The Aviation planning process utilized the 1960 Re-Evaluation of the Requirements of Coast Guard Aviation and the Roles and Mission Study of 1961 as the initial basis of the expanded role of Coast Guard aviation over the decades to come. Coast Guard Aviation had evolved into a premier tactical search and rescue organization but like … Read more
John F. Kennedy had just become President of the United States and had appointed C. Douglas Dillon as Treasury Secretary and a fellow torpedo boat officer, James A. Reed, as Assistant Secretary with Coast Guard responsibilities. Both the President and Mr. Reed were interested in ships and the sea. The nation had recovered from the … Read more
As the C-130 proved successful with the Air Force, other branches of the service began taking a look at the new transport. The United States Coast Guard’s mission of long-range search and rescue and coastal patrols dictated the need for a new airplane and the C-130 HERCULES filled the need. In 1958 the Coast Guard … Read more
LORAN (LOng RAnge Navigation) is a terrestrial navigation system using ground-based transmitters. Hyperbolic LORAN lines of position (LOP) are formed by measuring the difference in reception times of synchronized signals. Groups of LORAN stations are used to form intersecting LOP to provide cross fixing. A LORAN net, or chain, requires a master station, initiating the … Read more
The H-34 started as a private Sikorsky Aircraft development, which the military ignored. However, it soon became a true workhorse in service with all branches of the U.S. armed forces, in addition to a host of foreign nations, and a variety of civil operators. The H-34 was also the final evolution of large piston-engine helicopters … Read more
In October of 1957 the USSR launched the first man made satellite. This expedited the requirement for a long range, highly accurate radio-navigation system for use with the satellites and missiles the United States was developing. There were three contenders; Omega, Decca, and Loran C (then called CYTAC). CAPT Peter V. Colmar, USCG, believed strongly … Read more
The C-123 was initially designed as the YG-18 glider by the Chase Aircraft Corporation. It was all metal and the first of the series took to the air in 1947. It had an upswept rear fuselage modified with a hydraulically operated loading ramp. This shape remains the characteristic of most modern military transports to this … Read more
At the request of Congress the Joint Report on the Requirements of the Coast Guard was submitted to congress and implemented a year later. This document defined Coast Guard aviation’s primary role as search and rescue; specified the types of aircraft needed for that purpose; and indicated the number of each type that should be … Read more
THE COAST GUARD AVIATION ASSOCIATION
“Flying Since The World Was Flat”
Also known as the Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl, the CGAA is dedicated to the support of the men, women, and families making up Coast Guard Aviation, as well as the preservation of Coast Guard Aviation history from its earliest period to the present day.
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