We had a P2V-5 and a 7 at WST, NATC Pax River. I was just out of boot camp and would go down to the hanger at night, clean drip pans, spark plugs what ever and quite often go on a hop in one of our P2V's. It's still my all time favorite airplane. Several years later as a plane captain for a UH2B, we spent the night in Brunswick ME and they put my helo in a hanger, The next morning there were neptune spears painted on our aux tanks. My buddies back at Lakehurst got a kick out of that.

This message is for Barney Welsh. When you were shot down over the Ho CHi Minh trail, did you get picked up by a USAF H-53 'Jolly Green Giant'? You and your crew may have been picked up by my brother-in-law, Lt Col Ken Duckworth, USAF (Ret). Ken was killed in a tragic car accident, Flag Day 2010.

VP22 1952 thru 1954 Started as ADAN Started flying with LCDR Carter PC Jackson P2V4 Deployed to Naha, and Kadena returned to BP, Departed to Kodiak AK To Fasron Whidby Released to Reserves. VF901 Spokane wa Closed in 58 Went to Vp771 los Alamos Fleet Qualified Plane captain Transferred to VP892 NAS Sandpoint Seattle Activated for the duration of the Cuban crisis Plane captain for Admiral Jim Russel From Seattle. Made the last reunion of VP22, The 51 to 55 crowd was the Old timers, Met the younger fellows and it was like I had Gained a bunch of Younger Brothers. when we had 2 engines we use to Fly 20 Hours at a time,P2V4 and 5s. Flew over4200 hours only had 1 engine failure, Saved an engine that was Detonating only to have the maintenance officer Blow it up on takeoff because he didn't think the carburetor was failing, he left parts on the runway at Sandpoint, the tower made him take it to Whidbey. I think the P2V Ranks right up there with the Mustang and the Corsair Lots of good flights she always brought us home

Was in VR-6 (MATS)At McGuire AFB, 1960-62. Went to AE "B" school in Jax. Fla.,then was sent to VP-23,in 1963, NAS Brunswick,Me.,as AE-2. Flew flightcrew in LJ-8,LJ-7,and then LJ-1. Flew on crew from 1963-1967. The bow belonged to me. I loved the T.O.s & landings,(no,no,I know),but what a rush.In 1968 I ran night shift Electric Shop, and made AE-1, but got out and went to work with Vocaline CO.of
American crewing on their P2V "StopSign" at same duty station. Loved the Driftwood, the Heathwood, and the Maine woods. I bought a Marlin 38-55 lever action from a trapper, and shot a nice buck the same day that our VP-23 Squadron Commander was reported to be lost deer hunting up
around Moose Head Lake. My brother was a Sgt Major in Nam.,with a silver star & a couple of purple hearts, so I joined up, and they sent me to Ft Eustis,Va. instructing U.S. & Iranian troops in our helo and aircraft electical and instrument systems. I pulled my two years, and then got back in the game by joining the local police department.
They gave me 34 years, which included 10 yrs. workmans comp.,after having a heart attack, open heart, going back
to work chasing bad guys, and then having another heart attack, and five years later having another open. Any way I guess I got off the track. I loved those P2Vs, and sleeping on the wing beam, and riding in the bow, and shouting "madman" "madman", and throwing box lunches at submarines. The Captain said he got too far away from his vehicle, and decided to sleep in the woods and walk out the next morning. I still have that Marlin and those antlers, and now I hunt in Virginia woods. You all take care and don't walk into any props.........that was another lifetime, wasn't it..........BO

I flew the SP-2H Neptune from Whidby Island, Washington with VP-42 until the squadron and the aircraft was retired.
Toured in Vietnam in 1968 and loved every minute of the flying Ole Two Turning and Two Burning. Great aircraft.

Reported aboard VP22 as an AE2 in Oct/Nov 1959 home ported at NAS Barbers Point. Transferred out in April 1962 as an AE1. During those years I flew with Crew 10 and 2 as an ECM operator, also spent some time as a ground pounder because of vertigo and infected ears. I remember a winter deployment to Iwakuni (cold, rain and snow until Cherry Blosson time) and,while the runways at Iwakuni were being repaired,a det at Atsugi (freezing rain, ice, snow, more snow, wind) . I remember many Pacific Islands (Midway, Wake Iwo jima, Johnson, et al) with lots of water in between. I recall a 9 month 24/7 stretch Tracking four Russian missile ships all over the Northern and Centeral Pacific and watching them recover re-entry data packages. After a 30 year Navy career and to this day I can not remember a tour of duty where I worked as hard, for three years and now knowing this was the norm for every VP sailor. What a learning experience for a 21 year old sailor to have undergone! The leadership, management, guidance, direction and knowledge provided by the Officers, Chiefs, and Crew has stood me in good stead to this day.

I was with VP-6 from 1957 to 1960. Made a deployment to Iwakuni in 1958. When we returned to Barbers Point I joined Crew 12 as a Radio Operator. Flew as a crewman the rest of my enlistment. I loved the P2. It could take a lot and keep on flying. We flew into what I would call a sea going tornado. It was off the coast of Kaui. It tuned us upside down and did things to that P2 that should not be done. It finally ejected us and we made it back to Barbers Point. A Ham operator on Kaui had reported a Navy Aircraft in trouble and all the Personnel were waiting for us by the hanger when we landed minus a lot of rivets and damage to the interior. It is hard to send Morse Code when you are upside down.

I have several photos taken at Quonset Point, RI in about 1950. VP-7 was there at that time. Included are several of P2V and PB4Y2s. They were presumed taken by a man named Kristecky. If anyone is seriously interested, I don't mind scanning and sending via email. I did send them to Quonset Point several years ago, but they were of a very poor quality compared to what can be done now.

