| I | | | | fighter. |
| Driving into Millville Airport, currently a general aviation | | | | P-47 Thunderbolt pilot training at Millville Army Air Field |
| facility in Southern New Jersey, is like entering a World | | | | had entailed two types of units. Operational Training |
| War II time portal: several cinder block buildings and | | | | Units (OTU), the first of these, had been created in |
| barracks, characteristic of the war, stand eerily silent | | | | accordance with Air Corps standards to prepare |
| and vacated, as if the area had once provided the | | | | qualified pilots for newly-formed combat units or fill |
| stage for some vast performance, but its players had | | | | vacancies in existing ones. In 1939, the number of such |
| long since departed. The runways still routinely field | | | | authorized Air Corps groups had been expanded from |
| take offs and landings, but mostly of single-engined | | | | 25 to 84, and the 33rd Pursuit Group, the first in the |
| Cessnas and Pipers. Yet, the location had been an | | | | Millville area, had initiated an uninterrupted flow of |
| integral part of World War II and therefore remains | | | | combat unit-fed pilots to all four branches of service. |
| historically significant. | | | | The Replacement Training Unit (RTU), the second of |
| Sparked, like numerous war-necessitated air fields, by | | | | these, provided replacement pilots for those killed, |
| the prospectively destructive capability of the | | | | captured, or returned after a 12-week curriculum |
| advancing airplane design, as evidenced by German | | | | taught at a Combat Crew Training Station. The 327th |
| and Japanese combat missions in Europe and Asia, it | | | | Fighter Group, located in Richmond, had been the first |
| had been one of 900 defense airports ordered by the | | | | to transition to this status in the fall of 1943 when it had |
| US government to be strategically located round the | | | | been directed to supply personnel to the 87th Fighter |
| country in order to be immediately convertible from | | | | Group, whose 536th and 537th Fighter Squadrons had |
| civilian to military application and to train counterforces | | | | relocated to Millville the following January, bringing their |
| in the event of war. Unlike the others, however, Millville | | | | P-47 Thunderbolt fleet with them. By April 10, 1944, all |
| Army Air Field had been the first one and therefore | | | | units had been amalgamated into the newly-created |
| had been dedicated as "America's first defense | | | | 135th AAF Base Unit and the advanced portion of the |
| airport" by local, state, and federal officials when it had | | | | Replacement Training Unit had been taught at Millville, |
| opened on August 2, 1941 amid a 10,000-strong | | | | entailing navigation, formation flying, and aircraft |
| ceremony. | | | | recognition. |
| Still in a spartanly constructive state, it had only | | | | With the German and subsequent Japanese |
| featured a few runways from which civilian aircraft | | | | surrenders, World War II's curtains had been |
| operations had been conducted, but the December 7, | | | | effectively closed, obviating the need for Millville Army |
| 1941 Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii had | | | | Air Field and resulting in its temporary closure in |
| rapidly ignited its transition to military status, the 56th | | | | October of 1945. It became permanent the following |
| Fighter Squadron of the 33rd Fighter Group temporarily | | | | month. Nevertheless, more than 10,000 men and |
| relocating from Philadelphia Municipal Airport for a | | | | women had served in both ground and flight |
| three-week period to commence Curtiss P-40 | | | | operations capacities here, of which some 1,500 pilots |
| Warhawk training, at a still nascent facility only able to | | | | had received advanced fighter training in Curtiss P-40 |
| accommodate its crews in tents. | | | | Warhawk and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft. |
| One of World War II's most effective fighter-bombers, | | | | Fourteen had perished during airborne training, along |
| the aircraft, based upon the P-36, had been intended | | | | with another five enlisted men. |
| as a modernized successor which had initially | | | | II |
| appeared with a 12-cylinder, V, inline, liquid-cooled Allison | | | | After the facility had been declared excess in 1946, its |
| V-1720 piston engine, but high-altitude operations had | | | | ownership had reverted to the City of Millville, and 128 |
| quickly dictated the need for the gear-driven, | | | | of its buildings, attempting to alleviate the area's housing |
| supercharger-equipped V-1710 version. Although the | | | | shortage, had been concerted into 102 apartments. |
| Army Air Corps had hitherto used its fighters for | | | | The 887-acre field, along with some 30 structures and |
| coastal defense and ground attack missions, it had | | | | ancillary equipment, had been sublimated to civilian use |
| nevertheless evaluated the aircraft because of its | | | | in June of the following year, at which time its gunnery |
| superior performance, the prototype, a converted | | | | range had been acquired by the state of New Jersey |
