Lockheed P-2 Neptune

I was crewman on P2Vs starting on the 1 and discharged on 6 In '52 forced to bail out on MC2 (VP-5) 50 miles north of Paris..all crew members and four passengers landed on soft ground. lost a great bird that night

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Like the S-2 The P-2 is allso 1 of my Best planes ever.The airbase that was in my city i grew up in had P-2s like the S-2s there they flew over my house daily sooting Tand Gs i loved it wen i moved to another ca city the airport had a airtanker base i got hired as a reloader in 1974 tanker-47 a SP-2H allong with tanker-76 a S-2 were Based ther during the fire seasion i cant tellu how many S-2s,P-2s i reloaded but it was a verry bisiy firseasoin.there going 2 retire the P-2 Firebombers next year i heard i hope not talking 2 pilots they all said the P-2 is the best airtanker i agree.I will miss the old bird.Thanks

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I had the privilage to be picked up as an instructor on the P2V-7s purchased by the JSMDF in 1956. KA4605 was our tail #. We lost a cam follower on the trans pac and would have had to dump all of the stuff purchased for the families in Japan if the engine quit. Fortunatly the engine held together and we changed it in Hawaii. The rest of the flight beautiful. I rember Feeny,Lundquist and Lt.Bouveron. I have pictures if anyone is interested.

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I was one of if not the last P-2 driver in VP 17 when the squadron transitioned to P-3s and moved to Hawaii. At the time,in the late 60s, I had orders to DCA in the Washington DC area, so stayed in Whitdby Island to close down operations there after most of the rest of the squadron moved on. I joined the squadron during the last part of their Viet Nam deployment in 66 and made most of the second one in 67. It's good to see some names that I remember already in the comments below. This was my second P-2 outfit, the first being VP-28 at Barbers Point Hawaii in 1954 to 1956 flying the 5 and 5F. We made deployments to Iwakuni Japan and Kodiak Alaska. In between I flew the S2F with VS-29 operating off the Kearsarge in 59 to 61 and made two deployments to Westpac. The P2 was a great airplane as long as one learned how and then used the vericam to make porpoise free landings.

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Served in VP-23 1963-67 in P2V-7s. From Radioman to First Tech. Det. UNITAS in 1965. The P2 was a great plane for the job it did. 2400hrs in P2s, 3000hrs in P3s. We saw more subs and a lot more from the bow of a P2. In the P3, we dropped a lot of sonobouys down through the clouds.

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My late father, Verner Andersen, was the artist who painted The Turtle logo on the TRUCULENT TURTLE prior to it's historic flight. He also did the artwork (silkscreen process, I believe) for the leather patches on the crew's flightsuits of which I posess one.

Since most artists did not sign their work on warplanes during that period, I only have the patch and my word to verify what I'm writing is true. Any suggestions on how I could get proof of my father's contribution to history would be appreciated.

Truly yours,
Stephen Verner Andersen

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I was in VP-7 as a radioman on flight crews from 1951 to 1954. We flew ASW patrols out of Iceland and Japan. These were during the Krean war which were part of the cold war during the 1950s. I came into VP-7 out of schools in Millington Tenn. and Norfolk. At that time VP-7 was flying P2V3 and P2V4 planes. We were the crew who flew what I believe was the last patrol of the Korean War. I was in the the radio position. First radioman Rosalis was up in the turret. I got a message in code that requested to be forwarded. We were in radio silence. so I called for permission to break radio silence from our pilot, LTJg Vollmer. He told me to pass up the my printed copy. He must have had a code book because he shouted into the intercom " Its over, its over ". We thought the war was over. Now we know it never ended. I am still in contact with William ( Bill ) Scherbon one of our mechs. I would love to hear from any VP-7 members from that period. They would be in their 80s like me.

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I have perhaps one of the longest spans of time associated with the Neptunes. I flew as ppc /pp2p in VP-17 at Whidby Island from 1965-1968, with the usual deployments to Asia, and particularly to Viet Nam. I then spent 31 years with Delta /Western Airlines. After retirement at age 60, I went back to work as a pilot flying wildland fire in slurry bombers. You guessed it, 1950's era P-2s and !960's era P-3s are the backbone of the Heavy Tanker aircraft that deliver retardant on wildland fires. I'm in my last year as Chief Pilot of AeroUnion Corp. providing P-3s to the Forest Service.

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I was a NAVCAD, Class 5-53. After Pensacola, went to Hutchinson, KS for Multi Engine training. Spent the first 50 hours in PB4Y2's learning Night Celestial Nav., followed by training in P2V-2's. After getting "Winged" in May,1954, got orders to VP-4 at NAS Whidbey Island, WA. Over the next several years, at one time or another, I was privileged to fly the P2V-2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 6M; 5F, & 7. I was also privileged to serve, at a Japanese Navy Base,(Kanoya,Kyushu)as a Flight Instructor teaching Japanese Navy Pilots to fly the updated version of the P2V-7 which their government had purchased. VP-4's Home Port was changed, in the mid-50's, to NAHA, Okinawa where they were when I left the squadron. After many subsequent and diverse tours of duty,I retired in April 1977. After all those years, and many other A /C, the Old "Neptune" was, and is, my all-time favorite bird! Believe it or not, the WHIDBEY /NAHA P2V Drivers (as we call ourselves)still have periodic reunions, which are very well attended, considering the fact that most of us left the squadron more than 50 years ago and are in our 80's!Go Navy!

