One day not long ago, as I drove down Highway A1A into St. Augustine, Florida, I saw this field of planes on the west side of the highway, just north of the St. John's County Criminal Justice Complex. Of course Lagniappe the Dog and I had to stop and see them.
As I pulled up to the fence, I saw another man coming out through a hole in the gate with his camera. Obviously none of the neighbors who were all in plain view had a problem with him being in there, so we ducked in. And this is what we saw--Vintage Grumman S-2 Trackers, Aircraft designed to hunt, track and destroy Soviet submarines during the Cold War. As I walked among these airframes, I wondered how many carrier take-offs and landings these aircraft had made over the course of their lives, and what far corners of the world they'd seen. How many Russian submarines had these noble aircraft shadowed? What else had they done? Who'd flown them, and how'd they get here? So many questions...and no answers as of yet.
So I'm posting their photos here, along with their serial numbers and as much information as I could find on them. Maybe someone who knows the history of one or more of these aircraft will see them and help fill in the blanks.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
#156. BuNo. 149261. 1S227
#153. BuNo. 149860. 1S249
Another 153. BuNo 149856. 1S222
#154. BuNo. 149888. 1S238
No number. BuNo. 152804. 1S594
#706. BuNo. unknown
This one's probably in the best shape of the batch. It still has both engines and one propeller and sits on a complete set of landing gear.
Carrier Air Wing 11, USS Kitty Hawk. CVW 11 is based at Naval Air Station Lemoor, California. It deployed with the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) from 1965 to 1977. This aircraft probably saw much use protecting the Carrier Group when it was on station off Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
And if anyone can get it, I'd love the BuNo. of this one!
Carrier Air Wing 11, USS Kitty Hawk. CVW 11 is based at Naval Air Station Lemoor, California. It deployed with the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) from 1965 to 1977. This aircraft probably saw much use protecting the Carrier Group when it was on station off Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
And if anyone can get it, I'd love the BuNo. of this one!
#715. BuNo 152335. 1S513
This one is also in great shape (compared to the rest of them). It was apparently once assigned to VS 38, and appears to have been flown by LCDR J.L. Durbin, Jr. and Lt. DC Allen. It was also apparently maintained until at least 29 October, 1980, much longer than many of the others here. It also has two engines and one propeller left.
Close-up of the remains of the spotlight this aircraft used to use to hunt Russian subs at night.
152335 S-2G, s30-06-65 VS29/NS-31, VS37/NH715, 07-04-75 MASDC 1S0513 /705, 10-86 stored St Augustine, s1998 St.Augustine.
Close-up of the remains of the spotlight this aircraft used to use to hunt Russian subs at night.
152335 S-2G, s30-06-65 VS29/NS-31, VS37/NH715, 07-04-75 MASDC 1S0513 /705, 10-86 stored St Augustine, s1998 St.Augustine.
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