Beale Air Force Base California-1981: Pilot Beside an A-10 Thunderbolt as Visitors Crowd Under the Jet

Catalog date: estimated · Catalog location: estimated. Review source evidence · Request a source quality check

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only. $149 flat from Stockfilm for documentary, news and educational use, plus internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Year1981
Decade1980s
LocationBeale Air Force Base, California, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1981 · Beale Air Force Base, California, United States
StatusStockfilm Exclusive

$149 · Editorial onlyDirect license: editorial use only

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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From the same film reel

1981 · Beale Air Force Base & Honolulu · Reel 3e1fd541 contains 5 published Stockfilm-exclusive clips. Watch them in reel order and review the available reel documentation.

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Same year and place1981 · Beale Air Force Base, California, United StatesExplore footage →Across the archiveFilmed in 1981Explore the year →Across the yearsBeale Air Force Base, California, United StatesExplore the place →

What is in this clip

military aviation
air show
Cold War
public open house
static display
pilots and the public
1980s leisure

Shot type: medium
Camera: pan · handheld
Setting: outdoor · Air base flight line and static display ramp in front of a hangar
Time and weather: day · clear and sunny
Lighting: Hard natural sunlight with strong shadows
People: 7 · A uniformed USAF pilot in a flight suit, garrison cap and sunglasses; a boy in a yellow shirt and blue cap; a man in a red jacket and yellow cap; a woman in a straw hat; and other adult visitors
Vehicles: A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft
Objects: multi-barrel cannon · red streamer · cockpit canopy · national insignia · engine nacelle · wing · landing gear · hangar
Readable signs: 139
Colors: olive green · sky blue · red · yellow · grey
Master dimensions: 3840 × 2160
Audio: Silent
Date confidence: Low
Location confidence: Medium

Moments in the footage

Select a time to watch that moment in the preview.

A pilot in a garrison cap stands by the A-10's nose and cannon.
A boy in yellow and a man in a red jacket duck under the fuselage.
The pan moves along the fuselage to the star-and-bar insignia.
The engine nacelle comes into view above a visitor in a straw hat.

Pilot Beside an A-10 Thunderbolt as Visitors Crowd Under... — Clip Details

Beale Air Force Base, California, circa 1981 home movie footage from a US Air Force open house. A pilot in a flight suit and garrison cap stands by the nose of an A-10 Thunderbolt II numbered 139. Its multi-barrel cannon points out under a red streamer while visitors in caps and a straw hat crowd beneath the aircraft. The handheld Super 8 camera pans right along the green camouflaged fuselage, past the cockpit and national insignia, to the large engine pod.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Handheld
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: editorial use only Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 800002525

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Editorial only Direct license: editorial use only. Editorial use only: documentary, news, educational, internal and organic social use. Not permitted in advertising, sponsored or branded content, broadcast promotion or any paid commercial placement.

Minors are visible. Editorial use only; commercial use is not offered for this clip, and a sensitive-use review is recommended.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: Yes
Logos / trademarks: No
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel record not linked for this clip
Date: 1981 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no reel-level note is linked.
Location: Beale Air Force Base, California, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no reel-level note is linked.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Fills requests for early-1980s US Air Force open house footage where the public stands next to an A-10 and its pilot, for Cold War or aviation documentaries.
Period detail: The A-10's green camouflage, the pilot's flight suit and garrison cap, and the visitors' trucker caps and sports jackets may show an early-1980s air show crowd.
Home-movie behavior: A visitor in the crowd films it, catching people ducking under the fuselage and the pilot standing among the public without any staging.
What appears in frame: You see the A-10's numbered nose and cannon, a pilot in a garrison cap, a boy in yellow ducking under the jet, a man in a red jacket, a woman in a straw hat, the star-and-bar insignia and the engine pod.
Film character: Handheld Super 8 with warm, slightly green-shifted colour, visible grain, glare off the canopy and soft motion during the pan give it an authentic amateur texture.
Edit role: Works as a lively cutaway or insert in an air show sequence, or as a memory beat for a family's day at the base.
Historical context: Open houses like this let civilians walk right up to frontline Air Force aircraft and their crews during the late Cold War.
Research note: Copyright in the film is separate from the likeness of the pilot and visitors, who may be identifiable and include a possible minor; aircraft markings are government insignia, so take appropriate caution before commercial use.
Research search match: A-10 Thunderbolt static display Super 8, USAF pilot with air show crowd early 1980s, Beale AFB open house home movie.
Archive pairing path: Pair with the same reel's F-4 'RENO High Rollers' tail, the KC-10 'US AIR FORCE' tanker and the visitors in the C-5 hold, then with other Beale open house footage from around 1981, then with other air show crowd scenes.

Still Frames From This Clip

USAF pilot beside an A-10 Thunderbolt II's nose cannon at a Beale Air Force Base open house, California, circa 1981 — A pilot stands beside the nose of A-10 number 139 on static display, circa 1981.
License this still · $49

Air show visitors duck under an A-10 fuselage beside a USAF pilot at Beale Air Force Base, California, circa 1981 — Visitors stoop under the A-10's fuselage as the pilot looks on.
License this still · $49

Crowd under the camouflaged A-10 fuselage with USAF insignia at a Beale Air Force Base open house, circa 1981 — The pan moves along the fuselage past the national insignia and the crowd.
License this still · $49

A-10 Thunderbolt engine pod and wing over air show visitors at Beale Air Force Base, California, circa 1981 — The A-10's large engine pod looms over visitors on the ramp.
License this still · $49

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