• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

'Navy 1' Makes a Permanent Stop at NAS Pensacola

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS030721-02

Release Date: 7/21/2003 9:07:00 AM

By Patrick Nichols and S. Lori Nelson, Naval Air Station Pensacola Public Affairs & Gosport Newspaper Staff

NAVAL AIR STATION PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- The VS-35 "Blue Wolves" flew their S-3B Viking anti-submarine warfare aircraft number 700 for its final flight from Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island, San Diego to the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola, Fla., July 15.

Aircraft 700 was designated "Navy 1," when Cmdr. John "Skip" Lussier, VS-35's then executive officer (XO), flew President George W. Bush aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) May 1, to declare an end to major fighting in the war with Iraq.

Capt. James P. Kelly, commander, Sea Control Wing, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Cmdr. Gary M. Wilson, VS-35's current executive officer, flew the aircraft to Pensacola and arrived around 3:30 p.m.

Kelly said, "I like to fly any day, but today (the final flight) was a double pleasure."

As for Wilson, he had "mixed feelings" about the Tuesday afternoon landing. "It brought back fond memories (of when he got his wings at NAS Pensacola in 1987). In 1987, this event wasn't "in his wildest dreams."

Lussier, said, "I've had my 15 minutes and felt completely honored and humbled (to pilot the president on the May 1 flight)." He continued, "It's only fitting that the incoming squadron commanding officer and the XO fly the aircraft to its final resting place."

Officials at the museum are glad to add the S-3B to the current 148-piece historical collection, and they confer that perhaps the fact that the president did make the May 1 flight, emphasizes a pivotal point in naval history. Retired Marine Col. Denis "Deej" Kiely, director of Membership and Public Relations for the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, said, "The president's confidence (in Navy aircraft maintenance and pilot capabilities) was underscored" by making such a flight.

Visitors will be able to see the Viking "exactly the way the president flew it (that day)," said Aircraft Collections Manage Jim Curry. That is, the aesthetic condition has not been altered.