Marine Corps Air Station Parris Island, December 1941

 Parris Island's Page Field, circa WWII

As a pilot/mechanic and somewhat passionate aviation buff (thanks Dad), I think everyone is as interested in flying machines and the and the Golden Age of aviation as am I.... or at least they should be... right Grandpa C?! (OohRah Recruit Sara...wrench and fly!)

Where my recruit is training is steeped in aviation history. Get a load of these pics!  (MCAS on the hangar is Marine Corps Aviation Service... Parris Island was the headquarters of the aviation forces of the Atlantic Coast Advanced Base and Expeditionary Forces.)

Circa 1952-53 photos by Kenneth Cutteridge of transient aircraft at Page Field: 

a Curtis R5C, Fairchild R4Q, and Chance-Vought F4Us

The airfield was first constructed at Parris Island in 1919 and was used to train Marine pilots to fly the Navy's DH-4 bombers. In the '20's there was even an airship mooring mast erected on Parris Island's air base, known as Page Field. Check out these Parris Island pics from the early and mid last century...

A USN de Havilland 4 - Bomber 

Piloted by Marines trained at Page field on PI

The Marine Glider Program on PI, circa 1942

The 20 officers and 218 enlisted men of Marine Glider Group 71 transferred to Parris Island in 1942 and began training pilots to fly one- and two-man gliders. The squadron left Parris Island later that year, and the Corps terminated its glider program in July 1943... seems that the engine-less planes were not well-suited for jungle warfare in the south Pacific....hmmm.

By the late '40s, the runways were too short to handle the needs of the newer jet military hardware and it was shut down.   Today, it is used to stage various parts of "The Crucible," the grueling 54-hour culmination of Parris Island recruit training. (More on that with a bunch of pics in the weeks ahead.)


OK! Enough of that! I just knew I was going to have to get some aviation stuff in this blog... ha!

Love it!

Keep your airspeed up Sara! You Rock!



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