176

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1949-Contin ued

5 October In a demonstration of naval air capa-

bilities, a Neptune P2V-3, piloted by Commander

Frederick L. Ashworth, took off from the carrier

Midway at sea off Norfolk and flew to the Panama

Canal, then northward over Corpus Christi, Tex.,

and on to NAS San Diego, Calif., completing a

4,800-mile nonstop, nonrefueling flight in 25 hours

and 40 minutes.

30 October Lieutenant Guiseppe A. Rullo and M.

D. Kembro, CAP, flew a Sikorsky helicopter, H03S,

from NAS Seattle, Wash., to NAS Alameda, Calif., in

10 hours and 50 minutes and unofficially bettered

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the existing distance record for helicopters with a

flight of 755 miles.

1 December In a reorganization of air transport ser-

vices, the Atlantic and Pacific Fleet Logistic Support

Wings ceased to exist and all air transport units were

consolidated under a single command - the Fleet

Logistic Air Wing.

9 December A reorganization of the Naval Air

Reserve was completed in which 128 Fighter, 41

Attack, 25 Composite, 29 Patrol, 26 Transport, 57

Service, and 5 Blimp Squadrons were placed under

command of 27 Air Wings established at as many

Reserve Air Stations spread throughout the country.

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P2V Neptune JATO take-off from Midway 407668