Name: Offutt Air Force Base
Brand: Ben Justman of the Sarpy County Museum
SKU: 9781467112710
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Offutt Air Force Base

9781467112710

$24.99

The year is 1888, and Pres. Grover Cleveland has just signed into law a bill that will lead to the establishment of Fort Crook. In 1948, that Army post gained a new name: Offutt Air Force Base. The history of Offutt Air Force Base is truly unlike that of any other military installation. In the face of adversity, it has overcome challenges during the United States' rise to global prominence, was active during the golden age of flight, and served as a wartime bomber plant. The base remained ever vigilant during the Cold War and continues to do so as a combatant of 21st-century threats. Its remarkable existence of nearly 125 years can serve as a road map of US history. Today, the 55th Wing serves as the host unit for Offutt Air Force Base; its motto, "Videmus Omnia" ("We See All"), can also be applied to the saga of the base.

The Navy in Puget Sound

9780738580814

$24.99

Even before settlers came to the Puget Sound, the U.S. Navy was exploring the sheltered inlets and deep water ports of what was dubbed "America's Mediterranean." In 1856, the sailors of the navy warship Decatur repelled an attack by Native Americans, saving a tiny village on the shores of Elliott Bay named Seattle. In the ensuing years, Puget Sound became the West Coast's premier port of call for the navy's vessels and aircraft operating in the vast Pacific Ocean. During World War II, the region turned out a long line of combat and support vessels while quickly repairing many other ships that had been horribly damaged in clashes with the Japanese. In both peace and war, the communities of Puget Sound and the U.S. Navy have shared an enduring partnership that remains today.

Vandenberg Air Force Base

9781467132091

$24.99

A historical cornucopia ranging from native tribal lands and ranch living to infantry training grounds and missile launch site, the location currently known as Vandenberg Air Force Base has held an amazing legacy that continues today. Stretching over 45 miles of pristine California coastline and covering over 99,000 acres, the base has been the vanguard for the United States' space and missile program. Showcasing over 1,900 launches since 1957, Vandenberg put the world's first photoreconnaissance (spy) satellite into orbit and is the only launch location for America's operational intercontinental ballistic missile force. Within Vandenberg's lands are ancient rock drawings from the native Chumash tribe, hundreds of species of plants, insects, and animals, and untouched beaches--protected and thriving under the military's stewardship of the lands. Within these pages are stories and photographs that highlight Vandenberg Air Force Base's legacy as the free world's first missile base.

Lowry Air Force Base

9780738596648

$24.99

From 1937 to 1994, Lowry Air Force Base, located on the eastern edge of the city of Denver, served the nation and the surrounding community in many distinguished ways. The air base, primarily a technical training center, graduated more than 1.1 million enlisted members and officers in skills ranging from armament to photography, tremendously strengthening the country's war efforts in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. In addition, from the 1980s, Lowry Air Force Base remained one of Colorado's largest employers, with approximately 10,000 military and civilian men and women, providing an economic impact approaching $1 billion annually. Thus Lowry significantly contributed to maintaining the world's largest air force and to promoting the accelerated growth of the Denver metro area and Colorado.

Historic Journeys Into Space

9780738503530

$24.99

From the January 1958 launch of the first American satellite to the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration by President Eisenhower just a few months later, from the heated space race of the Cold War era to the heroes of shuttle launches, the United States has been on the leading edge of space exploration and technology. Initially developed from one of Adolph Hitler's most feared weapons, the V2 rocket, the space program has accomplished much in just a few short decades. The first American manned space flight, which put astronaut Alan Shepard into space, was launched in 1961; in 1965, Edward White became the first American to walk in space--for a total of 21 minutes. In 1969, Neil Armstrong uttered those now-famous words as he became the first human to walk on the Moon. These and many other achievements, once considered unimaginable, have inspired and amazed the American people and engaged our brightest scientific minds.