| P-36A airframe redesignated XP-40, first flying on | | | | for hunting and its runways had been periodically used |
| October 14, 1938 with the modified powerplant. | | | | by nearby Naval Air Station Atlantic City Navy pilots |
| The low-wing monoplane, powered by the single, | | | | for carrier landing practice. |
| 1,160-shp Allison V-1710-19 engine and equipped with | | | | A $2.5-million federal grant, received in 1974, had |
| two 0.50-inch Colt-Browning M2 guns in its wings, had | | | | enabled the airport to draft a master plan, entailing |
| been flown by a single, canopy | | | | runway repaving, taxiway construction, and field lighting |
| cockpit-accommodated pilot and could climb at 3,080 | | | | installation, and a subsequent rezoning, occurring a |
| feet-per-minute, attaining 342-mph speeds. Featuring a | | | | decade later, had enabled it to create a 100-acre |
| 6,787-pound gross weight, it had a 950-mile range. | | | | Airport Industrial Park. |
| The initial contract, for 524 Curitiss P-40 Warhawks, | | | | The current, 923-acre Millville Municipal Airport, New |
| had been made by the US War Department on April | | | | Jersey's second-largest general aviation field, sports an |
| 26, 1939, and the Eighth Pursuit Group, based at | | | | instrument landing system (ILS) and an FAA Flight |
| Langley Field in Virginia, had been the first to transition | | | | Service Station (FSS), the City of Millville leasing its |
| to the type. | | | | administration to the Delaware River and Bay |
| Production, which had subsequently included | | | | Authority. |
| progressively higher gross weight variants with | | | | Today, the airport echoes of its World War II role. Of |
| upgraded engines and increased armament and | | | | the 100 buildings occupying the site during the four |
| protection, had ceased in December of 1944, at which | | | | years between 1941 and 1945, 20 remain and |
| time 13,738 P-40s had been made. | | | | constitute the world's largest collection of original, |
| The type, however, had only provided interim | | | | war-era structures, and the preservation, of the core |
| equipment at Millville Army Air Field, which itself had | | | | acreage, two hangars, and 18 buildings, has been |
| virtually blossomed from the ground: sporting a | | | | ensured by their inclusion on the New Jersey and |
| "mini-city" of permanent, cinder block structures by | | | | National Registry of Historic Places. |
| September of 1942 and a fleet of convoy trucks from | | | | The Henry H. Wyble Historic Research Library and |
| Langley the following January, it had featured full-scale | | | | Education Center, one of them, is located in one of the |
| mock-ups of trucks, trains, tanks, ships, and bridges | | | | base's original warehouses and sports an extensive, |
| south of it for aerial target practice. | | | | war-related book collection, videos, historic documents, |
| The 58th Fighter Group, the first unit to have been | | | | and aircraft models, and serves as a large-screen |
| based there, had quickly discovered that the | | | | theater. The facility, which opened in 2007, features |
| newly-acquired P-40s had been incompatible with | | | | two eight-by-ten foot, "faux," partially-opened door |
| northeast winder conditions and the type had been | | | | murals painted by local artists on its façade. |
| replaced by the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt when the | | | | The Link Trainer Building, hailing from 1942 and requiring |
| 353rd Fighter Group had relocated to the New Jersey | | | | two years of restoration, houses one of only five |
| base. The aircraft was soon to become synonymous | | | | still-operational link trainers. Designed by Edwin Albert |
| with Millville. | | | | Link at his family's organ-building business in |
| Succeeding the Seversky P-35, it had been the result | | | | Binghamton, New York, to provide instrument training to |
| of Army Air Corps requirements, which had included a | | | | World War II pilots during poor visibility and night |
| 400-mph airspeed, a 25,000-foot service ceiling, at | | | | conditions, the device, borrowing the organ bellows to |
| least six.50-caliber machine guns, armor plating | | | | simulate climbs, descents, and banks, had accounted |
| protection, self-sealing fuel tanks, and a minimum fuel | | | | for 6,271 sales to the Army and 1,045 to the Navy and |
| capacity of 315 gallons. | | | | is presently available for visitor usage for a small fee. |
| Designed round the new 18-cylinder, two-row, 2,000-hp | | | | A vintage aircraft collection, privately owned by |
| Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp XR-2800-21 radial | | | | Thomas Duffy and stored in one of the two historic |
| engine, then the largest, most powerful of its type, it | | | | hangars, includes the P-47 Thunderbolt "No Guts, No |
| had been intended to offer ultimate, high-altitude | | | | Glory," one of only ten still-airworthy aircraft and the |
| performance partly attained by its tail-installed | | | | very type for which the air base had been created. |
| turbo-supercharger, which had considerably increased | | | | The original Pilot Ready Day Room, constructed in |
