Naval Air Station Brunswick
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| NAS Brunswick | |||
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| IATA: NHZ – ICAO: KNHZ – FAA: NHZ | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military: Naval Air Station | ||
| Operator | United States Navy | ||
| Location | Brunswick, Maine | ||
| Built | 1943 | ||
| In use | 1943-1946, 1951 - present | ||
| Commander | |||
| Occupants | 2,317 Navy 61 Civilian[1] |
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| Elevation AMSL | 75 ft / 23 m | ||
| Coordinates | 43°53′32″N 069°56′19″W / 43.89222°N 69.93861°W | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 1L/19R | 8,000 | 2,438 | Asphalt |
| 1R/19L | 8,000 | 2,438 | Asphalt |
| Sources: FAA[2], official site[3] | |||
Naval Air Station Brunswick (IATA: NHZ, ICAO: KNHZ, FAA LID: NHZ), also known as NAS Brunswick, is a military airport located 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Brunswick, Maine; one of two in Maine, the other military airport is Bangor. The base is home to a number of Navy-operated Maritime patrol aircraft. The base is scheduled for closure in 2011, as per the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure committee decision.
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[edit] History
The U. S. Naval Air Station, Brunswick, Maine was commissioned on April 15, 1943 to train Royal Canadian Air Force pilots for the British Naval Command. The 1,487 acre (6 km²) station was built on land that had been willed to the needy people of Brunswick for the sole purpose of picking blueberries.
The air station was deactivated in October 1946 and the land and buildings leased jointly to the University of Maine and Bowdoin College. On March 15, 1951, the dormant base was recommissioned a naval air facility to support three patrol squadrons and one fleet aircraft service squadron; it was slated to become a master jet base with dual 8,000 foot (2.4 km) runways and two outlying fields, one for gunnery and one for carrier practice landings. The base will be closed around the year 2011.
[edit] Current operations
There are two 8,000-foot (2,400 m)- by 200-foot (61 m) runways at Brunswick Naval Air Station, 19 L&R and 1 L&R (Runways 19 Left and Right and Runways 1 Left and Right). Runway 19L-1R (same runway) is more frequently used than 19R-1L, due to 1R's High Intensity Runway Lights with a 3,000-foot (910 m) lighted runway approach. Runway 19L has a 2,400-foot (730 m) high-intensity approach similar to its counterpart. Both runways have a PAPI which indicates glide slope position. Runway 19R-1L only has PAPIs on both side and high intensity lighting on the runway with no Runway End Identification Lights (REIL). The airport's beacon flashes from dusk to dawn with a (White-White-Green) sequence, signifying it is a lighted military airport. [4]
NAS Brunswick is home to 29 tenant commands, including four active-duty patrol squadrons (VPU-1, VP-8, VP-10, and VP-26) and one reserve patrol squadron (VP-92) that fly Lockheed P-3 Orion long-range maritime patrol aircraft. These are commanded by Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing Five, headquartered at the air station. The base is also home to VR-62, a reserve transport squadron that flies Lockheed C-130 Hercules airlifters. [5]
More than 1,600 Navy Reservists travel from throughout New England to drill at the Naval Operational Support Center Brunswick, the Seabee battalion and numerous other reserve commands.
About 20 percent of NAS Brunswick's activities, facilities and services support the AEGIS destroyer shipbuilding program at nearby Bath Iron Works. The base also houses the Navy's only cold-weather Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) school; additional SERE training takes place on 12,000 acres (49 km²) near Rangeley in northwestern Maine.
[edit] Transient Naval operations
Often, one may see a fighter jet or an aircraft other than the routine Lockheed P-3 Orion or Lockheed-Martin C-130 aircraft, the two aircraft based at the Naval Air Station. These aircraft are not based at Brunswick Naval Air Station, but are coming from other United States and NATO air bases from around the United States and Europe. Some of the common aircraft visiting Brunswick not based there are Boeing F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets, Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, and corporate jets that are property of the Navy. When visiting Maine, the President's jet, Air Force One, will often land at NAS Brunswick, as it is one of the few airports in Maine with a runway capable of hosting the large Boeing 747 jet.
[edit] Post-Navy usage
The Navy is scheduled to leave in 2011 and as a result, there have been multiple ideas about redeveloping the base. These include everything from the traditional golf course to aviation re-use as a commercial airport.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/pdf/Vol_I_Part_1_DOD_BRAC.pdf
- ^ FAA Airport Master Record for NHZ (Form 5010 PDF), retrieved 2007-03-15
- ^ [1] (official site)
- ^ "Airnav: NHZ". Airnav LLC.. http://airnav.com/airport/KNHZ. Retrieved on 2006-07-18.
- ^ "Welcome to Naval Air Station Brunswick". http://www.nasb.navy.mil/. Retrieved on 2006-07-18.
[edit] External links
- NAS Brunswick Home Page
- NAS Brunswick at GlobalSecurity.org
- Resources for this U.S. military airport:
- AirNav airport information for KNHZ
- ASN accident history for NHZ
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KNHZ
- http://www.brunswickme.org/parkrec/programs/flyers/Brunswick%20NAS%20Assessment%20Study.pdf
