VW-1 in brief
Airborne Early Warning Squadron ONE (VW-1), a land based unit of the Seventh Fleet, commanded by Commander Howard B. KENTON, USN, welcomes you aboard the WV-2, the Navy electronically configured version of the Lockheed Super Constellation.
The WV-2 is designed to furnish radar early warning of approaching enemy aircraft and to guide our own fighter in to intercept the enemy. Most of the Navy's WV-2 squadrons are engaged in patrol work of this nature along Distant Early Warning (DEW) lines in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. VW-1 operates with Task Forces of the seventh Fleet throughout the Western Pacific, providing early warning coverage, search and rescue operations and weather reconnaissance.
During the 1961 typhoon season, VW-1 flew 116 weather flights in coordination with Fleet Weather Central/Joint Typhoon Warning Center Guam. The Squadron has earned for itself the title of "Typhoon Hunters" of the Pacific.
WV-2 DATA Weight (loaded) 145,000 pounds Length 116 feet Wing span 127 feet Endurance 20 hours Crew 28 Engine (each) 3250 horsepower Fuel load (max) 8768 gallons
The radar in the WV-2 can sweep an area of over 100,000 square miles six times a minute in its search for enemies or weather.
The power needed to operate the equipment is enough to furnish electrical power for a city of 100,000.
The total cost of a WV-2 is over 7 million dollars.
VW-1 received its first WV-2 models in 1954. The squadron has logged over 70,000 accident-free hours in this remarkable aircraft.
