Mustin Field

Henry C. Mustin Naval Air Facility
Mustin Field
Part of Naval Aircraft Factory
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in United States
Aerial view of Naval Air Material Center (NAMC) Philadelphia, Mustin Field, and the shipyard circa 1947, published in Naval Aviation News. The Reserve Basin at upper left is what remains of the Back Channel which was filled to create the flying field.
Mustin NAF (MUV) Show map of Pennsylvania Mustin NAF (MUV) Show map of the US Location of Mustin NAF
Coordinates	39°53′33″N 75°9′22″W / 39.89250°N 75.15611°W / 39.89250; -75.15611Coordinates: 39°53′33″N 75°9′22″W / 39.89250°N 75.15611°W / 39.89250; -75.15611
Type	Naval Air Facility
Site information
Owner	United States Navy
Controlled by	United States Navy
Open to the public	Yes
Site history
Built	1926 (1926)
Built by	United States Army Corps of Engineers
In use	1926–1963 (1963)
Fate	Mainly intact, partial demolition
Events	World War II
Airfield information
Identifiers	IATA: KMUV, ICAO: MUV
Elevation	12 ft (4 m) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 5/23 3,150 ft (960 m) Asphalt 9/27 6,135 ft (1,870 m) Asphalt 14/32 4,000 ft (1,220 m) Asphalt

Henry C. Mustin Naval Air Facility (IATA code MUV), also known as Mustin Field, is a former military airfield located at the United States Navy Naval Aircraft Factory on board the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was in service from 1926 to 1963.

On 27 July 1917, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels approved the development of a Naval Aircraft Factory as a Navy-owned aircraft design, production and evaluation facility. The factory opened 17 November 1917. Production of H-16 and MF flying boats began in 1918. Following World War I, "the factory's role was altered from production-focused to evaluation of different aircraft designs, with its production being limited to mainly prototype and small production lots of aircraft." The NAF produced Vought VE-7 airframes when the small Lewis & Vought organization was unable to handle a large production order. The factory also constructed nine Curtiss TS-1s, −2s, and −3s in 1922 for cost comparisons and performance evaluations with different powerplants.

As the Navy introduced progressively more land based aircraft in the 1920s, the need for a landing field at the Naval Aircraft Factory grew, under the control of the Fourth Naval District. In 1926 the eastern end of the Back Channel of League Island in the Delaware River was landfilled to create space for flight operations, after the training school in Rockaway, New York, was closed. League Island ceased to be one with this change, the western end of Back Channel becoming the Reserve Basin for the Navy Yard, holding a portion of the U.S. Navy reserve fleets.