Naval Air Station Glenview

Naval Air Station Glenview or NAS Glenview was an operational U.S.

The base was originally built by the Curtiss Flying Service and intended to be the hub of Chicago's air service. When the field was dedicated as Curtiss Field on 20 October 1929, it was home to the largest hangar built to that time, Hangar One. Hangar One, one of the most advanced hangars at the time, included many innovations which were considered state-of-the-art in its time. A one gigacandela electric light was erected which allowed for airfield activity in the dark. A system of carefully designed sliding doors created dividers for storage and zone heating. Glassed-in galleries allowed passengers the opportunity to watch the mechanics at work on the ground floor. A passenger-friendly restaurant and lounge were opened in the upper levels. A loudspeaker system informed the passengers of the flight arrivals and departures. The final cost for the airfield and Hangar One was $3 million in 1930. By adjusting the price for inflation, the relative cost in 2017 would equate to about $44.8 million. It was widely believed to be one of the Midwest's finest airports.

In 1930, the

Another Naval Air Reserve squadron at NAS Glenview was Fleet Logistics Support Squadron FIFTY-ONE (VR-51), operating the C-118 aircraft and later C-9B Skytrain II aircraft, providing operational support airlift and transport of military personnel and cargo worldwide. VR-51's noteworthy service included support of US military operations in Lebanon and Grenada during the 1980s and between the US and multiple bases in Southwest Asia during Operations DESERT SHIELD / DESERT STORM in the 1990s.^[7]

Through the mid-1990s, NAS Glenview was also home to twenty-seven Naval Air Reserve reinforcing/sustaining augmentation units, to include two patrol squadron augmentation units containing additional P-3 flight crews in an active flying status that also routinely flew VP-60 and VP-90 aircraft, as well as oversight of Naval Air Reserve training programs and associated reinforcing/sustaining units at Naval Air Reserve Center (formerly Naval Air Station) Twin Cities, Minnesota, the latter facility now part of

Removed were 1 million cubic yards of concrete, 1.5 miles of runways and 108 former Department of Defense buildings. In their place is The Glen, a 1,121 acre mixed-use district, with new homes, offices, and retail space, although the control tower and Hangar 1 have been preserved as a historic building. Hangar 1, including the control tower, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 as building #98001357.^[9] However, according to the Glenview Hangar One Foundation, 85% of Hangar One was dismantled even following efforts by the foundation and the U.S. Navy to preserve historical buildings.^[10]

• Astronaut
  Naval Aviator
  and Naval Reservist at NAS Glenview.
• Former President
  Naval Aviator at NAS Glenview during World War II, in August 1943.^[11]
• Former President Gerald Ford served at NAS Glenview from the end of April 1945 to January 1946, during World War II, as the Staff Physical and Military Training Officer.^[12]
• Jesse L. Brown reported to Glenview Naval Air Station on 15 March 1947, for Naval Aviator training. He was the first African-American aviator to complete the United States Navy's basic flight training program, for pilots. A recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross; and the first African-American naval officer killed in the Korean War.
• Naval Aviator, commanded the Naval Air Reserve Training Command at NAS Glenview from 1952 to 1954. As a Navy Captain during World War II, Gallery led the task group which captured the German submarine U-505, which is now on display at Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry.
• U.S. Navy's first ever flying ace and is the first ever U.S. Navy Aviator to be awarded the Medal of Honor.^[13]
• The Wizard of Oz, served with the Civil Air Patrol at NAS Chicago / NAS Glenview during World War II.^[14]

