Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant,

Calverton
Part of United States Navy
Riverhead, New York
Coordinates 405445N 724744W
Type Aircraft Manufacturing Plant
Site information
Controlled by Navy
Open to
the public
Partially
Site history
In use 1956-1996
Calverton Executive Airpark
Calverton in 1979-80
IATA: CTO
[1]
ICAO: none FAA LID: CTO
Summary
Airport type Public-owned, Private-use
Owner Town of Riverhead
Location Calverton, New York
Elevation AMSL 75 ft / 23 m
Coordinates 405454N 0724731W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant, Calverton
(NWIRP) was a government-owned, contractor-operated
(GOCO) facility which had the mission of designing,
fabricating, and testing prototype aircraft from 1956 until
1996, located in Riverhead, New York.
In 1956 the United States Navy purchased about 6,000 acres
(2,400 ha) on the Peconic River by New York Route 25 for
the facility. Among the properties purchased was a mansion
belonging to the grandson of F.W. Woolworth.
The Navy was to build among other things a 10,000-foot
(3,000 m) runway. It is labeled on topographic maps as
Grumman Peconic River Airport
[3]
with an FAA code of
CTO.
The unit is most associated with test, assembly and
retrofitting the A-6 Intruder, E-2 Hawkeye, EA-6B Prowler
and F-14 Tomcat.
[4]
Older U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps
aircraft such as the F9F Panther, F-9 Cougar, and F-11 Tiger
were also tested at the facility.
The Grumman site consisted of "Plant Six," where final
assembly of F-14s, A-6s, EA-6Bs, and E-2Cs took place, and
"Plant Seven," Flight Test.
During the Space Race, Grumman built a mock up of the
lunar surface to test its proposed Lunar Roving Vehicle.
Many of the lunar astronauts were said to have visited the
plant then.
In 1965, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller proposed
converting the airport into the fourth New York City
metropolitan airport joining Laguardia Airport, John F.
Kennedy Airport and Newark Airport. The proposal was
abandoned following opposition from both Grumman and
local residents.
In 1974, when the two other National Cemeteries on Long
Island (Cypress Hills National Cemetery and Long Island
National Cemetery) were running out of space, the Navy was
approached about donating its undeveloped land north of
Route 25 for a cemetery. On December 7, 1977, a 902 acres
(365 ha) tract was donated to form Calverton National
Coordinates: 405445N 724744W
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ft m
14/32 10,000 3,048 Asphalt/Concrete
5/23 7,000 2,133 Asphalt/Concrete
Source: Federal Aviation Administration
[2]
Cemetery. More land would be donated by the Navy in 2000
bringing the total to 1,045 acres (423 ha) making it the
largest national cemetery in the United States (and also the
busiest).
Grumman merged with Northrop Corporation in 1994,
forming Northrop Grumman Corporation and the new firm
eliminated almost all operations on Long Island. Grumman vacated the site on February 14, 1996.
[5]
The airport
has since been developed into Calverton Executive Airpark.
^ Airport information for Calverton Executive Airpark (IATA:CTO, FAA:3C8) (http://www.gcmap.com/airport/3C8)
at Great Circle Mapper.
1.
^ FAA Airport Master Record for 3C8 (http://www.gcr1.com/5010web/airport.cfm?Site=3C8) (Form 5010
(http://www.gcr1.com/5010web/Rpt_5010.asp?au=PR&o=PU&faasite=14971.*A&fn=3C8) PDF), effective
2007-10-25
2.
^ TopoZone.com map (http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=40.91509&lon=-72.79192&symshow=n&
u=4&datum=nad27&layer=DRG25). Retrieved 2007-11-09.
3.
^ Grumman Memorial Park (http://www.anft.net/f-14/grumman-gmp.htm) 4.
^ Shaman, Diana (February 25, 1996). "Planners Ponder 2,900-Acre Northrop Grumman Site"
(http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/25/realestate/in-the-region-long-island-planners-ponder-2900-acre-northrop-
grumman-site.html). The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
5.
Template:NYMilitary
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Categories: Military facilities in New York Military Superfund sites
Buildings and structures in Suffolk County, New York Superfund sites in New York
Closed facilities of the United States Navy
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