NAS JRB HISTORY
In 1926, when many people were afraid of airplanes and most considered flying a daredevil sport, aviation pioneer Harold Pitcairn bought a large section of farmland on the west side of Doylestown Pike, now Route 611.

No sooner were the arrangements of sale signed and the checks handed over when Pitcairn began work that turned the farmland into a flying field. A hangar was soon built near the highway and the grass was mowed for a landing strip. From these beginnings sprang what is now the largest Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base on the East Coast. From 1926 to 1942, Pitcairn developed, tested, built and flew many different aircraft, most notable being the Mailwing and the Autogyro.

In 1927,when Pitcairn won the 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.

In December of 1928, Pitcairn first brought the Autogyro to America. This aviation phenomenon, with its uncanny ability to make steep takeoffs without danger of stalling and to land nearly vertically with no-roll landings, had been developed by the Spanish aeronautical engineer Juan de la Cierva.Recognizing the potential of this aircraft, Pitcairn bought the American rights to Cierva's patents and soon Autogyros, as well as Mailwings were being turned out of the Pitcairn aircraft factory. Although the Autogyro did not become the commercial success that many hoped it would, the Pitcairn patents were purchased by Sikorski and utilized in developing the helicopter. Pitcairn Aviation, from its early mail route start, went on to later become Eastern Airlines.

In 1942, to help the nation rise to its defense, Pitcairn sold his flying field to the United States Navy. The naval aviation unit that first occupied what was to become NAS JRB Willow Grove originated in 1929 at the Rockaway, N.Y. training school with 16 officers, 53 enlisted men, four seaplanes and seven land based aircraft. They were soon transferred to Mustin Field at the Philadelphia Navy Yard as World War II approached; it became obvious that small Mustin Field was inadequate for mobilization purposes. So in early 1942, the Navy paid $480,000 for the Pitcairn field and hangars. Some 250 Naval personnel took possession of the field that year bringing along with them 30 N3N biplane trainers known as the "Yellow Peril."

In January 1943, the field was officially commissioned the United States Naval Air Station Willow Grove. By October, a highly classified project under the direction of the Naval Research Laboratory got underway to establish an effective deterrent to the German submarine threat. A new unit called, USNR Radio/Radar Unit, modified over 2,000 PV-1 antisubmarine aircraft here, for delivery to squadrons operating in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres. The PV-1 is the ancestor of our present day P-3C aircraft that operates in the Patrol Squadrons here on station and around the country. At its wartime peak, NAS Willow Grove housed tens of thousands of servicemen and women.