A Hundred Years of Coast Guard Aviation
brief time, to bring under observation a thousand square miles of sea and coast, has made rum running a difficult occupation. Once the ‘suspect’ speed boat is spotted, there is but small chance of its eluding the plane, which, by radio, is calling the surface patrol to close in and effect the capture. “So much publicity is given to this onerous and unpopular duty,” Reisinger continued, “that the great service of the Coast Guard to commerce and humanity is but dimly discerned.” Toward the end of the Prohibition era, Coast Guard aviation changed its emphasis from law enforcement to search and rescue (SAR). The fledgling air arm was making a return to its roots.
FLYING LIFE BOAT In 1928, specifications were drawn to develop a flying life boat to serve alongside 13 Douglas RD-2 Dolphins. Initially a product of Fokker before that company went defunct, the General Aviation Flying Life Boat – different models were designated PJ-1 and PJ-2 – was a flying boat designed from the start to meet Coast Guard rescue requirements and not a hand-me-down from another service
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Phoenix Rising
branch. Five were built and they were very substantial aircraft for their era, weighing 11,000 pounds and offering a range of 1,000 miles. The first PJ-1 was named Arcturus and was quickly called to service, flying from Miami in darkness and stormy weather to rescue a critically ill passenger aboard the Army transport ship Republic. During another PJ-1 incident, von Paulsen set down in heavy seas during January 1933 off Cape Canaveral, Florida, to rescue a boy adrift in a skiff. The Flying Life Boat sustained so much damage during the open water landing that it was unable to take off. Eventually, Arcturus taxied to shore and everyone aboard, including the boy, was saved. As the nation grappled with the Great Depression in the 1930s, the Coast Guard struggled with now-familiar tight budgets and operated a mix of aircraft in very small numbers. For $8,000, which was not a small sum, the service purchased a single Consolidated N4Y-1, or Model 21-A open-cockpit biplane trainer and used it mostly as a “hack,” or taxi, from 1932 to 1941. It was similar in appearance to the Stearman N2S-3, a version of the Army’s PT-17 primary trainer, and the Coast Guard picked up 11 of those for training and courier duties. Also similar in appearance, and
U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO
Coast Guard aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Miami, Florida, greeting the new 165-foot patrol boat Pandora upon arrival at that port on Dec. 6, 1934. From top to bottom are flying boat Acamar, the Douglas RD Dolphin amphibian Sirius, and flying boat Arcturus. The Coast Guard acquired 13 RDs beginning in 1931. It proved to be a popular choice among Coast Guard aviators.