodoo moves closer to make visual contact while the second drops
back to take action if the intruder becomes hostile (
7:45-
8:40). The training exercise over, all three planes land, with the drogue parachute shown activated on one CF-101 (
8:41-
19:20).
The McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo was an all-weather interceptor aircraft
operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Canadian Forces between
1961 and 1984. They were manufactured by the McDonnell Aircraft
Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri for the United States Air Force (as
F-101s), and later sold to Canada. CF-101s replaced the obsolete Avro
CF-100 Canuck in the RCAF's all-weather fighter squadrons. The Voodoo's
primary armament was nuclear AIR-2A Genie unguided air-to-air rockets,
and there was significant political controversy in Canada about their
adoption. Although they never fired a weapon in wartime, the CF-101
served as Canada's primary means of air defence from Quick Reaction
Alert facilities at Canadian airbases. The CF-101s were retired in the
1980s and replaced with McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet fighters. Many
examples are preserved in museums and parks in Canada and the United
States.
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