Glenview Naval Air Station

9780738541228

$24.99

In 1923--just 20 years after the Wright brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk--a Naval Reserve aviation training program was established at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Originally, sea planes and a few small land-based planes were used for primary flight instruction. With the development of heavier, faster military aircraft, the Great Lakes facility became inadequate. Under Rear Adm. John Downes, commandant of the 9th Naval District, the search for a suitable new location was undertaken. Curtiss-Reynolds-Wright Airfield was deemed ideal for relocation of the aviation training program. From humble beginnings as Naval Reserve Aviation Base Chicago, Naval Air Station Glenview (the official U.S. Navy designation) went on to play a vital and unique role during World War II. Until closure in 1995, the base was home to thousands of Navy and Marine Reserve pilots, aircrews, and support personnel--proudly known as weekend warriors."

Marines of Washington D.C.

9780738516288

$24.99

Marines of Washington, D.C. takes the reader on a visual tour that explores the dynamic history of the United States Marine Corps in the nation's capital. The Marines have played an integral role in the development of the social, structural, and political landscape of Washington for over 200 years. This volume traces the history of the Marines from the founding of the "Oldest Post of the Corps," Marine Barracks Washington in 1801, to participation in the War of 1812, the Civil War, the World Wars, and into the modern day. Explore the lasting impact of famous Marines, including Commandant Archibald Henderson, Marine Band Director John Phillip Sousa, and Commandants Alfred M. Grey and John A. Lejeune. Marines of Washington, D.C. highlights the unique relationship between the Marines of the nation's capital, the President, and the citizens of the United States they serve.

The Navy in San Diego

9780738555508

$24.99

San Diego has never been afraid to call itself a "Navy Town," and the positive and inspiring link between the navy and the city knows no equal across the country. For over 150 years, beginning with the U.S. Navy's capture of the city for the United States in the opening days of the Mexican War, the navy has been an indelible part of San Diego's lifestyle, culture, and vitality. Not only has the navy formed the bedrock of the region's economy, but it has helped shape the population while endowing the city with a sense of international and cosmopolitan awareness that separates San Diego from many other cities of its size. San Diego and its navy enjoy a special relationship, one deeply rooted in historic perspective that renews itself with each
passing year.

Long Island Airports

9780738536767

$24.99

Long Island is a natural airfield. The central area of Long Island's Nassau County--known as the Hempstead Plains--is the only natural prairie east of the Allegheny Mountains. The island itself is ideally placed at the eastern edge of the United States, adjacent to its most populous city. In fact, nowhere else in America has so much aviation activity been confined to such a relatively small geographic area. The many record-setting and historic flights and the aviation companies that were developed here have helped place Long Island on the aviation map. Through one hundred years of aviation history, Long Island has been home to eighty airfields. From military airfields to seaplane bases and commercial airports, the island has had more airports than any other place of similar geographic proportion in America. Most have vanished without a trace, but a handful remains. Long Island Airports is the first book to document the pictorial history of these airports and airfields.

Beale Air Force Base During the Cold War

9781467130813

$24.99

KLAXON! The alarm immediately sent the aircrews at Beale Air Force Base, California, scrambling to their alert aircraft in a race to get airborne first. The KC-135 tankers were usually the quickest to taxi out, with the B-52 bombers following closely behind. Soon, the air filled with the rumble of engines as aircraft roared down the runway trailing great clouds of exhaust and disappeared into the skies of Northern California. It was a dramatic scenario practiced many times during the Cold War and one that Universal Pictures filmed at Beale AFB for its movie A Gathering of Eagles, starring Rock Hudson and Rod Taylor.

Beale Air Force Base During the Cold War

The Lockheed Plant

9780738587967

$24.99

Bombers, cargo planes, and fighter jets--Award-winning journalist Joe Kirby unveils the history behind the making of America's aircrafts from World War II to present day.

The Lockheed Plant in Marietta has been building many of the world's most legendary aircraft for the past 60 years - and that doesn't even count its service building B-29 bombers for the Bell Aircraft Company during World War II. Lockheed's six decades have seen the plant build jet bombers, like the B-47 Stratojet; the world's most dominant fighter jet (the F-22 Raptor); and the most vaunted cargo planes (C-130 Hercules, C-141 StarLifter, and C-5 Galaxy). In Images of America: The Lockheed Plant, readers will learn about those planes, the people who designed and assembled them, and the plant in which they were built. The striking images in this book shared by Lockheed Martin and the Marietta Daily Journal depict the plant from its construction through today.

