NAS Norfolk O&R Department-1950

This is a 1950 flow chart/map for the NAS Norfolk Overhaul and Repair Department (frequently referred to simply as "O&R").  It provides basic directions on where aircraft go and the responsibilities of each building at the facility.   Flow charts are part of everyday life in the 21st century.  From manufacturing to moving offices to computer programming, few things get done without somebody drawing a flow chart.  The concept started in the 1920s, but became more mainstream in American manufacturing during World War II as way to increase industrial output through increased worker productivity. 

PBM Martin flying boats stripped to the bare frame.

As the name suggests, O&R, (later called Naval Air Rework Facility (NARF) Norfolk and then Naval Aviation Depot (NADEP) Norfolk), conducted major overhauls of Naval aircraft.  O&R workers would completely disassemble an aircraft down to its bare frame; inspect the thousands of parts; clean, repair, and/or replace every one of them as needed; reassemble the aircraft; paint it; test all the parts; and then fly it out.  Much like the work done on a ship at the yards, by overhauling an aircraft, the Navy extended the service life of the aircraft. When this chart was made, O&R workers overhauled most types of Naval aircraft, including A-1 Skyraiders, F8F Bearcats, F6F Hellcats, PBM Martin flying boats, and the brand new F9F Panther jet fighters. 



O&R workers cleaning engine parts

The facility was not just a major industrial facility, but it was a major cultural institution in the same respect as Norfolk Naval Shipyard-Portsmouth has become.  It employed thousands of men and women over its eighty year history.   The Department of Defense shut down the facility in the 1990s based on a Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendation to outsource the overhaul process to the private sector. 

F8F Bearcats and A-1 Skyraiders are reassembled.

Korean War Flight Log

In the museum's Cold War gallery is the flight log from Lieutenant Cliff Church, who flew combat missions in the Korean and Vietnam Wars in an A-1 Skyraider "Spad" fighter/bomber.  Church had the distinction of flying in one of the first and last Spad squadrons.  During his tour in Korea, he flew off the Norfolk-built and -based USS Lake Champlain (CV-39). 

Flight log books are a staple of any type of flying, whether it's a civilian or military flight.  This particular log records the type of plane and the specific plane the pilot is flying (under the "model" and "Bureau Number"); the type of flight ("Character of Flight"); the number of hours flown; and most importantly, the type of landing.  This last category was the score the pilot received from the carrier's deck landing officer on how well the pilot landed on the flight deck.  The higher the number, the better the landing.

Developed in the late 1940s, the A-1 was the Navy's and Marine Corps' workhorse bomber in the 1950s and 1960s.  Able to carry a large payload of ordnance and built to withstand ground fire, the plane was used often in air-to-ground strike missions.