https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/595b7d43-9ed5-46a4-85c1-ac477a4187ac Veteran character actor James Whitmore hosts “Survival!,” a 1964 black-and-white series that focused on a famous disaster in each episode. US Navy Lt. Frank Ellis is the subject of this particular episode, and opens with the tale of Ellis as a young boy watching from his Florida home as pilots practiced various maneuvers. Ellis recalls his enthusiasm in a voiceover and we learn how in 1950 the family moved to Ohio and the young man began taking flying lessons. Following high school he enrolled in the University of Ohio and joined the ROTC, eventually joining the navy, earning a commission, and his pilot wings in 1957 (mark 10:25). Ellis continues to recall his love affair with aviation and his time as a flight instructor (mark 10:46) with the episode capturing re-enactments of his duties. “Even the danger in his work does not affect his enthusiasm … it is part of the job but it is not something to fear,” we are told in a bit of foreshadowing at mark 12:10. In 1962, Ellis was flying an F9F Cougar as a ferry pilot toward a landing at the naval air station at Point Mugu, California, when trouble developed (mark 14:55). He piloted the aircraft away from a populated area before ejecting but the system hurdled him through the flames of the motor. He broke his back, was severely burned, broke three ribs, mangled his left leg, and had his right leg severed below the knee. Ellis continues to explain how his leg was amputated following his transfer to a naval hospital in San Diego (mark 17:54) and how he quickly set on a rehabilitation course. He explains how his ultimate plan was to rejoin his squadron and again pilot an aircraft. Although Ellis says people literally laughed at him, he is shown at mark 19:43 water-skiing on artificial limbs and undergoing naval water survival training before the episode comes to an abrupt end. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference." This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh03NSmZCuk Mirrored from Periscope Film (https://www.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm) Sat, 13 Jun 2026 13:25:19 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/41a6fee9-7f57-42d0-a5fc-5db4f1af2e31.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/595b7d43-9ed5-46a4-85c1-ac477a4187ac All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.