This book offers a complete history of the pioneers, planes, and services of U.S. Coast Guard aviation. It covers seven decades of aircraft development, from the early stick and wire seaplanes to today's E2C Hawkeyes, and recounts the human drama of aviators risking their lives in dangerous trial-and-error flight testing, search-and-rescue missions, wartime enemy surveillance, and law enforcement.
Building on the highly successful A History of U.S. Coast Guard Aviation, this book details all aircraft used since the Coast Guard introduced its air arm in 1916.
About the Author: Barrett Thomas “Tom” Beard entered the Navy as an enlisted man in 1953 and completed flight training as a Navcad in 1955. With a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve, he flew operational missions—including carrier landings—in A-l Skyraiders and E-l Tracers. He qualified in more than a dozen other types of Navy aircraft, including F-9 Cougars. He served two tours as flight instructor in his ten years with the Navy. In 1965, following his return from a Vietnam tour at Yankee Station, Mr. Beard entered the Coast Guard. He flew in SAR operations in the HU-16E Albatross, the C-130 Hercules, and the HH-52A Seaguard. He qualified as a seaplane pilot, a shipboard helicopters pilot, and a Coast Guard standardization pilot, accumulating more than 6,000 military flight hours during his career. Mr. Beard holds an FAA airline transport pilot rating and a commercial helicopter rating, plus a Coast Guard master’s license for inspected vessels. After retiring in 1975, Mr. Beard returned to college, earning a master’s degree in history from Western Washington University in Bellingham. Following employment as a museum director, he turned back to the sea, in sailboats. Over the past twenty years, he and his wife, Carolyn, have sailed nearly 150,000 miles and visited about fifty countries as they’ve circled the world one and a half times. Mr. Beard takes vacations from these voyages to return home to research and write articles in his field of maritime history.
Situated on the northern end of North Carolina's Outer Banks, Elizabeth City has a strong aviation tradition. The Wright brothers used the "Harbor of Hospitality" as a final way station before traveling on to Kitty Hawk. This coastal town has been the center of United States Coast Guard Aviation since the establishment of the only Coast Guard-owned airport in 1939. Coast Guard Base Elizabeth City began as an installation of six seaplanes operating off of the Pasquotank River. During World War II, the population ballooned to 8,000 assigned personnel. Post-war USCG Aviation expansion saw the addition of many maintenance functions that led to the creation of the Aviation Repair and Supply Base, the center of USCG Aviation maintenance. The base was expanded with a separate air station, the Aviation Technical Training Center, CG Aviation's schoolhouse, Support Center Elizabeth City, and Small Boat Station Elizabeth City. The mission of providing the finest aviation maintenance to Coast Guard Aviation and the highest level of service to mariners of the Virginia Capes and Outer Banks remains an integral part of the installation.
Float Planes and Flying Boats is the first and only written history describing the Coast Guard's contribution to early Naval Aviation's development. There is a Naval Aviator bond between Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps aviators that was initiated when the three service aviation communities joined in a major Joint Operation from 1914 to 1938 to develop and grow Naval Aviation. That bond drives each service to cooperate and support each other. For example, Coast Guard and Marine Corps aviators receive flight training at the Navy Training Command in Pensacola, and the Navy loaned the Coast Guard many of their first aircraft and gave land and facilities that became early Coast Guard air stations. The Coast Guard contributed to Navy activities that established Navy war-fighting capabilities, and provided engineering design and tests for seaplanes and aircraft carrier powder catapults and arresting gear. The only difference on the Naval Aviator Roster is USN, USCG, and USMC after their names. For example, Lieutenant Stone was Naval Aviator number 38, and 20 years later was also assigned Coast Guard Aviator number 1.
This book highlights a wide range of careers in the US Coast Guard, from pilots to pharmacists to rescue swimmers. The title discusses the required training and duties of each career, along with the branch's history and overall mission. Features include a glossary, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
