NAVAL AIR STATION PENSACOLA

A sign at the gate of  Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) welcomes visitors to "The Cradle of  Naval Aviation." And, indeed it is. The world's first naval aeronautical station, it came into being when the USS Mississippi (BB-23) arrived in Pensacola on January 20, 1914, with seven aircraft, nine officers, and 23 men. Today NASP is a dynamic, active station, hosting several schools and several branches of the US military. It is also the home of the Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, as well as the renowned National Naval Aviation Museum (NNAM), which displays more than 100 years of naval aviation, from a replica Curtiss hydroplane to the F-14 Tomcat.

Although collected from multiple sources, the vast majority of images in this book are part of the collection at the Emil Buehler Library at the NNAM and show the amazing development of naval aviation from its infancy through the jet age. Maureen Smith Keillor earned a bachelor of arts in history with a minor in English in 2011. AMEC (AW/SW) Richard P. Keillor, MTS, enlisted in the US Navy in 2001 and is currently a lead instructor for his rate, AME, at the Naval Aviation Technical Training Command at NASP.

The Images of Aviation series celebrates the history of flight-from the early experimental, lighter-than-air craft to modern commercial, military, and private air machines. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that commemorate avaiation and its impact on American industries and communities. Arcadia is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.