Now in their eighth decade, Lockheed P-2V Neptunes have hunted submarines, patrolled the Ho Chi Minh Trail and helped fight wildland fire across the United States. Soon one of the historic aircraft will make Glendive its permanent retirement home.
Local pilot and Dawson Community Airport Board member Craig Stebbins said he first thought about bringing a P-2 to the Glendive airport in November 2014.
“I once worked for an aerial firefighting company,” he said. “It went out of business in 2004 but I still had friends in the industry and knew (the P-2 fleet) would be slated for retirement. It was just a matter of when.”
The planes are part of the firefighting fleet owned by Neptune Aviation Services based in Missoula. According to Stebbins the planes started in military service with their first flight in 1945 and were retired from military service in 1978. Afterward, they started a second career fighting fire.
Stebbins decided to put feelers out and contacted Neptune Aviation once in 2014 and again in 2015. He sent letters to the CEO, CFO and COO. On the second attempt the COO replied to say the planes would be retired but it was too early to say what would become of them.
Almost three years later, on March 6, he received word that Glendive had been selected as one of five locations to receive one of the retired planes. Of the seven retired planes, one will go to a museum in San Diego, another to Paso Robles, Calif., another to Klamath Falls, Idaho, one to a museum in Michigan and two will fly on the air show circuit.
Stebbins is excited to put the plane on permanent static display at Dawson Community Airport.
“It is a lot of history and it seems we are always intent on erasing the past,” he said. “Having a piece of aviation history – Montana aviation history – here in Glendive means we have something that tells a great story of both military and civilian accomplishment.”
According to information from Stebbins, the planes were initially utilized by the U.S. Navy in either anti-submarine or reconnaissance platforms.
The airplane has a 100 foot wingspan and a length of 78 feet. It is powered by two eighteen cylinder Wright Cyclone Turbo-Compound radial engines producing 3,200 horsepower each. Twin Westinghouse J-34 turbojet engines supplement the power with 3,000 pounds of thrust.
“Large airplanes such as this used to be a dime a dozen but those days are over,” Stebbins said. “The days of the heavy round engine are limited. Each passing year makes it more difficult to keep them flying.”
In their firefighting capacity the planes carried in excess of 2,000 gallons of retardant which they dropped ahead of an advancing fire line in an attempt to slow or stop the fire’s advance.
The plane coming to Glendive – T-05 – is one of the oldest in the fleet, having been manufactured in 1953.
When it arrives this summer or fall, Stebbins said people will notice.
“An airplane as big as T-05 never fails to turn heads when it goes roaring by,” he said. “They’re loud as hell.”
Stebbins is hoping the fly-in will include a public welcome with people of all ages visiting the airport to watch it arrive.
“A lot of people around here have never seen a plane like this before,” he said. “In my experience it always inspires fascination. It will be good for kids who might want to become pilots. There is no better inspiration than that old plane.”
Going forward Stebbins hopes the storied history of the plane will be incorporated into the airport terminal so the traveling public can learn more about it.
He said the plane is a total donation and will be delivered at no cost. He has already started looking at the steps needed to ensure proper preservation.
“The main thing is to make sure critters don’t get a foothold. We need to prevent birds, and raccoons have been known to get in,” he said.
Getting the plane here was a long process and a group effort, according to Stebbins who credits the airport board, chairman Bruce Downs, airport manager Craig Hostetler, the Dawson County Commissioners and Mayor Jerry Jimison for their help and letters of support in the process.
“It was nice everybody was on the same page that it would be a good thing for Glendive,” he said.
Reach Chad Knudson at
rrpub@rangerreview.com.