Dating to the late 1950s or early 1960s, this silent footage shows U.S. Navy training operations at Brunswick Naval Air Station in Maine. At least one of the aircraft (33:41) tail #128345 was affiliated with Patrol Squadron Eight (VP-8) , a U.S. Navy land-based patrol squadron. The film likely dates to prior to 1962, when VP-8 switched from P2V Neptunes to the P-3 Orion aircraft. Many activities are shown in the film including classroom training with radar and communications equipment, ground check of aircraft (8:48), the venerable lightship Portland (12:01), freighters at sea (13:08), dropping of markers and sonabuoys or sound buoys (16:20), group volleyball (21:06), base facilities (22:18), and more.
Commissioned on 12 July 1941, and encompassing what was once Camp Dyer, NAS Quonset Point was a major naval facility throughout World War II. Beginning in 1943, pilots of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm were trained at Quonset Point to fly the Vought F4U Corsair, which was then brought into service on British carriers. NAS Quonset Point continued as a major naval facility well into the Cold War. Prior to its closure, it had been home to numerous aviation squadrons, primarily those land-based patrol squadrons operating the P-2 Neptune and carrier-based antisubmarine and airborne early warning squadrons operating the S-2 Tracker, the E-1 Tracer and various modified versions of the A-1 Skyraider. NAS Quonset Point was also the off-season home of Antarctic Development Squadron Six (VX-6, later VXE-6) during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, operating the LC-47 Skytrain, LP-2J Neptune, C-54 Skymaster, C-121 Constellation, and eventually the LC-130F and LC-130R Hercules, as well as a variety of helicopters.
NAS Quonset Point was decommissioned on 28 June 1974 as part of a series of defense cutbacks which resulted in a nationwide reduction in bases following the end of the US engagement in Vietnam.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
