Naval Air Station Glenview

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Naval Air Station Glenview
IATA: NBU – ICAO: KNBU
Summary
Airport type		Naval Air Station
Operator		United States Navy
Location		Glenview, Cook County, Illinois
Built		1923
In use		Closed 1995
Commander		n/a
Coordinates		42°05′26″N, 87°49′21″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
17/35	8,000	2,438	Paved

Naval Air Station Glenview or NAS Glenview was an operational U.S. Naval Air Station from 1923 to 1995. Located in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, the air base primarily operated seaplanes on nearby Lake Michigan, and later, P-3 Orions, stationed there as a staging point for Anti-submarine warfare against Soviet submarines. The former air base has now been redeveloped into a residential subdivision and commercial area called The Glen, although the control tower has 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.

On November 2, 1978, Air Force One, carrying President Jimmy Carter arrived at NAS Glenview, as Carter was doing fundraising appearances in the Chicago area. Carter left via Air Force One from O'Hare Airport the following day.

Contents 1 Pre-military history 2 Alumni 3 Accidents and incidents 4 Footnotes 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Pre-military history

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 on October 20, 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. Additionally, 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 2005 would be about $32.4 million. It was widely believed to be one of the Midwest's finest airports.

In 1930, the National Air Races took place at Curtiss Field and in 1933, the International Air Races took place there in conjunction with the Century of Progress. Such aviation luminaries as Charles Lindbergh, Wiley Post, and Jimmy Doolittle attended. In 1934, Post tried to set an aviation altitude record from Curtiss. By 1938, civilian and military operations both ran out of the field, but in 1940, it was sold outright to the United States Navy. The name was officially changed to the Naval Air Station Glenview on January 1, 1943.

[edit] Alumni

• Astronaut Neil Armstrong, served as a reservist at NAS Glenview.
• Former President George H. W. Bush, received carrier pilot training at NAS Glenview during World War II.
• Former President Gerald Ford, served at NAS Glenview for several months during World War II.
• Admiral Daniel Gallery, captured the German submarine, the U505, which is now on display at Chicago’s Museum of Science & Industry.
• Butch O'Hare, became the U.S. Navy's first World War II flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient.
• Meinhardt Raabe, who portrayed the coronor in The Wizard of Oz, served with the Civil Air Patrol at Glenview during World War II.^[1]

[edit] Accidents and incidents

• On May 30, 1943, two marine flyers 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.^[2]
• On June 11, 1947, a plane leaving the air station to participate in an air show over downtown Chicago was forced to crashland in a field near Willow and Waukegan roads in Glenview. The plane's landing gear broke off, but the two flyers were uninjured and no one on the ground was injured.^[3]
• On January 15, 1951 a plane flying from O'Hare International Airport to 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.^[4]
• On 20 January 1977, a Sikorsky HH-52A Seaguard - 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 (CG Aviator #1620), AT2 John B. Johnson, Mr. Jim Simpson (Civilian). The Air Station the aircraft and/or crew were assigned to was AIRSTA Chicago
• On 12 August 1978, a British Avro Vulcan B2 XL390 of No. 617 Squadron Royal Air Force crashed during an air display. The crash occurred at around 400 ft (120 m), after a possible stall during a wing-over. The plane crashed into a landfill just north of Willow Road. All four crew members aboard perished.^[5]

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Curtiss-Reynolds Field / Glenview NAS
• GlobalSecurity.org: Naval Air Station Glenview
• GNAS History
• GNAS Historical Figures
• GNAS Closure

[edit] External links

• Glenview HangarOne Foundation
• Airliners.net Aviation Photos: NAS Glenview (NBU / KNBU)
• the former NAS Glenview site at WikiMapia

• Naval Air Station Glenview is at coordinates 42°05′26″N 87°49′21″W / 42.0905556, -87.8225000 (Naval Air Station Glenview)Coordinates: 42°05′26″N 87°49′21″W / 42.0905556, -87.8225000 (Naval Air Station Glenview)