The Early Years

On February 3, 1928, the decision to build a municipal airport to serve New York City was made. Up until this time, New York did not have an airport. The Newark, N. J. Airport was fast becoming the world’s busiest airport with most cargo and passengers destined for New York. The site chosen to build … Read more

The Hall Aluminum Aircraft Corporation produced a prototype flying-boat design in 1929 on a US Navy contract. They subsequently received orders for nine flying-boats which were designated as PH-1. Made largely of aluminum, it was a state of the art aircraft when it first flew.  In 1936 the Coast Guard was looking for a replacement … Read more

San Diego Lindberg Field opened on August 16, 1928. Coast Guard aviation activities in the San Diego, California area began as an Air Patrol Detachment on May 4, 1934 for the purpose of preventing smuggling across the Mexican Border. The Detachment operated from a commercial hangar on the airport. The mission soon expanded to include … Read more

An aviation training school for pilots and mechanics was established on the banks of the Cooper River on the south end of the Charleston Navy Yard during World War I.  It became inactive after the war but remained classified as a Navy Auxiliary Field. In 1934 it was described as having a northwest/southeast sod strip … Read more

During the last three months of 1936 five Viking OO-1 open cockpit seaplanes were obtained from the Viking Flying Boat Company of New Haven, Connecticut. These aircraft were derived from the Schravions Schreck-FBA designed by Louis Schreck. The Coast Guard had previously purchased a seaplane of this type, listed as experimental, directly from the factory … Read more

The aircraft and the cutter were teamed for the first time in 1936 when the first of seven Treasury Class 327 foot cutters was commissioned. A request had been made in 1933 for fast cruising cutters of  300 feet capable of carrying airplanes. Funding was provided under the National Industrial Recovery Act and construction began … Read more

Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles was commissioned on 1 June 1935. It is located on Ediz Hook, a level sand spit extending from the mainland north and east into the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The location, originally chosen for its strategic defense location, became the first Coast Guard Air station on the Pacific … Read more

With the ratification of the Twenty-First Amendment Prohibition was repealed. Once again the primary emphasis of Coast Guard aviation would turn to rendering assistance to those in peril on the sea and its surrounding environment. To provide more effective life saving service along Florida’s western coast a decision was made to build a centrally located … Read more

Air travel for the Commandant and for Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau, an aviation enthusiast who had a great deal to do with the expansion of Coast Guard aviation, had been provided as needed by the RD-2 Dolphin. Included in the 1935 aircraft purchase was a Northrop RT-1 Delta “Golden Goose” single engine, low wing … Read more