Squantum and South Weymouth Naval Air Stations

9780738536248

$24.99

The eyes of the United States Navy first focused on Quincy's Squantum peninsula in 1909, when daring young pilots from around the world gathered for the Harvard Air Meet. By the 1930s, the Victory Plant--a destroyer plant that set production records--had come and gone and the navy had set up the nation's first naval reserve aviation training center on the site. When air traffic over Boston Harbor thickened in the 1930s, the navy moved its aerial operations inland to the South Weymouth Naval Air Station. That base and its ubiquitous hangar became South Shore landmarks for more than a half-century. Squantum and South Weymouth Naval Air Stations brings back to life the early age of naval aviation on the South Shore, from biplanes to blimps to bombers and beyond.

Squantum and South Weymouth Naval Air Stations

Naval Station Norfolk

9781467120272

$24.99

Straight from the archives of the Hampton Roads Naval Historical Foundation comes this visual history dating back over the installation's more-than 100 year history.

Naval Station Norfolk is the world's largest naval station, supporting the Navy ships, submarines, and aircraft of the US Fleet Forces Command with a multitude of facilities and services.

This shore establishment, located on the historic harbor of Hampton Roads, Virginia, has remained vital to the Navy since its foundation in 1917. Once established, the naval station focused on serving the fleet in four areas: aviation, recruit training, a submarine base, and a supply base. Men and women of the station continued to work on these and other activities through the pressures of World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Throughout its incredible history, Naval Station Norfolk made sure that ships and aircraft were successfully deployed to the far reaches of the globe--the nation's indispensable response to international conflicts. Nowadays, the station is the hub for Navy logistics supporting the defense of the entire Atlantic area, from the North Pole to the South Pole. A must-have for fans of United States Naval and military history.

Floyd Bennett Field

9781467133678

$24.99

From its art deco architectural design to its historic integrity and preservation, Floyd Bennett Fieldis a must-have for, aviation, and New York history enthusiasts.

Although New York City was slowly recognizing the need for a municipal airport in the late 1920s, it sought to regain prominence by constructing the most advanced airport of its day.

Construction in the far reaches of Brooklyn was started on October 29, 1929, the day of the stock market crash that heralded the Great Depression. The airport was named posthumously for Floyd Bennett, a Brooklyn native, Navy pilot, and Medal of Honor winner. Unfortunately, because of many factors--including poor timing, politics, and remoteness from Manhattan--the airfield was a commercial failure. Its advanced features, however, made it a mecca for private aircraft and the site of numerous record-breaking flights.

Aviation historian Richard V. Porcelli, author of Arcadia Publishing's NAS Atlantic Cityand numerous articles, tells how the Navy became an early tenant in a move that would impact the airfield's destiny. In 1941, the Navy's presence led to the establishment of NAS New York, which played a key role in the wartime delivery of planes from numerous area factories. After the war, it served as an important Naval Air Reservebase until its closure in 1971.

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro

9780738501864

$24.99

In 1943, the finishing touches on El Toro's construction turned a bean field into one of the country's finest military air stations. Located in a quiet valley at the base of the Saddleback Mountains and only a few miles from the Pacific
Ocean, Marine Corps Air Station El Toro stood proud and tall on behalf of the U.S. military for 57 years and four wars.
In this publication dedicated to the history of the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro, with a sub-section covering MCAS Tustin, Thomas O'Hara presents a detailed account of the installation's achievements and activities during the entire period of its service to the U.S. military. Over 200 images--from photos of the first Woman Reserve Officers in 1943 to documentation of the annual airshow--illustrate the base's history from its role in World War II through Desert Storm.

Delta Airlines

9780738515830

$24.99

From crop-dusting to the world's largest airlines, this pictorial history of Delta illustrates the people, places, and events that have shaped its history.

