The Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum

Story and photos by Corey Beitler

The Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum is located on property formerly part of the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove military installation that was once owned by aviation pioneer Harold F. Pitcairn in Horsham, Pennsylvania. From 1929 to 1942, Pitcairn designed, tested, and built Mailwing biplanes and Autogiros on the property. In 1942, Pitcairn sold the land to the U.S. Navy, and it became the Naval Air Station (NAS) Willow Grove. Following World War II, the installation became an operational and training base for Reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces, such as the U.S. Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, and Pennsylvania Air National Guard. In 1994, the installation was renamed Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base (NAS-JRB) Willow Grove to reflect the joint military operations on the base.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, several units stationed at NAS-JRB Willow Grove were deactivated, and rumors began circulating among personnel stationed at the base and members of the local community that the installation might close in the future. In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) recommended the base for closure in a round of cuts to reduce military expenditures. Tenant units at the installation were either deactivated or relocated to other nearby installations. On March 31, 2011, the airfield on the installation was shut down. The base officially closed on September 15, 2011. Today, the Pennsylvania Air National Guard operates a small portion of the former installation as the Biddle Air National Guard Base. The majority of NAS-JRB Willow Grove, including the runway, sits abandoned. Redevelopment and reuse plans have been delayed by community objections to some proposed uses of the site and by the discovery of hazardous environmental contamination throughout the property due to years of exposure to fuel, oil, aircraft hydraulic fluid, and other chemicals. Currently, the fate of the property remains uncertain until environmental remediation efforts are completed. The remediation efforts are a time-consuming and expensive process, and local officials and the U.S. Navy estimate it could take several years for the site to be cleaned up and deemed safe for redevelopment.

The Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum traces its history back to when Lieutenant Commander David Ascher was stationed at NAS Willow Grove after World War II. After becoming the aircraft maintenance officer at the installation, Lt. Commander Ascher found a Curtiss TP-40N Warhawk World War II fighter at a nearby high school and brought it to the installation for display. Later, a German Arado Ar 196 floatplane, which had been aboard the captured German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen when it was brought to the United States as a war prize, was put on display at the museum. Finally, in 1947, several Axis aircraft that had been captured after World War II and sent to the United States for testing and evaluation were transported to the base for display. These aircraft had been located at NAS Patuxent River in Maryland and were scheduled to be scrapped. Seeing the value in the airplanes as historical artifacts, Lt. Commander Ascher got permission from the U.S. Navy to bring them to NAS Willow Grove for display. Some of these rare aircraft included a two-seat training version of the German Messerschmitt Me-262 Schwalbe jet fighter, a Japanese Nakajima B6N2 Tenzan torpedo bomber, and a Japanese Kawanishi N1K1 Rex floatplane. These aircraft were placed right next to NAS Willow Grove’s front entrance gate, where the public could view them from PA Route. 611. Lt. Commander Ascher left NAS Willow Grove in 1952 when he was transferred to another assignment.

Still, his efforts to protect rare historic aircraft led to a long history of displaying aircraft for public view at the installation. The aircraft collection was also on display during numerous airshows held at NAS Willow Grove when the installation was in active operation. Unfortunately, the airplanes were always displayed outside and exposed to the elements, causing massive damage to their airframes despite NAS Willow Grove personnel making efforts to periodically repaint them to protect them from the elements. Recognizing the importance of these aircraft and that they were deteriorating outside, the U.S. Navy transferred several of them to other museums, such as the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of Naval Aviation, where they could receive proper restorations. The closing of NAS-JRB Willow Grove prompted the relocation of some of the rarer aircraft that remained in the museum collection to other facilities, as it was unclear if the museum would survive the closure of the installation.

The Delaware Valley Historical Aircraft Association (DVHAA) was able to create a new museum on the site in 2002. The DVHAA funded the construction of a new museum building, which opened in 2004. The museum is a non-profit organization, and all proceeds taken in by DVHAA go toward funding expenditures and aircraft restorations. The volunteer museum staff consists of civilians and former members of the military. Some of the veterans who now care for the museum collection and serve as tour guides served at NAS-JRB Willow Grove during their military careers. The museum collection consists of 22 aircraft, two aircraft engines, and hundreds of smaller items, including photographs, models, clothing, aircraft instruments, and other artifacts. Three of the aircraft in the museum collection are currently off-site undergoing restoration. The museum’s collection of aircraft and other aviation artifacts emphasizes Delaware Valley aviation history, aviation pioneer Harold F. Pitcairn, and aircraft operations at the former NAS-JRB Willow Grove military installation.

One of the most historically significant aircraft in the museum’s collection is the Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart. The Sea Dart was designed and tested during the 1950s in an effort to produce a jet-powered, supersonic seaplane fighter and interceptor. The Sea Dart was a unique aircraft with a watertight hull and engines mounted high above the fuselage for operations off the water. When taking off and landing, the Sea Dart used a pair of innovative hydro-skis that moved to three different positions during a takeoff run and fully retracted into the fuselage when the aircraft was in flight. Unfortunately, the performance of the Sea Dart was disappointing, and an in-flight breakup of one of the test aircraft during an official flight demonstration prompted the U.S. Navy to reconsider the project. The Sea Dart was canceled in 1957 after one prototype and four service test aircraft had been built. The Sea Dart on display at the museum is one of the service test aircraft built and is on loan to the museum from the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida.

