Signing Off -- Lights Out!

Not Meigs.
In the case of a permanent closure, Ivezic said, the numbers and markings on the runways are generally gouged out of the asphalt. However, anticipating a transfer of the airfield property to civilian redevelopers, he said the Navy will place temporary yellow X marks instead. The X marks are about 10-feet-by-60-feet, and are light material that will be weighed down by cinder blocks or other heavy objects.

“We are not going to damage the runways or their numbers in any way,” he said.

The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, the organization in charge of guiding the civilian reuse of the base, expects to assume control of 850 acres associated with the airfield by late August or early September to open a civilian airport there. The new airport will focus on housing private airplanes and aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul businesses, not passenger or freight service.
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Wow, end of an era. Many memories were created at that field, I'd imagine.
 
I was at an acquaintance's law office a few days ago. He is the longest-practicing(45 years) lawyer in Brunswick, having been raised and schooled there. Richard is very deep into Brunswick history research and collection. He showed me a photo an elderly resident had given him. It is a 20 x 24 color photo of 4 or 5 -- I don't know what they are -- British airplanes. They were in Brunswick, from their native country, training on the field which had not yet become Brunswick Naval Air Station. That put the period to slightly before 1943.

I'm out of here! I'm going to drive into town(15 miles) with my hand-held radio to be within range of the final transmission.

HR
 
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I will miss NAS Brunswick. It was a welcome sight coming from Keflavik.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
I hope you record it for posterity. And sharing.
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Terrible conditions: 5°F and pitch black(except for the lights). I got a parking space near the end of the runway and the wind was howling right down the runway toward me. Standing in the body of N7872G(my Chevy S-10), my hands were freezing. Cars were lined up, parked, on the opposite side of me.
Photo #2 = NAS Security vehicle making its rounds.

When I first arrived with my hand-held I attempted to contact Dave Ivezic in the tower. There was no response, and the lights were already full-UP.
While taking my last shot the lights were dimming, and then they were gone.

Thank you, NASB; you'll be missed.

HR
 

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From about the same position, but in "better" days - - - -
 

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I have a longtime connection to BNAS and I'm sad to see it shut down. Way back in the day BNAS was our supporting RAPCON. When you called for a clearance or requested radar flight following out of KAUG that's who you talked to. My instrument students always got to expereince ASR and PAR approaches there and my private students got to see a no gyro steer from ATC. Later on, in a different job, the BNAS controllers provided me with below 10K service going from BOS to KRKD and outbound to KAUG and KBHB. We got to know their voices and they ours.

Years later, I got to perform my current job at BNAS. I approved approach procedures, certified the PARs and ILS a bunch of different times. My name is on the commissioning report for the lighting on RWY 1L after it was refurbished some years ago. This was also shortly after the new hangers were built along with the new tower. Cynic that I am I probably mentioned at one point that now that the place was as good as it ever was going to be it would probably find it's was to the top of the BRAC list as Maine had no more influence to trade on.

I remember when the new tenants came up from down South to live at BNAS when heavy hitters like Cohen, Mitchell, McKiernan and Snowe all but assured the people of Maine that icons like BNAS, Maine Yankee and Bath Iron Works would always be there.

And then there was one.
 
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