Seattle paperboys get a good look at a real jet plane.
NAS Seattle and jets did not mix. Noise complaints abounded, and the runway was way too short.
What young man of the 1950s didn’t want to climb all over a real jet airplane? These boys are getting the grand tour of a TV-2 because they are top performers in sales and in excellence of service in their chosen profession. They are paperboys, and as a reward for their efforts, their employer, The Seattle Times, took them to both Naval Air Station Seattle and the nearby stadium for the University of Washington, where they were treated to a football game (Photo dated September 21, 1957: Washington v. Colorado ended in a 6-6 tie).
Smaller, straight-wing jets like the Lockheed TV were about all the 5,000-foot runway at NAS Seattle could handle. The base was on the shores of Lake Washington, and the runways had no overrun. If you landed long or short, you went swimming. Encroachment was also a serious issue: The city of Seattle had no problems permitting home construction right next to a military air base. And, as is always the case, those freshly arrived homeowners acted dumbstruck and indignant that a military runway could be rather noisy. Therefore, the local’s motto became NAS Seattle delenda est.
The Jive Bomber 