Lakehurst (NAES) Smokey - Lakehurst, NJ
Posted by: 
94RedRover
N 40° 01.434 W 074° 18.534
18T E 558971 N 4430638
This Smokey Bear guards an historic airfield, and this Smokey Bear is also guarded by the Navy!
Waymark Code: WM60CB
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 03/11/2009
Views: 3
The Lakehurst Naval Air Station was established n 1921. Not only is this historic military installation known for it's "lighter-than-air" blimp program, but also for center of research for launch and recovery equipment.
?Historic Hangar One was built in 1921 to house the ZR-1 Shenandoah Blimp. By 1928 Lakehurst was the first international airport in the United States with the Graf Zeppelin starting its round the world flights at Lakehurst.
In 1936, the German Zeppelin Hindenburg made 10 flights here and on May 6, 1937, it exploded and burned near the mooring mast. The massive hangars that housed these collosal crafts still stand. The last blimp flight for US Navy blimps was in 1962.
After the decline of airship travel, Lakehurst focused on helicopters in the 1940s through the 1960s. Now known as NAVAIR at NAES Lakehurst, this installation leads in Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) and Support Equipment (SE). The Aircraft Platform Interface (API), is improving air travel from mobile carriers and increasing the effectiveness of our mobile air security.
This Smokey Bear sits just south of the main entrance to the Navy base on Lakehurst-Whitesville Road in the open field surrounding the base. Be careful...this Bear is hard to shoot. My car had stalled out just at this spot not long ago...I had military police there to "assist" me before the truck even came to a stop.
Good Luck...
Condition of Smokey Bear: 
Forest Name: Lakehurst Naval Station
Hand Painted or Plastic on Plywood?: Plastic on Plywood
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