US NAVAL AIR STATION GROSSE ISLE

sepiaton photo illustrated trade paperback soft cover 8vo. library discard copy in vg cond. binding square & tight. spine uncreased. covers clean. top edge has black in mark, other edges clean. couple of erasure spots inside. library sticker bottom of title pg. otherwise contents & text free of markings. first edition. first printing (nap). nice used copy. no names or inscriptions, no inking, underlining or marks to text. 127p.+ publisher's ad. glossy pages throughout. every page photo illustrated in b&w. american history. aviation history. world war ii. history of michigan. great lakes history ~ In 1927, the US Navy floated a small tin hanger down the Detroit River, planting it on a grass airfield at the southern tip of Grosse lle, Michigan. This established one of the nation's largest and most important bases for training young officers in the art of flight. Nestled among farms and lavish estates, Naval Air Station Grosse Ile (NAS GI) was home to thousands of Navy officers earning their wings before leaving to fight in World War II. Here their story is told through photographs taken by the airmen who flew and lived there, from its beginnings in 1927 to its decommissioning more than 40 years later. This is the story of men such as Pres. George H.W. Bush,who flew torpedo bombers rom NAS Gl. And this is the story of the ZMC~2, the Navy's only all~metal blimp, constructed at NAS Gl. Finally, this is also the story of the current NAS Gl. Spared the fate of many decommissioned bases, today Cessnas, Pipers, and Mooneys rest in the same hangars where Corsairs and Phantoms once prowled. Private pilots take flight and land via NAS GI's unmistakable triangle of runways, and students still earn their wings from the same concrete runways where young airmen trained before heading off to fight the Battles of Midway, Coral Sea, and Leyte Gulf.…