Another notable aircraft in the museum collection is the Pitcairn PA-8 Super Mailwing, currently on display inside the museum building. The PA-8 was the last variant of a series of mail and sport biplanes built by Pitcairn Aircraft from 1927 to 1931. These biplanes were specifically designed to carry mail for the U.S. Post Office Department and had a front cockpit fitted with a fireproof, metal-lined container for that purpose. The Pitcairn Mailwings were noted for their gentle flying characteristics and were used for hauling mail until the end of the dedicated airmail routes in the mid-1930s. The Pitcairn PA-8 Super Mailwing on display was sold to Eastern Air Transport in 1931. After its mail-carrying days ended, the airplane went through several owners before being purchased by members of the Pitcairn family in 1992. The Pitcairn family restored the PA-8 Super Mailwing and flew it for several years, visiting many local fly-ins and aviation events with the airplane before donating it to the museum in 2011.

The Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum’s aircraft collection features three helicopters, including an example of a Piasecki HUP-2 Retriever. Introduced in 1949, the Retriever was a compact, single radial engine, twin-overlapping tandem rotor utility helicopter. Developed for the U.S. Navy, the Retriever’s folding rotor blades for compact storage and small size made it ideal for operations off aircraft carrier flight decks. Although the Retriever was capable of operating in the utility role, the helicopter’s primary role became search and rescue (SAR), and the aircraft was the U.S. Navy’s first practical SAR helicopter. The HUP-2 Retriever in the museum’s collection is restored in the colors and markings of a SAR helicopter stationed at NAS Willow Grove during the 1950s.

The museum also has a few modern military aircraft on display. An example of one of these is a Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II attack aircraft. Nicknamed the “Warthog” or simply the “Hog” due to its distinctive look, the A-10 entered service in 1977, and updated variants remain in service with the U.S. Air Force today. Designed during the Cold War for close air support (CAS) of friendly infantry and armored forces in a conflict against the Soviet Union in Europe, the A-10 was built around the 20 mm (1.18 in) Avenger rotary cannon, the shells of which can pierce the armor of any existing tank or armored vehicle. The A-10 can also carry up to 16,000 lb (7,257 kg) of bombs, rockets, air-to-ground missiles, air-to-air missiles, flares, electronic targeting pods, and other external stores. The A-10 was also designed to survive direct hits from enemy gunfire and missiles and features titanium armor protecting the cockpit as well as the avionics and hydraulic systems. The A-10 also features redundant mechanical backup systems for the flight controls and landing gear, self-sealing fuel tanks, and engines and tail surfaces that are interchangeable so battle damage can be quickly repaired by ground crews. The A-10 has been used successfully in recent U.S. military conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The A-10 on display at the museum was operated by the 111th Fighter Wing of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard. The 111th Fighter Wing operated the A-10 from 1988 until 2011, with the squadron based at NAS-JRB Willow Grove during that time. This A-10 served the unit as a weapons load trainer. Ground crews would practice loading this airframe with various types of external stores for proficiency and to learn how to handle the different ordnance types safely.

The Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum has many other aircraft on display. Additional helicopters on display include a Bell UH-1V Iroquois. Nicknamed the “Huey”, the UH-1 was the U.S. Army’s first turbine-powered helicopter and became an iconic symbol of the Vietnam War. Also on display is an example of the Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite. This helicopter was designed to operate from the decks of smaller U.S. ships such as frigates and give these ships aerial anti-submarine warfare capability. The SH-2G could also operate in the SAR and utility roles if required. Additional aircraft on display include an example of a Grumman C-1A Trader, a twin radial, piston-engine aircraft that served for years as a COD (carrier on-board delivery) and training platform for the U.S. Navy from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s. Also on display is a Boeing F/A-18A Hornet. Designed as a fighter and attack aircraft, the multirole capability of the F/A-18 was used extensively during the 1991 Gulf War.

In the future, the Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum hopes to build a new, larger museum building that would allow most of its aircraft on outside display to be displayed indoors. When NAS-JRB Willow Grove closed in 2011, the U.S. Navy made a deal with the museum and set aside a tract of land from the former installation for a new museum building. Unfortunately, all plans to build a new museum building are on hold because of the environmental contamination found throughout the former installation. The site must be decontaminated before any plans to build a new museum building will be approved by local and U.S. Navy officials. In the interim, the dedicated museum staff of volunteers continues restoring the aircraft collection as funding allows. The museum staff recently completed exterior restorations on two aircraft in the collection, the Lockheed P-3B Orion and the McDonnell Douglas F-4A Phantom II, and returned them to public display on the museum grounds. The museum is close to finishing an exterior restoration on its Sikorsky UH-34 helicopter and hopes to return it to public display by the end of the year. Another project the museum’s aircraft restoration team is currently working on is a refurbishment of the museum’s rare Vought F7U Cutlass fighter. Designed in the late 1940s and entering service in 1951, the Cutlass was the first tailless production fighter built in the United States. The F7U Cutlass was also the first U.S. Navy fighter built with swept wings and afterburning jet engines. Suffering from underpowered engines and other technical problems, the F7U Cutlass suffered from a high accident rate and was withdrawn from U.S. Navy service after only 10 years. Over a quarter of all the F7Us built were lost in accidents. The museum’s Cutlass joined the collection in the 1950s. The exterior of the airplane is in poor shape due to years of exposure to the elements. The museum staff is working on repairing corrosion on the F7U’s airframe and performing a cosmetic refurbishment so this rare aircraft can be returned to public display.

The Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum is located in Horsham, Pennsylvania, at 1155 Easton Road (PA Route 611), next to the former NAS-JRB Willow Grove military installation. Parking is available in front of the museum building. There are no food or drink amenities available on-site, but several restaurants are located nearby. The museum is open year-round on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10:30 AM to 3 PM and Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30 AM to 4 PM. As of this writing, admission is $10 for adults, $6 for children ages 6 & over, and $8 for seniors and veterans. Most of the museum’s collection is displayed outdoors, so dressing for weather conditions is encouraged. Volunteers from the DVHAA are available during operating hours to answer questions about the exhibits and the museum. More information about the Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum can be found at https://wingsoffreedommuseum.org/