Up Ship - Naval Lighter Than Air

[PhrogPhlyer]

I start this thread to establish a place to share an important and often misunderstood chapter of Naval Aviation.
Please use this thread to post photos, documents, antidotes, and any other flotsam and jetsam related to Lighter Than Air.

My journey into the LTA world started with watching Navy blimps fly over the beaches of NJ in the summers of the '60's. And then in 1971, I learned that my high school German teacher was a retired Navy Commander, and rather famous blimp pilot. And in the '80s I was stationed at MCAS Tustin (NAS Santa Ana). From there, my interest in LTA has grown to a near obsession.

Join me in this journey, and who knows, even you might become a helium head.

January 27, 1928. ZR-3 Los Angeles after landing on the CV-3 USS Saratoga.
0

April 28, 1950. K-69 after landing on CVE-120 USS Mindoro.

 

[wink]

That is tight clearance of the Sara's island.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

That is tight clearance of the Sara's island.

Due to the shape of the Los Angeles, there may be more clearance than it appears in the photo.
For comparison the LA was 656' (200m) vs the Sara at 888' (270m) in length.

 

[VMO4]

MCAS Tustin alumni here as well, looking forward to stories of "nobody in the wing understands our mission or capabilities" stories, some things never change.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

"nobody in the wing understands our mission or capabilities"

In some way, the story of Naval LTA.

 

[JTS11]

MCAS Tustin alumni here as well, looking forward to stories of "nobody in the wing understands our mission or capabilities" stories, some things never change.

Honestly, don't know much about Tustin except that some of the senior pilots I served with at Miramar spoke very positively of it.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

And a nod to WW-II helicopters...

14 May 1945 Note Sikorsky HNS-I Helicopter and K-class airship over U-858. 1st U-boat boarded by US after Germany's surrender. DE, USA.

 

[Faded Float Coat]

Long ago I had a sim instructor in Meridian who started his career with half a wing.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

A tease on LTA bases and hangars. More to come.

1943 NAS Santa Ana


1950 MCAF Santa Ana


1983 MCAS Tustin

2007 MCAS Tustin


2021 MCAS Tustin


2023 MCAS Tustin, Sunset is appropriate.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

started his career with half a wing.

We'll get to the evolution of wings within the LTA community, somewhere in this journey.

 

[Griz882]

Some Lakehurst love…

Just before the world changed forever…look closely at the airship on the left!

Lakehurst hangars today.

Hindenburg crash memorial.

Home of the first Navy helicopter squadrons!

 

[ea6bflyr]

A tease on LTA bases and hangars. More to come.


2023 MCAS Tustin, Sunset is appropriate.
View attachment 42240

One of them burned down in Nov 2023:

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

One of them burned down in Nov 2023:

Two hangars falling into disrepair.
Plans for a park surrounding the hangars never gets started.
Developers are screaming to build yet more SoCal condos and apartments.
And then one of these unused structures just happens to burn to the ground.
Nothing to see here, move on...

 

[Griz882]

Two hangars falling into disrepair.
Plans for a park surrounding the hangars never gets started.
Developers are screaming to build yet more SoCal condos and apartments.
And then one of these unused structures just happens to burn to the ground.
Nothing to see here, move on...

Sad but probably true. I remember the fire at Tustin, what a loss.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

Hangar one. A one of a kind architectural beauty.