Our Aircraft’s History

Grumman S2F-1 Model G-89 “Tracker” (Bureau #136464; MSN 373) ~ Sometimes nicknamed the “Stoof”, our Tracker was manufactured by the Grumman Corporation in Bethpage, New York in March of 1956. She was accepted by the US Navy on March 29, 1956 and given her first assignment at the Sea Control Squadron (VS) 36, Naval Station, Norfolk, Virginia. Hopping around many bases, as seen below:

July 1959 – Naval Air Station (NAS), Pensacola, Florida; Converted to S2F-1S
March 1960 – VS-39, NAS, Quonset Point, Rhode Island
May 1960 – VS-34, NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island; deployment on the USS Essex (CVS-9)
October 1960 – VS-20, NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island
July 1962 – Naval Air Reserve Training Command (NART), NAS, Grosse Ile, Michigan; redesignated S-2B
February 1963 – NAS, Pensacola, Florida; Converted to S-2F
September 1963 – NART, NAS, Grosse Ile, Michigan
January 1968 – NAS, Pensacola, Florida; converted to US-2A
October 1969 – NAS, Atsugi, Japan
July 1970 – Naval Air Support Unit (NASU), Iwakuni, Japan NAS, Atsugi, Japan
September 1970 – Naval Air Facility (NAF), Atsugi, Japan
April 1971 – NAS, North Island, California
July 1971 – Naval Air Reserve Unit (NARU), Memphis, Tennessee
March 1975 – NARU, North Island, California
July 1975 – NARU, Whidbey Island, Washington
June 1978 – NARU, Memphis, Tennessee
March 1980 – Placed in storage at the Military Aviation Storage & Disposal Center (MASDC) as 1S0750, Davis-Montham Air Force Base, Arizona, March 28, 1980
May 17, 1989 – Sold to private owner
March 2000 – Sold to Aviation Business Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri and designated N4225F