In 1926, when many people were afraid of airplanes and most considered flying a daredevil sport, aviation pioneer Harold F. Pitcairn bought a large section of farmland north of Philadelphia. That farmland today is Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
From 1926 to 1942, Pitcairn developed, built, tested and flew many different aircraft -- most notably the Mailwing and Autogiro. During his lifetime, Harold Pitcairn and his associates pursued a dream of developing "The Safe Aircraft." Their vision and innovation have had a profound and lasting impact on American aviation. Harold Pitcairn was the 14th recipient of the highest award in American aviation, the Collier Trophy, which was awarded by President Herbert Hoover. Three Pitcairn aircraft are on display in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. His achievements were recently recognized by his induction into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
In 1927, when Pitcairn won the U.S. Postal Service contract to carry the overnight mail between New York and Atlanta, he designed the
Mailwing. Faster, safer, and more efficient than any other aircraft on the market, the Mailwing was immediately bought as standard equipment by many other airlines. Pilots loved the aircraft because of its reliability and ease of handling. When crashes did occur, pilots were often able to walk away with minor injuries due to the Mailwing’s rugged construction.
A series of tragic accidents, coupled with changes in government regulations, induced Pitcairn to sell his fledgling air mail business to Eastern Air Transport -- which would eventually become Eastern Airlines. Although the durable Mailwings would continue to carry the mail for several more years, the era of the single-engine, open-cockpit, mail-only plane would soon end.
Pitcairn had previously experimented with rotary-wing aircraft designs, and now began to focus his attention on rotary-wing development. Several years earlier, Spanish aristocrat and inventor Juan de la Cierva solved the aerodynamic problems which had doomed previous rotary-wing designs. Cierva called his crude invention the "Autogiro." In 1929, Pitcairn formed a business partnership with Cierva to develop Autogiro technology in the United States. That same year, Pitcairn made the first successful rotary-wing flight in America in the skies over Willow Grove Field in an Autogiro.
Throughout the 1930s, the Pitcairn team would develop and manufacture many different models of Autogiros at Willow Grove, perfecting the technology which would later be used in the development of the modern helicopter.
In 1942, for patriotic reasons, Pitcairn reluctantly sold his air field to the United States Navy to support the war effort. Two hundred fifty Naval personnel from Mustin Field at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard took possession of the field that year. In January 1943, the field was officially commissioned the United States Naval Air Station Willow Grove.
Following World War II, NAS Willow Grove was designated a Naval Air Reserve Training Station. Training and operation support activities increased during the Korean War. In 1957, the Navy purchased additional land, bringing the air station to its present total of 1,100 acres. Later, the Vietnam conflict and Gulf War would also significantly increase air station operations. All three conflicts saw many Willow Grove Reservists recalled to support both flight and ground missions.
In 1994, the air station’s name was again changed to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NAS
JRB) Willow Grove, to more accurately depict the joint composition and mission of the Reservists serving here. Today, NAS JRB Willow Grove’s runway is shared by Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Army Reservists, as well as the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. Because our Naval Reservists now train with the latest warfare technologies, they are tasked with missions and operate in direct support of their active duty fleet counterparts to meet any national contingency.
Main
phone numbers: Commercial (215)443-1000 or
DSN 991-1000
Mailing
address: NASJRB, Willow Grove, PA 19090
Population:
1,510 active duty; 5,000 family members; 4,741
reservists; 6 615 civilians
Housing: Six
officer family units; 156 enlisted family units; 268
unaccompanied personnel units (215)773-2114; also at Fort
Dix, NJ
Temporary
lodging: 43 temporary units (215)443-5801
Family
Support Center: (215)443-6033
Schools: None
on base.
Child
Care: Center for 118, six-month wait; 10
approved homes (215)443-6080
Health
care: Clinic. Appointments
(215)443-6372/6373; benefits (215)443-6351; also see Fort
Dix, NJ
NAS Joint Reserve Base - Willow Grove, PA
has,
a small exchange (215)443-6028. Recreation at NAS Joint Reserve Base - Willow Grove, PA
includes bowling, library, auto hobby, recreation center,
gym, tennis, swimming, outdoor activities, and camping.