The history of Delta Air Lines can be traced back to 1924 and the start of an aerial crop dusting outfit, but it was in 1929 that scheduled passenger services began. From the small beginnings at Macon, Georgia and then Monroe, Louisiana and a small five-passenger plane, Delta has grown to become one of the world's leading airlines. This book celebrates a remarkable 75-year history in words and pictures, highlighting the men and women who have helped to make Delta a tour de force. Monumental growth and change occurred at Delta throughout the second half of the 20th century. By the start of the new millennium, Delta Air Lines was the world's largest airline in terms of passengers carried-120 million in 2000-and operating from the world's largest hub airport, Atlanta Hartsfield International. This volume uncovers the earliest days of Delta, from it first scheduled passenger service on June 17, 1929, through the myriad developments of the 20th century. Images culled from the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum, Inc. and the author's personal collection are coupled with an engaging narrative in a collection sure to be treasured by Delta employees past and present, aviation enthusiasts, and the many who have flown with Delta over the years.

Cleveland's National Air Races

9780738539966

$24.99

Enthusiasm for aviation exploded after Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic in May 1927. The National Air Races, held in Cleveland between 1929 and 1949, collectively represent one of the most significant aviation events of the 20th century. Cleveland's newly constructed municipal airport, the world's largest airport facility at the time, along with its permanent 50,000-seat bleachers, won the city hosting rights to the event. The National Air Races captivated the public during the grim years of the Great Depression and provided a showcase for many aviation innovations including retractable landing gear, low-wing monoplanes, aircooled engines, and careful streamlining. A deadly crash ended the National Air Races more than 50 years ago, but the races made an unforgettable impression. This book should reinforce the memories of those who saw the races firsthand and pique the interest of those who have always wished they had.

Curtiss-Wright

9780738538709

$24.99

The oldest names in aviation joined forces in 1929, when Wright Aeronautical and Curtiss Aeroplane formed the giant Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Curtiss airplanes were already "the best things with wings," while Charles Lawrance had made Wright powerplants the leader in American radial engines. Aviation founding father Glenn Curtiss, along with superstars Charles A. Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, Admiral Byrd, and "Wrong-Way" Corrigan, all blazed skytrails with Wright engines and Curtiss wings. Tiny Sparrowhawk biplane fighters flew from airborne dirigibles. Huge factories poured out war birds in tens of thousands for World War II. Pilots flew them everywhere, from the African desert to Alaskan ice, South Sea islands, and even the Taj Mahal. Relive those days when women, old men, and teenagers kept the factories roaring, and follow Curtiss-Wright clear into the 21st century.

New Mexico Space Trail

9780738599502

$24.99

In the Southwestern United States, the skies above New Mexico have provided an amazing stargazing experience for two millennia. Images of America: New Mexico Space Trail catalogs sites within the state that have inspired humankind to reach for the stars. The Space Trail includes various archaeoastronomy locations, such as Chaco Canyon, which Native Americans used to predict agricultural schedules according to the sun's position during the solstice. Rocket development in Roswell, missile launches in the Tularosa Basin, astronomy efforts around the state, and commercial space flights are just a few of the stops along the trail. Join the journey and discover night skies that are so dark that the Milky Way and its millions of luminous stars create shadows over the desert landscape.

Wright Brothers National Memorial

9781467104265

$23.99

Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world's first successful controlled, heavier-than-air powered flight on December 17, 1903, after four years of glider experiments and scientific study. At what is now the Wright Brothers National Memorial, the brothers discovered and developed the fundamental principles of mechanical flight, setting in motion a series of events that allowed the first generation of flight to travel from Kitty Hawk to the moon in the lifetime of a human being. Located in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, and administered by the National Park Service, the Wright Brothers National Memorial features a full-scale reproduction of the 1903 flying machine, an engine block from the original 1903 flyer, and a precise reproduction of the wind tunnel that the Wrights used to conduct their early experiments. Today, the park's mission is to commemorate the Wrights' success and to interpret the continuing worldwide significance of their dream, vision, and achievement.

Naval Air Station Jacksonville

9781467111058

$24.99

Naval Air Station Jacksonville was commissioned on October 15, 1940, and has trained tens of thousands of naval aviators throughout its long history.

Located along the banks of the St. Johns River, the site and the weather conditions make the base a premier aviation facility. Initially conducting primary and seaplane training, it expanded to training pilots in almost every type of aircraft the Navy has flown. The Navy's elite precision aviators, the Blue Angels, were formed at the base in 1946. Today, as a master anti submarine base, it remains home to 15 aviation squadrons; some 115 tenant commands and almost 20,000 military, civilian, and contract employees work at the station daily.

