On August 12, 2010, a new Quantico air facility to accommodate maintenance and storage of HMX-1 helicopters was dedicated in honor of Marine One founding commander Col. Virgil D. Olson (1919–2012).[3]
History
Aviation first arrived at Quantico on May 6, 1896 when Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834–1906), Astronomer and third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, launched his successful Aerodrome #5, a steam engine powered, unpiloted aircraft from a houseboat in the shadow of Chopawamsic Island adjacent to the present-day approach end of Runway 20 at Quantico Marine Corps Air Facility. The #5 Aerodrome made two successful flights that afternoon, one of 1005 m/3300ft and a second of 700 m/2300ft (these are horizontal distances measured along a curving flight path) at a speed of approximately 25mph.[4][5][6]
To this success was added the flight on November 28, 1896 of the Langley Aerodrome #6 (which was a re-engineered version of Langley Aerodrome #4) in a similar location alongside Chopawamsic Island. Aerodrome #6 was also launched from a houseboat unpiloted and steam powered and flew 1460 m/4,790ft. Both Aerodromes #5 and #6 used gasoline as heat fuel to vaporize water to power the steam engines.[7]
These successes were encouraging, and design and construction began on a Great Aerodrome, or Aerodrome A, which was intended to be large enough to carry a pilot. An unpiloted scale model of this design was built, named the Quarter-Scale Aerodrome, was powered by a gasoline engine and flew twice on June 18, 1901. Another flight of the Quarter-Scale was made with an improved engine on August 8, 1903.
The first attempted test flight of Aerodrome A, a large man-carrying Aerodrome with a sophisticated gasoline-powered rotary engine, was on October 7, 1903 from a larger houseboat moored near Widewater, Virginia, in the Potomac River a few miles south of present-day MCAF Quantico and the earlier successful Aerodrome #5 and #6 flights. This first attempt with Aerodrome A ended in failure, and the experiment was tried again after repairs were made on December 8, 1903 (nine days before the Wright Brothers and their Flyer took to the air at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina). This second attempt at launching Aerodrome A also ended in failure. The pilot (Langley's assistant, Charles M. Manly) was not seriously injured.[8]
In July 1918, two kite balloons were flown to spot artillery fire. These forerunners of today's spotter aircraft were soon augmented with the assignment of four seaplanes, which operated from the muddy junction of Chopawamsic Creek and the Potomac River.
Brown Field, Quantico, Virginia, circa 1922
In 1919, a flying field was laid out and the land leased to accommodate a squadron returning from World War I combat in Europe. The facility was later named Brown Field, in memory of 2ndLt Walter Vernon Brown, who lost his life nearby in an aviation accident on 9 June 1921.[9] The present site was selected in 1931, when larger and faster planes brought recognition of the limitations and hazards of Brown Field—its single, crosswind runway, bound by trees, hills, swamp, a high tension line and a railroad.
A new airfield was constructed by changing the course and flow of Chopawamsic Creek and reclamation of the marshland from that area. The new facility was named Turner Field.
By 1939, four squadrons—68 bombers, scout bombers, fighters, transports, utility and observation planes—were based at the airfield. On December 1, 1941, the field was named Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, and placed under operational control of the Commanding General, Marine Barracks.
In 1947, Marine Helicopter Squadron One was established at Quantico to pioneer an entirely new concept in air operation; to evaluate and test, in coordination with the Landing Force development Center, the theory of carrying troops to the battle zone by helicopter.
By the close of the Korean War, helicopters had gained permanent acceptance by the military for tactical and logistical support operations. Effective 15 November 1976, MCAS Quantico was re-designated as Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF), Quantico, Virginia. MCAF Quantico is currently the home of Headquarters Squadron (HqSqn), Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), and home to Marine One.
Quantico is a town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 480 at the 2010 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., bordered by the Potomac River to the east and the Quantico Creek to the north. The word Quantico is a anglicization of the name of a Doeg village recorded by English colonists as Pamacocack.
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma or MCAS Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station. It is the home of multiple squadrons of F-35B Lightning IIs of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 (MAWTS-1), Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX-1) and Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 (VMFT-401), an air combat adversary squadron of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing of the Marine Corps Reserve. It is a designated Superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contaminants, including asbestos.
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Orlando Executive Airport is a public airport three miles (6 km) east of downtown Orlando, in Orange County, Florida. It is owned and operated by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) and serves general aviation.
Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) is a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron responsible for the transportation of the president and vice president of the United States, heads of state, Department of Defense officials, and other VIPs as directed by the Marine Corps and White House Military Office. A Marine helicopter with the president aboard uses the call sign "Marine One". Previously, HMX-1 was also tasked with operational test and evaluation (OT&E). This task was reassigned to VMX-1 in Yuma, Arizona; since the contract award of the new presidential helicopter in 2014 to Sikorsky Aircraft, however, HMX-1 has assumed the temporary role of OT&E for this platform, because of its unique nature and mission. The VH-92A first flew in 2017 and is expected to be operational sometime after 2022. Nicknamed "Nighthawks", HMX-1 is headquartered at Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico, Virginia, and maintains detachments at Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling in Washington, D.C., and Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility in Maryland.
Marine Corps Air Station New River is a United States Marine Corps helicopter and tilt-rotor base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, in the eastern part of the state. In 1972, the airfield was named McCutcheon Field for General Keith B. McCutcheon, one of the fathers of Marine Corps helicopter aviation. Near Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, it shares some facilities with Camp Geiger.
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The Langley Aerodrome was a pioneering but unsuccessful manned, tandem wing-configuration powered flying machine, designed at the close of the 19th century by Smithsonian Institution Secretary Samuel Langley. The U.S. Army paid $50,000 for the project in 1898 after Langley's successful flights with small-scale unmanned models two years earlier.
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Chopawamsic Island is one of the few islands in the Potomac River within the territorial boundaries of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is on the west side of the river next to Marine Corps Base Quantico about 30 miles south of Washington.
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