Willow Grove NAS Snapshots 1968 and 1974

[gwb123]

I've had these since I was a kid. For some reason I thought to dig them out the other day.

 

I lived outside of Philadelphia in the 60's and 70's. Somehow our house was under the flight path for Willow Grove Naval Air Station. We used to see all kinds of military traffic over our heads.

 

Unfortunately, most of it looked like this....

 

If you can't make it out, it is the twin boomed C-119.

 

 

[gwb123]

Fortunately, Willow Grove would open to airshows on an annual basis.

 

I didn't realize it, but I was actually capturing aircraft in Vietnam era color schemes and configurations.

 

It is hard to make out in this one, but this Constellation has a huge radome slung beneath it. It is done with a dark blue camouflage scheme. I believe this was taken in 1968.

[gwb123]

C-97 Stratofreighters were still in service then, although the tail markings indicate Air National Guard.

 

I was still learning about America's "global reach" with airpower when a friend of mine told me one of our high school teachers was spending his weekends flying cargo to Vietnam. He'd finish up at school, report to the airfield, pick up an aircraft, make the trip to Vietnam, return by Sunday and be back in the classroom on Monday. It still staggers the mind.

(Perhaps it was actually just a cross country trip with cargo bound for Vietnam, but that was still a dedicated individual.)

 

This photo is marked 1967.

[gwb123]

I had another chance to see these aircraft in 1969, this time while escorting members of our Cub Scout Troop as a Den Leader. The USAF NCO who escorted us probably retired after this incident.

 

The hanger door fascinated me, allowing the bulk of the aircraft to be serviced in a heated hanger in the dead of winter.

 

 

[gwb123]

I eventually got closer to the C-119's that droned over our house. I was fascinated by their twin booms, which I suppose were to facilitate cargo off loading.

[gwb123]

Also stationed at Willow Grove were PV-2 Neptunes. I believe at the time they were actively monitoring the Atlantic for Soviet submarines that were lurking off shore to blow us into nuclear oblivion (hey, we believed this stuff at that time!).

[gwb123]

And then there were the airshows! These photos are all from 1974.

 

You may have seen the recent Blue Angels shows and been duly impressed, but to this day nothing put the fear in me like having an F-4 come about what seemed only 10 feet above my head in a blue flash.

 

One oddity here is the choice of uniform for the troops guarding the flight line. You will note they are wearing khakis with an OG-107 field jacket. This was before the US Army adopted the black windbreaker. This ensemble made the troops look like they worked for some third rate dictator.

[gwb123]

Other guest stars at the 1974 Willow Grove Airshow:

 

The F-4 was from the USS America.

 

The F-100 was most likely assigned to either the USAF Reserve or Air National Guard at this point. Note the Vietnam era camouflage.

 

 

[gwb123]

An O-2 with a rocket pod mounted under wing...An A-4... (possibly from an earlier show)...

[gwb123]

Helicopters... one from the USMC... another being used to recruit for the National Guard Air Cavalry...

[gwb123]

Willow Grove was not the only airshow in the region.

 

Before there was a Reading WWII Weekend, there was the Reading Airshow. This helicopter flew up from Washington, DC and provided shade to the observants.

[gwb123]

And here is a random shot from the family history...

 

These are my parents standing beneath the wings of a MGM-1 Matador missile that used to stand in front of the Martinsburg, PA regional airport near Altoona.

 

There was a time that small airports and tech schools showed how they were "with it" with the space age by displaying gate guards like this.

 

The odd thing about this one was it was painted bright red with the black and white stripes added. Similar paint jobs were done on test missiles filed from Cape Canaveral. How this missile ended up in central Pennsylvania is a mystery, matched by the mystery that it has disappeared over the years.

 

*********************************************************

 

I hope you've enjoyed these. Please keep in mind that most of these were taken with a simple Kodak Instamatic camera or something similar. One of the first things I did when I was in the Army was to buy a real 35mm camera to make up for the deficienies you see here. But these were still not bad considering I was just a kid.

 

Comments welcome... add your own if you like.

[M7bayonet]

Wow......love those pics. Brought back a lot of memories from Willow Grove Naval Air Station. I might have been at that air show in 1968 because I remember the Constellation. ...my Mom explained to my brothers and me how that was the type of plane she flew from Germany on in 1950 with my oldest brother who had been born in Berlin. I remember the ME-262 German jet fighter and the Japanese planes they had on display at the front gate. The new Air Museum they have in place of the outdoor display is fantastic, especially after they had the ME-262 completely refurbished and saved that very rare aircraft from further decay. I remember those Flying Boxcars also, your pic of one flying overhead reminded me of summer days lying on the grass in my backyard looking up to see what was flying in on any particular day. Thanks for the memories. And your pics were just great.....I like the old black and white shots with just a small camera, nothing fancy.....very nostalgic.