Keith,
I have about 1000 Hours in the p2v. Ifs you still want the radio info send me an email and I will provide you with the info.

Tom

HAD 2 DEPLOYMENTS WITH vp-10 IN BRUNSICK,ME. FLEW MOST MODELS,2, 4 5F, 6, 7 ETC. FLEW SOME REALLY OLD 2S IN SANFORD TRAINING BOMBADIERS FOR THE A3D. NOT SURE BUT I COULD SWEAR I LOOKED THROUGH THE LOG BOOK OF ONE OF THOSE OLD 2S AND IT WAS THE A/C THAT WAS EQUIPED WITH JATO AND FLEW OFF THE CARRIER. AFTER ACTIVE DUTY IN 60 FLEW IN RESERVES AT OLATHE, KN, SO. WEYMOUTH, MA, ATLANTA,GA.

I served in VP-22 from 1960-1963. I was not crew but enjoyed many hours flying to various places in the Pacific - Johnson Island, Japan, Hong Kong, etc.
I am the NEPTUNE PROJECT COORDINATOR FOR THE NAVAL AIR MUSEUM, BARBERS POINT. WE HAVE SECURED A P2V and are raising funds to fly it from Missoula to Hawaii in the summer of 2013.

i served in VP-22 out of barbers point hawaii from 1956 to
1959 went to iwakuni,kodiak,adak and all over the pacific
flew as ecm operater. was a real tour of duty and enjoyed
the p2v-5 a lot

I was crewman on P2Vs starting on the 1 and discharged on 6 In '52 forced to bail out on MC2 (VP-5) 50 miles north of Paris..all crew members and four passengers landed on soft ground. lost a great bird that night

Like the S-2 The P-2 is allso 1 of my Best planes ever.The airbase that was in my city i grew up in had P-2s like the S-2s there they flew over my house daily sooting Tand Gs i loved it wen i moved to another ca city the airport had a airtanker base i got hired as a reloader in 1974 tanker-47 a SP-2H allong with tanker-76 a S-2 were Based ther during the fire seasion i cant tellu how many S-2s,P-2s i reloaded but it was a verry bisiy firseasoin.there going 2 retire the P-2 Firebombers next year i heard i hope not talking 2 pilots they all said the P-2 is the best airtanker i agree.I will miss the old bird.Thanks

I had the privilage to be picked up as an instructor on the P2V-7s purchased by the JSMDF in 1956. KA4605 was our tail #. We lost a cam follower on the trans pac and would have had to dump all of the stuff purchased for the families in Japan if the engine quit. Fortunatly the engine held together and we changed it in Hawaii. The rest of the flight beautiful. I rember Feeny,Lundquist and Lt.Bouveron. I have pictures if anyone is interested.

I was one of if not the last P-2 driver in VP 17 when the squadron transitioned to P-3s and moved to Hawaii. At the time,in the late 60s, I had orders to DCA in the Washington DC area, so stayed in Whitdby Island to close down operations there after most of the rest of the squadron moved on. I joined the squadron during the last part of their Viet Nam deployment in 66 and made most of the second one in 67. It's good to see some names that I remember already in the comments below. This was my second P-2 outfit, the first being VP-28 at Barbers Point Hawaii in 1954 to 1956 flying the 5 and 5F. We made deployments to Iwakuni Japan and Kodiak Alaska. In between I flew the S2F with VS-29 operating off the Kearsarge in 59 to 61 and made two deployments to Westpac. The P2 was a great airplane as long as one learned how and then used the vericam to make porpoise free landings.

Served in VP-23 1963-67 in P2V-7s. From Radioman to First Tech. Det. UNITAS in 1965. The P2 was a great plane for the job it did. 2400hrs in P2s, 3000hrs in P3s. We saw more subs and a lot more from the bow of a P2. In the P3, we dropped a lot of sonobouys down through the clouds.

My late father, Verner Andersen, was the artist who painted The Turtle logo on the TRUCULENT TURTLE prior to it's historic flight. He also did the artwork (silkscreen process, I believe) for the leather patches on the crew's flightsuits of which I posess one.

Since most artists did not sign their work on warplanes during that period, I only have the patch and my word to verify what I'm writing is true. Any suggestions on how I could get proof of my father's contribution to history would be appreciated.

Truly yours,
Stephen Verner Andersen

I was in VP-7 as a radioman on flight crews from 1951 to 1954. We flew ASW patrols out of Iceland and Japan. These were during the Krean war which were part of the cold war during the 1950s. I came into VP-7 out of schools in Millington Tenn. and Norfolk. At that time VP-7 was flying P2V3 and P2V4 planes. We were the crew who flew what I believe was the last patrol of the Korean War. I was in the the radio position. First radioman Rosalis was up in the turret. I got a message in code that requested to be forwarded. We were in radio silence. so I called for permission to break radio silence from our pilot, LTJg Vollmer. He told me to pass up the my printed copy. He must have had a code book because he shouted into the intercom " Its over, its over ". We thought the war was over. Now we know it never ended. I am still in contact with William ( Bill ) Scherbon one of our mechs. I would love to hear from any VP-7 members from that period. They would be in their 80s like me.

I have perhaps one of the longest spans of time associated with the Neptunes. I flew as ppc/pp2p in VP-17 at Whidby Island from 1965-1968, with the usual deployments to Asia, and particularly to Viet Nam. I then spent 31 years with Delta/Western Airlines. After retirement at age 60, I went back to work as a pilot flying wildland fire in slurry bombers. You guessed it, 1950's era P-2s and !960's era P-3s are the backbone of the Heavy Tanker aircraft that deliver retardant on wildland fires. I'm in my last year as Chief Pilot of AeroUnion Corp. providing P-3s to the Forest Service.