MCAS Tustin

Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Tustin was originally established as a Navy lighter-than-air (LTA) base early in World War II (similar to Tillamook NAS). The station was built to support the blimps that conducted coastal patrols off Southern California. The facility served this purpose until almost 1950.  Early in the Korean "police action" the facility was reactivated to support the newly-created Marine helicopter force.  It became the country's first air facility developed solely for helicopter operations.  In recent history, MCAS Tustin was the major center for Marine helicopter aviation on the Pacific Coast. MCAS Tustin was scheduled for closure by July 1999 and I think most MCAS Tustin personnel were re-assigned to NAS Miramar (Top Gun), as NAS El Toro (close by) was also closed during the 90's base-closure era.

MCAS Tustin is located in Orange County, California, south of Los Angeles.   I spent an afternoon watching operations there while I was in nearby Santa Ana on business... installing cellular telephone equipment at the AirTouch Santa Ana switch.  Sometimes a delay can be an opportunity...  I was glad I had my camera with me!

  CH-53E & Blimp Hangars

 CH-53E Takes Off

(Them Big Boys is Hollow!)

(That Hangar dwarfs the Helo!)

(1995, 570x370x16M JPEG Filesize=47K)

(1995, 500x280x16M JPEG Filesize=36K)

 CH-46 on the Ramp

 Super Stallion

(These guys make a racket!)

(Out of the barn and into the smog!)

(1995, 570x370x16M JPEG Filesize=65K)

(1995, 663x301x16M JPEG Filesize=47K)

 Sea Knight on Final

(I thought they could land straight down?)

(1995, 642x367x16M JPEG Filesize=58K)

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