[gwb123]

Thanks for the compliments.

 

The first time I saw the display aircraft at Willow Grove my parents were driving me on the way to Boy Scout Camp at Ressica Falls.

 

Every year we stopped as it was on the way home.

 

When I heard the base was closing I wondered what happened to the aircraft. I knew the twin seat ME-262 had survived because it was taken apart and rebuilt as part of the ME-262 project, which ultimately produced 5 flying replicas built with modern parts.

 

The P-40N remains in the USAF collection, and is now at the museum outside of Warner Robbins. The Ardo floatplane was almost destroyed by the exposure to the weather. It has been shipped off to Germany for expert restoration, with an agreement it can be displayed in its home country for years to come.

 

I found a website that listed where all of the aircraft ended up. I may put an article in the Museum section if I can find it again.

[daniel griffin]

Very interesting photos! Thanks for posting them.

[Government Issue]

I'm loving these pics!

[MWalsh]

Great pics!

 

I remember reading each issue of Air Classics years ago and seeing the pics of all the old Axis aircraft they had on display there, and also reading the laments about their terribly deteriorating condition.

 

I want I say that some of the Japanese aircraft maybe have eventually just been scrapped?

 

MW

[Government Issue]

The 262 2 seater ended up at the Pensacola Air Museum and is currently on display there.

[gwb123]

Great pics!

 

I remember reading each issue of Air Classics years ago and seeing the pics of all the old Axis aircraft they had on display there, and also reading the laments about their terribly deteriorating condition.

 

I want I say that some of the Japanese aircraft maybe have eventually just been scrapped?

 

MW

 

 

Mike,

 

I am thinking of doing another thread on the display aircraft.

 

As noted the ME-262 ended up in at the Pensacola museum. I don't know if the US Navy ever directly confronted the ME-262 in combat, but this is a first class museum and it is great that it got there, especially after the full restoration of the aircraft.

 

The P-40N may be the same one that is now at the USAF museum at Warner Robbins.

 

The Japanese aircraft have mostly ended up at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum for restoration.

 

Supposedly there was once a Zero. Various reports say it was destroyed in a fire and others say it is in a museum.

 

Some of the US aircraft, such as the Sea Dart are still up there at the current museum.

[M7bayonet]

I saw the ME-262 just a couple years ago in the new indoor museum that had built for in at Willow Grove. I had watched it get so many different paint jobs over the years when I was growing up when it was outside......one time they even put fake antenna on it's nose to make it look like a nightfighter. This is the only example of a two seat trainer that still exists and I am glad it finally got to a good museum and will be maintained properly. I do remember the Zero they had and I think they had a Zeke. The Seadart was the last example of that plane also. They had some rare warbirds there for sure. I remember they had the name of the ship that the Arado seaplane was from but I don't remember it now. Great memories though. I am glad my kids got to see them all.

[Government Issue]

The Arado was transferred to Pensacola with the 262. However, the idiot driving the truck didn't check clearance under an overpass and the top of the plane shredded off like opening a tin can. It sat in the museums restoration center for a while before being either bought or donated to a group in Germany that is currently restoring it for 100 years of German naval aviation.

 

I looked up the whereabouts of the zero and I found a source from earlier this year stating that it's at San Diego Air & Space.

 

Joseph

[Randy]

Other guest stars at the 1974 Willow Grove Airshow:

 

The F-4 was from the USS America.

 

The F-100 was most likely assigned to either the USAF Reserve or Air National Guard at this point. Note the Vietnam era camouflage.

 

 

 

Gil-

 

Your F-100 is a D model and is from the ANG. The AD phased out the Hun in 1972. Also, the ANG swapped out the J-57 engine augmentor with the eyelids of the original for the one seen here to one from the F-102. It greatly eased the maintenance and reliability and to the best on my knowledge was only found on the ANG aircraft and later Allied Huns from Turkey and Denmark. The reserves flew no F-100s.

I was at the Willow Grove Bicentennial show, they had a really good one with the Angels, Snowbirds and Bob Hoover among others. I miss all the old hardware you would see back then!

 

Randy

 

[rosieres64]

My Uncle was stationed as a parachute rigger petty officer at NAS Willow Grove from January 1949 thru Januaryc1952.

I remember visiting him a few times and seeing all the WWII aircraft parked along the front entrance to the station.

Also, attended the 68 airshow.

[teufelhunde.ret]

... and USMC reserve assets operated from NAS Willow Grove from the 40s thru Desert Storm.

[USCapturephotos]

Enjoyed this thread a lot as I also remember seeing the 262 and Japanese aircraft along the fence line as a kid. I now teach history not far from there at Upper Dublin High and still go past the airfield all the time.

Paul