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Proud to have flown the P2 out of VP17 Whidbey Island, and VP31 North Island. Good Memories about a great old plane - proud to have flown it, and loved it, even on those 15+ hour missions out of Iwakuni, those all nighters out of Saigon or Cam Rahn Bay, and the 13 hr flights to Barbers Pt., and that one special flight to Tahiti!

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My Dad was an air crewman on P2Vs out of Whidby Island in the 40's and 50's his navy career was from 1942-1963. I joined the navy in 1967 at NAS New Orleans. After boot camp, and active duty, I was assigned to VP-94 "The Crawfishers" at NAS New Orleans. I was an ADR-3, and worked on those Wright 3350's. The P2V was a great plane. I am proud of serving America, and was assigned to a great squadron. Too bad that both the P2V and VP-94 are decomissioned.

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Our Cadet Class at Hutchinson, Kansas was the first allowed to solo the P2V in training. The droop in the engines from so many landings was quite noticeable (no jet pods on that model).
A real Classic.....like the SNJ !

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I served in the Navy during the Viet Nam era from 1964-70. I was lucky enough to fight the Battle of Atlanta where we trained Reserves on the P2 What a Plane. We had the 131 series but had a couple of the 128 series. I was a Plane Captain and logged about 2100 hrs. Loved most of it. We had our moments however. Great people in those reserve squadrons. Proud to have served.

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I also was attached to VC-1 at NAS Barbers Point 1968-1970 and flew in the DP2E along with Ed Newman. Many great memories. My ears are still ringing.

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I flew in a DP-2E while serving in VC-1 at NAS Barbers Point from 1969-1971. I was a Direct Control Operator. I launched BQM-34A drones of the wings of the aircraft. C-130's started replacing DP-2E's for drone launch around 1971. The DP-2E was a great aircraft!

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I met my squadron, VP-2, on a Sangley Point /Cam Rahn deployment in April 1969. I have fond memories of the exploits with that aircraft and am proud to be part of an era's end. When we left Cam Rahn and Sangley in September 1969 we were the last of the VP P-2's in west pac. I think the VAH armored P-2's were still operational in Cam Rahn as were the Army's communications P-2's. Upon arrival at Whidley Island we were notified of our decommissioning. I and several other crew members went to Moffett Field and various other P-3 squadrons.

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I had the priviledge of working on and flying the P2V-7s, Buno 141247 with Crew #10 as Plane Captain from 1961 to 1963 out of Whidbey Island WA; Kodiak, Adak and Shemya,AK; and special ops missions with the Canadians. One hell of an airplane for the job at hand. I was most fortunate to have flown with a great crew who epitomized the very best in Naval Aviation. I still see the forest fire air dropper P-2's occasionally when we have wild fires in CA. The P-2 Aircraft is a real tribute to the legacy of Lockheed Aircraft Co.

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I had the priviledge of working on and flying the P2V-7s, Buno 121247 with Crew #10 as Plane Captain from 1961 to 1963 out of Whidbey Island WA; Kodiak, Adak and Shemya,AK; and special ops missions with the Canadians. One hell of an airplane for the job at hand. I was most fortunate to have flown with a great crew who epitomized the very best in Naval Aviation. I still see the forest fire air dropper P-2's occasionally when we have wild fires in CA. The P-2 Aircraft is a real tribute to the legacy of Lockheed Aircraft Co.

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I flew as a TACCO /nav on SP-2Hs with 10 Squadron RAAF at Townsville, Australia from 1962-64. Enjoyed every minute of this tour. I recall fondly helping rescue (on 15 March 64) a crippled USAF B-50 crew on LORAN-based aerial survey duty out of New Guinea. As duty SAR crew we were scrambled when it lost 2 of its 4 engines, had no radar or navaids and was losing height fast as valuable electronic survey gear was thrown overboard and they prepared to bail out in heavy cloud. Our good old APS-20 radar detected them, we joined up and led them safely out to sea and back to Townsville where the other 2 engines failed just as they landed. We had to wait a while before it was towed off the runway and then we landed to have a great party for all ranks in the Officers Mess to celebrate. Our skipper was Les Morris and a fellow nav was Les Fisher who later became Chief of the RAAF.

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What I like about the Neptune is the fact that it was a military anti-submarine hunter from day one. Not many creature comforts but it served well. The P3, Nimrod and the new P8 are great planes but they started as airliners. I was a ground pounder with VP-18 based at NAS JAX over fifty years ago and I still have a love of that old plane. If anyone would be interested in a P2V Neptune patch that is made to be sewn onto the back of jacket I have them available. They measure 12" X 4.4". I sell them at my cost $28.00 plus $2.00 for shipping. USN and International VP veterans have purchased them and from their comments they are very happy they did. I can be contacted via email bneu57@gmail.com

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