• On 2 December 1943, four fliers of the Glenview NAS were killed when two Navy Stearman N2S-4 aircraft collided shortly after take off from the NAS. Killed were Ens. Edward Stanley Gardner, Lt. (jg) Edmund J. Wegner, Cadet John A. Waterman, and Cadet Kazimierz Puchalski. Ensign Gardner, 30, was a native of Poughkeepsie, NY. His widow was from Candor, NY and they were married in May 1943. Ensign Gardner is buried in Poughkeepsie, NY.
• On 30 May 1943, two Marine Corps aviators were killed when their planes collided above Pfingsten and Willow Road in Glenview. The Marines were flying in formation, returning to the base on maneuvers from the USS Wolverine on Lake Michigan.^[15]
• On 26 May 1944, during a training flight, Milton C. Pickens lost altitude above Deerfield and circled the village's downtown while trying to regain altitude. He crashed into the garden of Stanley Antes, who was working in the garden at the time. The plane buried itself six feet into the ground and Pickens was killed. The site, at 914 Waukegan Road, is now the location of the Deerfield Public Library. A plaque commemorates Pickens's death.
• On 11 June 1947, an aircraft departing NAS Glenview to participate in an air show over downtown Chicago was forced to crash land in a field near Willow and Waukegan Roads in Glenview. The aircraft's landing gear broke off, but the two flyers were uninjured and no one on the ground was injured.^[16]
• On 15 January 1951, a USAF Douglas B-26C, AF Ser. No. 44-35736, (built as an A-26C-45-DT),^[17] of the 168th Bomb Squadron, Illinois Air National Guard, flying from the Air National Guard base at O'Hare International Airport to NAS Glenview, crashed into a farmer's field in Northbrook along Willow Road after it developed a problem with ice forming on the wings. All four crewmen and a passenger were killed, but there were no casualties on the ground.^[18]
• On 19 April 1956, LCDR
  Grumman F9F-6 Cougar jet fighter when he lost control at 19,000 feet over Lake Michigan at 1330 hrs local time. Although he ejected, his chute apparently failed to deploy and he was killed.^[19] The fighter impacted in the lake one half mile off of Fort Sheridan.^[20] Stanley was an ace, having scored eight aerial victories with VF-27 during World War II.^[21]
• On 31 May 1959, a
  MCAS Cherry Point crashed in an adjacent cemetery killing the pilot, 1stLt William Byrne, USMC. Byrne's widow, Jane, would eventually become Mayor of Chicago.^[22]
• On 5 September 1963, a
  NAS Glenview, Illinois, suffered engine failure. The pilot, LT Don J. "Skip" Mellem, USNR, ejected through the canopy and survived. The fighter struck the front of a home in Northbrook, just off the base; a woman escaped out the backdoor and survived.^[23][24]
• On 8 July 1968, an
  Glenview
  home, killing a 13-year-old girl. The pilot said he could have missed the house if he had dropped external fuel tanks from the plane. He ejected at the last moment and was injured.
• On 20 January 1977, a
  Sikorsky HH-52A Seaguard – CG tail number 1448, struck three electrical transmission wires and crashed into the ice-filled Illinois River
  . The crew had been performing an aerial ice patrol along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. The names of the personnel killed in the incident were: LTJG Frederick William Caesar III, USN; LTJG John Francis Taylor, USCG; AT2 John B. Johnson, USCG, and Mr. Jim Simpson (Civilian). The aircraft and crew were assigned to AIRSTA Chicago.
• On 12 August 1978, a British
  XL390 of No. 617 Squadron, Royal Air Force, crashed while leaving after an air display. The crash occurred after a possible stall at around 400 ft (120 m), during a wing-over. The plane crashed into a landfill just north of Willow Road to avoid surrounding residential areas. All four crew members aboard perished.^[25]
• On 16 August 1986, a
  F-16 Fighting Falcon piloted by Capt Vince Aamato, USAF, lost power at 15,000 feet and was guided to a safe landing at NAS Glenview by Jeff McCoy, an air traffic controller at O'Hare.^[26]
• On 3 March 1991, a U.S. Navy CT-39G Sabreliner crashed into a residential area at Dewes Street during a visual approach to NAS Glenview. All three crew members aboard perished. As the jet approached the street, the pilot turned the plane such that the wings were perpendicular to the street in "knife-blade" fashion. The jet crashed into the center of the street, and the only damage on the ground was fire damage to the front of 2 houses and a few trees were burned.^[27][28] The village established a scholarship fund for the survivors of the crew.^[29][30]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Naval Air Station Glenview.

• Airliners.net Aviation Photos: NAS Glenview (NBU / KNBU)
• Naval Air Station Glenview Fire Division