Randolph Field

9781467132336

$24.99

Once touted as the "West Point of the air" in the pre-Air Force Academy years, Randolph Field/Air Force Base is famous for its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, its iconic Administration Building (nicknamed the "Taj Mahal"), and its rectangular layout. Allowed by the Army hierarchy to design its own installation from the ground up, the Army Air Corps hit a home run in design uniqueness and functionality. When the Corps of Engineers built the base, working from 1928 to 1931, it was its biggest project since the Panama Canal. Randolph has been a popular assignment location for Air Force members for over 80 years and is currently home to the 12th Flying Training Wing, the Air Education and Training Command Headquarters, and the Air Force Personnel Center. Thousands have passed through Randolph's gates as students and permanent personnel, and many have chosen to live in the San Antonio area after discharge or retirement. Carefully landscaped with trees and shrubbery from the very beginning, Randolph is the "showplace of the Air Force."

The Bell Bomber Plant

9780738567457

$24.99

Few would have believed in the late 1930s that Depression-wracked Marietta and Cobb County, where cotton was still king, would later be the site of the largest industrial complex south of the Mason-Dixon line, or that it would be churning out hundreds of the largest and most technically advanced airplanes ever built to that point. Images of America: The Bell Bomber Plant uses more than 200 photographs to recount how opportunistic local leaders persuaded the federal government to build an airfield in Marietta and then parlayed it into the plant. It tells the story of how a workforce of undereducated farmers and thousands of "Rosie the Riveters" proved surprisingly adept at mastering the technical challenges of building bombers, and of how the plant jump-started the transformation of Cobb County from a semi-rural backwater to a suburban Southern powerhouse.

Along Manhasset Bay

9781467105026

$24.99

The waters of Manhasset Bay have long been an incubator for innovation and prosperity. While early baymen sought their livelihood through clam digging and fishing, a new industry by way of sand mining forever changed the bucolic hilltops that overlooked the bay. While the sand mining industry brought prosperity and notoriety, the industry's use of heavy machinery and hydraulic pumps leveled the peninsula, once known for its lush grazing pastures. During the early 1900s, areas such as Port Washington, Manhasset, and Great Neck flourished into commuter, suburban towns. Shifting from a farming to a suburban community, homes began to develop along Manhasset Bay. Urbanization brought new housing and businesses such as hotels and lavish restaurants. As an epicenter for aviation, the bay launched historic flights through a then-fledgling Pan American Airway Corporation on Manhasset Isle. Elite yacht clubs and grand estates dotted the shoreline, all catering to a growing population looking to the bay for its leisure and livelihood. The once-tranquil waters are now a hub for city vacationers, bustling commuters, and entrepreneurs.

Aviation in the Adirondacks

9781467161541

$24.99

Since 1912, when a young man named George Gray landed an open-cockpit biplane on a farmer's field, aviation has played an important role in communities located throughout the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park. Through a range of historic images and postcards, Aurora Pfaff tells the story of pilots who linked communities by air, transported goods and people, and the small towns and airfields that they called home. From the novelty of planes landing on skis and daredevil flying circuses to forest fire patrols, exploration of the vast backcountry, and toy deliveries by Santa, airplanes have opened the Adirondack wilderness and made remote communities more easily accessible for tourists and adventurers. Yet this golden age for aviation would not last, for as car travel became easier and more affordable in the mid- to late-20 th century, air travel in the Adirondacks would fade in importance and necessity. Aurora Pfaff is a writer and editor living and working in New York state's Adirondack Park. She has a master's degree in English from Harvard University, but as a child dreamed of becoming an astronaut. She finally took her first flying lesson in 2022. Images used in Aviation in the Adirondacks come from the Adirondack Experience: The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, Historic Saranac Lake, Keene Valley Library, Piseco Lake Historical Society, Saranac Lake Free Library Adirondack Research Room, Town of Webb Historical Association, individuals, and other organizations.