| its power production in rarefied air. | | | | 1943, now houses the Ops-Air Crew Lounge of Big |
| The XP-47B prototype, for which a contract had been | | | | Sky Aviation. |
| awarded on September 6, 1940, had first taken to the | | | | Nucleus of the historic field, however, is the Millville |
| skies the following May and orders for 171 P-47Bs and | | | | Army Air Field Museum housed in the original Army Air |
| 602 P-47Cs had been subsequently placed, the latter | | | | Force World War II Gunnery School Administration |
| of which had featured external, range-increasing fuel | | | | Building used between 1943 and 1945 and restored in |
| tanks and a longer fuselage to improve | | | | 1988. The museum, founded by Michael T. Stowe to |
| maneuverability. | | | | preserve US military aviation history, mostly displays |
| The P-47D, numerically the most popular version, had | | | | artifacts, equipment, photographs, and engines |
| had a 36-foot, 1.75-inch overall length and a 40-foot, | | | | contributed by air base veterans. |
| 9.75-inch wingspan which had resulted in a | | | | A Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp twin-row radial |
| 300-square-foot area. Powered by the 2,000-hp Pratt | | | | engine, which had powered the P-47 based here along |
| and Whitney turbo-supercharged R-2800-63 piston | | | | with several other Army and Navy designs, emphases |
| engine, whose four-bladed, 12-foot-diameter propeller | | | | the sheer power of this mighty engine and is a highlight |
| could only be given sufficient ground clearance with a | | | | of the displays. A ceiling light had measured cloud |
| nine-inch telescoping, retractable main landing gear, the | | | | height, while a directional gyro had served as a pilot |
| 19,400-pound aircraft, armed with eight.50-caliber, | | | | navigational training aid. |
| wing-mounted machine guns and 2,500 pounds of | | | | The metal, interlocking Mardson Mat, designed by the |
| bombs, could cruise at 428 mph at 30,000 feet, yet | | | | British, had facilitated take off and landing operations at |
| attain 42,000-foot maximum ceilings. Range had | | | | ill-equipped locations. According to George Canning, a |
| peaked at 1,700 miles. | | | | current Millville Army Air Field Museum affiliate who |
| The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, which had dwarfed all | | | | had enlisted in the Army Air Corps in December of |
| other aircraft, had been the world's largest, heaviest, | | | | 1941 and had served in the South Pacific, "it's the best |
| single-engine, single-seat strategic World War II fighter, | | | | invention of the whole war. Put it together and you |
| offering unequaled dive speeds. | | | | have an instant runway!" |
| First entering service with the USAAF in 1942, the type | | | | The Philadelphia Seaplane Base Museum, founded in |
| had been deployed in the European theatre the | | | | 1915 by the Robert Mills family and relocated to the |
| following April, initially performing high-altitude escort and | | | | current site in 2000, displays aeromarine wings, struts, |
| flight sweep missions in skies whose only other | | | | and pontoons. |
| counterpart had been the single-pilot, radial-engined | | | | A Nordon bombsight, the mahogany nose of a Curtiss |
| Focke-Wulf Fw-190A. The aircraft appeared in the | | | | Flying Boat, an aircraft model collection in memory of |
| Pacific theatre two months later, in June. | | | | Robert Wilinski, photographs, a uniform collection, and a |
| The final version, the P-47N intended for long-range | | | | typical Army barracks set up complete the internal |
| bomber escort sorties, had featured extended wings, | | | | displays, while two aircraft are featured outside. The |
| an additional 100 gallons of fuel, and a 20,700-pound | | | | first, an A-4F Skyhawk, had been assigned to Attack |
| gross weight (or more than double the weight of the | | | | Squadron 192 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Orskary |
| P-40s the type had replaced), and had been deployed | | | | in 1968 during its Vietnam War combat tour, while the |
| in the Pacific late in the war. | | | | second is a Short Brothers SD3-30 named "Kwajalein |
| The P-47 Thunderbolt which, with 15,579 built, had | | | | Atoll." |
| attained the highest production total of any previous | | | | The paltry collection, according to museum |
| US fighter, had flown more than 546,000 combat | | | | Administrative Assistant Joyce Lazarcheck, is one of |
| missions and destroyed some 11,874 enemy aircraft, | | | | the museum's deficiencies. "I would love to have more |
| 9,000 locomotives, and 6,000 armored vehicles and | | | | planes!" she had wished, and eagerly looked forward |
| tanks between March of 1943 and August of 1945. | | | | to the realization of that goal. |
| The first piston aircraft to exceed 500 mph in airspeed | | | | Aside from the exhibits, the museum fields World War |
| capability, it could outdive any allied or enemy aircraft | | | | II pilot reunions, films, school educational programs, |
| and is considered the forerunner of today's multi-role | | | | aircraft fly-ins and air shows, and veterans' events. |