Description

This book by Angelo Romano, historian of the United States Naval Aviation, is the first of a new series by RN Publishing – Naval Aviation Archives – NAVAR and describes the history of the Testing and Experimentation Centres based at Point Mugu in California, in the period 1945-1975.

The United States Navy established and maintained several test centres and facilities for testing and evaluating aircraft and weapon systems. Few have achieved the size and scope of activities as the one based at Point Mugu, California. Over the years, the Naval Air Missile Test Centre, along with co-located Pacific Missile Range, became Naval Missile Centre and Pacific Missile Test Centre reflecting the evolution of technology, complexity, and sophistication needed to accurately evaluate weaponry performance.

This latest book by Angelo Romano is a pictorial work that covers the aircraft and missiles involved during the first thirty years (1945-1975) of the activities at NAS Point Mugu and its outlying stations and ranges. The book details a multitude of projects, aircraft, squadrons, and changes with the base and facilities up through 1975. Readers will find a fascinating wealth of technical and historical information on aircraft and weaponry associated from the beginning of activities there; all arranged chronologically by chapter.

To go along with the text, there are close to 600 b/w and colour stunning photographs, nearly all unpublished, illustrating the aircraft, modifications, and project details. These photos were researched for accuracy as to the model type, serial or BuNo, time and location by various experts in their field. One feature is the photo roll call and serial list of QT-33As assigned to Point Mugu. An annual inventory of aircraft types assigned to Point Mugu were provided in numerous tables, along with some individual airframe histories. For historians and modelers, patches and logos were reproduced as accurately as possible with regard to details and colours. This would help to answer questions such as “What was that logo on that airplane and what did it looked like?”

In summary, it is a captivating look at some of the work that took place at the Point Mugu test centres.