The Navy in Norco

9780738575261

$24.99

On December 8, 1941, sixty miles from the ocean, the US Navy rolled into Norco. There, on the grounds of the former Norconian Resort, the federal government built what may have been the finest and most complete World War II naval hospital in the nation. The first patients to arrive were those wounded during the attack on Pearl Harbor; they were cared for in luxurious rooms once reserved for movie stars. By 1945, approximately 5,000 sailors and Marines were being treated. In 1951, the smartest physicists, engineers, and mathematicians in the world set up laboratories in the hospital's tubercular wards and entered into the Cold War. Today the hospital is gone, but the magnificent buildings and top secret naval laboratory remain, along with thousands of photographs of one of the most historic and colorful sites in America.

Quonset Point, Naval Air Station

9780738589589

$24.99

The US Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, RI, was originally built as a Neutrality Patrol Seaplane Base.

The base eventually became a unique and fundamentally important asset to the American armed forces. In World War II, more than one half of all U-boats sunk by U. S. aviation--including the first two--were destroyed by Quonset-trained shore and carrier-based squadrons. In the years following World War II, Quonset remained a premier industrial naval air station, sending squadrons or overhauling equipment for use in the Korean, Vietnam, and Cold War conflicts. For thirty-four years and through four wars, the Quonset Point Naval Air Station stood proud and tall on behalf of the United States military.

The Navy at Point Mugu

9780738575322

$24.99

Point Mugu has played a major part in naval history since 1943, when a small group of US Navy Seabees and several newly organized amphibious units headed across the Oxnard Plain to establish an advance base training facility. Toward the end of World War II, the small naval air base began testing newly developed guided missiles, pilotless aircraft, and special weapons to combat kamikaze pilots. This early testing transitioned Point Mugu from a temporary base into a pioneer in the world of science and national defense. On October 1, 1946, the Naval Air Missile Test Center Point Mugu and, later, the Pacific Missile Range were established to create, research, and test weapons systems. Point Mugu continues to support many diverse military missions, including testing weapons systems, operating space satellite systems, and providing radar and communication support to the naval aviation community.

Northwest Airlines

9780738534152

$24.99

Since flying its first mail flight on October 1, 1926, Northwest Airways, now known as Northwest Airlines, has grown to become one of the world's leading airlines. Northwest's legacy of leadership in the aviation industry began with its foundation in the Twin Cities and extended to its pioneering work as part of the U.S. war effort in Alaska, the establishment of the first U.S. commercial air links to Japan and the Orient, and its groundbreaking 1992 alliance and award of anti-trust immunity with KLM/Royal Dutch Airlines. Northwest is now America's oldest air carrier with continuous name identification. In celebration of the airline's 80th anniversary in 2006, this book chronicles the remarkable years during which Northwest became an institutional backbone of both American and worldwide air transport history. This diverse historical tribute relies heavily on the author's own photo archive along with images supplied by the exceptional Northwest History Centre Inc., established in October 2002 to preserve the airline's rich heritage. The rare photographs seen in these pages, accompanied by a detailed and informative narrative, bring together for the first time all of the elements of the Northwest "family," which includes Hughes Air West and Republic airlines and other predecessors.

Coast Guard Base Elizabeth City

9780738518367

$24.99

Situated on the northern end of North Carolina's picturesque Outer Banks, Elizabeth City has a strong aviation tradition.

The Wright brothers used the ""Harbor of Hospitality"" as a final way station before traveling on to Kitty Hawk. This coastal town has been the center of United States Coast Guard Aviation since the establishment of the only Coast Guard-owned airport in 1939. Coast Guard Base Elizabeth City began as an installation of six seaplanes operating off of the Pasquotank River. During World War II, the population ballooned to 8,000 assigned personnel. Post-war USCG Aviation expansion saw the addition of many maintenance functions that led to the creation of the Aviation Repair and Supply Base, the center of USCG Aviation maintenance. The base was expanded with a separate air station, the Aviation Technical Training Center, CG Aviation's schoolhouse, Support Center Elizabeth City, and Small Boat Station Elizabeth City. The mission of providing the finest aviation maintenance to Coast Guard Aviation and the highest level of service to mariners of the Virginia Capes and Outer Banks remains an integral part of the installation.