The CGAA identified several candidates over the years, acquiring three HH-52s from the Aberdeen Proving Ground, a U.S. Army facility in Aberdeen, Maryland. The helicopters ultimately did not make the cut, though some of their parts were eventually used to restore the selected Phoenix.
The road to finding the ideal bird came to a few dead ends along the way, but that didn’t stop Johanson and his fellow Pterodactyls, led by then CGAA president, retired Capt. Mont Smith, from persisting. Who needed roads? These were men used to flying. Overcoming various legal challenges that restricted funding and limited human resources for the project, the CGAA did the majority of the leg work while active duty Coast Guardsmen who were crucial to the project were primarily focused on day-to-day operations. At times, it seemed the service didn’t have the time or manpower to see the project to its end. Still the Pterodactyls persisted, working patiently with changing Coast Guard leadership, forging ahead with ways to make it work.
Though it took a decade, the people behind Project Phoenix could not have selected a better aircraft to symbolize Coast Guard aviation, nor people to get the job done.
Finally, in 2012, the Pterodactyls soared into promising skies as a museum-quality helicopter was identified at the North Valley Occupational Center in Van Nuys, California. The HH-52A Seaguard 1426 was donated by the Coast Guard and flown to the school in 1989. There, it served as a classroom aircraft where students learned and practiced aviation maintenance for 25 years. As a result, the helicopter was in good shape.
U.S. military aircraft are on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, the companion facility to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. A Coast Guard HH-52A Seaguard helicopter is scheduled to go on display at the museum in the spring of 2016, to coincide with Coast Guard aviation’s 100th anniversary. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nate Littlejohn
The Coast Guard couldn’t just buy the helicopter back from the school — that would violate policy – but Johanson and others worked with Bill Lucas, ethics attorney at Coast Guard Headquarters, and retired Capt. Norm Schweitzer at General Services Administration, to find a way.
Military services are allowed to trade assets or artifacts with other organizations after considering market value of the objects in question. If what the military wants to give in trade exceeds the value of what the military hopes to get in exchange, that object of lesser dollar value must be determined an historical artifact significant to the military, and the transaction must be approved at several levels.
It just so happened, the Coast Guard was retiring the last of its HU-25 Falcon jets, and the school agreed to trade one for its HH-52. The instructors agreed the HU-25 was a better teaching subject for students preparing for careers with airlines. The determination was made that the Coast Guard helicopter was in fact an historical artifact that would well-represent the Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard’s humanitarian missions.
Johanson worked with officials at Coast Guard Headquarters throughout the process to acquire the 1426 in trade for an HU-25 Falcon – a process that began in late 2012 and culminated in 2014 upon approval by the Secretary of Homeland Security. After working out specifics of the trade with the school, the helicopter was transported to the Aviation Logistics Center at Base Elizabeth City, North Carolina. There, 1426 was restored to Smithsonian display standards by contractor Vector CSP under the supervision of CGAA restoration project managers, retired Captains Mont Smith and Ray Miller, and augmented by an HH-52A restoration team comprised of Coast Guard active duty and retired volunteers. Over the course of about nine months, team members supported restoration efforts – repairing and restoring major airframe structures, primary mission equipment and original component identification markings, among many others tasks, to restore the Phoenix to its authentic appearance – as if it were brand new in 1975.
Though it took a decade, the people behind Project Phoenix could not have selected a better aircraft to symbolize Coast Guard aviation, nor people to get the job done. Their hard work and dedication will result in honor and preservation of the service’s rich history, for the enjoyment of future and current Coast Guard aviators, and those who admire them.