| Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerial view of the NADC in the early 1970s | |||
| IATA: NJP – ICAO: KNJP | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military: Naval Air Station | ||
| Operator | United States Navy | ||
| Location | Warminster, Pennsylvania | ||
| Built | 1930s | ||
| In use | 1940 | ||
| Occupants | Navy | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 375 ft / 114 m | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 9/27 | 8,000 | 2,438 | Asphalt, Concrete |
| NAWC, Aircraft Division, Warminster (Johnsville Naval Air Development Center) |
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|---|---|
| Pennsylvania Historical Marker signification | |
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Location of the former Naval Air Development Center Pennsylvania
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| Location: | Warminster and Ivyland, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates: | |
| PA marker dedicated: | November 11, 1998 |
Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster (IATA: NJP, ICAO: KNJP) was a U.S. Navy military installation located in Warminster, Pennsylvania and Ivyland, Pennsylvania. For most of its existence, the base was known as the Naval Air Development Center, Johnsville, NADC, or simply, Johnsville.
The U.S. Navy purchased the grounds to establish this facility from the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation following its bankruptcy in the 1940s. The Brewster Buccaneer dive bomber was produced by Brewster at this location. It was named Brewster Field. After the US Navy took over in 1944 , It was renamed NAMU (Naval Manufacturing Unit Johnsville).It was a modification center for fleet aircraft before joining the fleet. Wing panels for PBY's were manufactured here for assembly on planes at Mustin Field at the Philadelphia Naval Aircraft factory. The famous F4f Chance Vought Corsair was also modified here, with the Brewster F3A version being built here during WW2. It was renamed a Naval Air Development Center in 1952. The facility played an important role in Project Mercury. Since Johnsville possessed the world's largest centrifuge, capable of spinning a man to at least 16g, (42g max 19g/s onset) it was used for astronaut training.[1] The centrifuge was later used for flight simulation where it could simulate 6 degrees of freedom with g loading. The F-14 flat spin on takeoff issue was investigated and resolved on the DFS Centrifuge. Later endeavors included supine seat experiments, G-Tolerance Improvement Program (GTIP), and F/A-18 simulation. The DFS Centrifuge building (formerly building 70) is currently being refurbished as a museum.
The base was closed by the federal government Base Realignment and Closure action in the 1990s and its operations were transferred to Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Lexington Park, Maryland.
One of the key operations of this large, dome-shaped, underground facility was the engineering of Navigational Equipment, including gyroscopes, used for inertial navigation systems on military aircraft and submarines.
The 8,000-foot-long (2,400 m) runway at the base was able to accommodate the C-5 Galaxy military cargo aircraft.
It is now home to an industrial park, Warminster Community Park, a housing development, the new Bucks County morgue and crime lab and Ann's Choice, a senior citizens' housing complex. Stormtracker6, the Doppler weather radar for WPVI is also located there. Popular internet podcasts The Stabcast and Happy Hour are also recorded live there.
It also is currently part of the EPA's superfund areas, being contaminated by toxic waste.
Martha, Ackmann (2003). The Mercury 13. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-375-50744-2.