Check Six – 1943: Naval Air Station (NAS) Puunene

Posted on Mar 14, 2018 in 1940's, Check Six

From the Images of Old Hawaii website

Aerial picture of NAS Pu’unēnē looking westward, Māʻalaea Bay in the upper image NAS Pu’unēnē

Before World War II (and before Kahului Airport), ‘Maui Airport’ was opened on June 30, 1939 (the new Maui Airport replaced a smaller airfield at Māʻalaea). Immediately after December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, the military took control of all air fields in the Territory and began the expansion of Maui Airport at Puʻunēnē.

In 1943, Naval Air Station Pu‘unēnē was established as a “Top Gun” school for fighter-aircraft tactics, based on the Navy’s use of highly-decorated veteran fighter pilots

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