Qualla: Langley Air Force Base

Langley Air Force Base: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Air Service, United States Army, Public domain. Samuel Pierpont Langley died on February 27, 1906, a broken man. His steam-powered Aerodrome had pitched off a houseboat catapult into the Potomac twice in 1903 - the second failure on December 8, and nine days later the Wright Brothers' Flyer lifted off at Kitty Hawk. Langley had spent decades trying to win that race. The Smithsonian secretary went to his grave believing he had been beaten by inches. So when the Army selected a flat patch of Elizabeth City County, Virginia in 1917 for the first Air Service base built specifically for air power, they named it after him. Langley Field has been operating continuously ever since. No other air force base in the world has been active longer.

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Image: Air Service, United States Army | Public domain

Langley Air Force Base: Hunters and Fishermen

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Lyricmac, CC BY-SA 4.0. The selection process was a piece of light theater. In 1916 the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NASA's predecessor, told the Army it needed a joint airfield and proving ground that sat near deep water for overwater flights, was flat enough for runways, and was close ...

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Image: Lyricmac | CC BY-SA 4.0

Langley Air Force Base: Jennies, DH.4s, and Dirigibles

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ndunruh at en.wikipedia, Public domain. By late 1918, Curtiss JN-4 "Jennies" lined the ramp for the Langley School of Aerial Photography, and de Havilland DH.4 bombers - American-built versions of the British design - rolled in beside them. Hydrogen-filled dirigibles operated from a vast hangar in what is still called ...

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Image: Ndunruh at en.wikipedia | Public domain

Langley Air Force Base: First Fighter Wing

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994, Public domain. Langley has been home to the 1st Fighter Wing since 1977. The 1st Operations Group's three squadrons trace lineages back to World War I - the 27th and 94th Fighter Squadrons both fly F-22 Raptors from Langley, and the 71st Fighter Training Squadron flies T-38 Talons. The 94th was...

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Image: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994 | Public domain

Langley Air Force Base: Joint Base Langley-Eustis

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Staff Sgt. Dana Hill, U.S. Air Force, Public domain. In October 2010, under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure law, Langley Air Force Base merged with the Army's Fort Eustis a few miles up the peninsula. The combined installation is now Joint Base Langley-Eustis. The 633d Air Base Wing handles installation support for both. Fort...

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Image: Staff Sgt. Dana Hill, U.S. Air Force | Public domain

Langley Air Force Base: The Rising Sea

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Staff Sgt. Antoinette Gibson, U.S. Air Force, Public domain. Langley sits at an average elevation of three feet. The base has experienced 14 inches of sea-level rise since 1930, and Air Force climate planners now include sea-level adaptation in installation master planning. Some of the older revetments and dispersal ramps now flood during ...

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Image: Staff Sgt. Antoinette Gibson, U.S. Air Force | Public domain