[GreenKeys] Old Airfields

Tue Jan 28 19:07:36 EST 2020

On a similar Arizona note, Thunderbird Field No. 1 is just down the
street from me.  Not much airfield left, but the control tower is still
present and is preserved.  I think they tore down the hangar a few years
ago.

The Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club used to meet in one of the
classrooms/barracks and the swap meet was in the hangar.

It has a very interesting history. See

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_Field_No._1

Rob

On 1/27/2020 12:11 AM, Gil Smith wrote:
> Sheldon:  That was a fun site to peruse -- I peeked through the Arizona 
> pages.  I used to live near what is currently called the Gila River 
> Memorial Airport (on the GR Indian Reservation) where local urban 
> explorers risk fines to go photograph the remaining decaying old planes 
> and hangers.  I never knew the history and it was fun to see some pics 
> of it from its origins as a WW2 training field.
> http://www.airfields-freeman.com/AZ/Airfields_AZ_Phoenix_SE.htm#memorial
> 
> A caption on one of the pics says: "The only photo that has been located 
> of an aircraft operating from Memorial Airport was a 5/5/82 photo of 
> Lockheed L1649A-98 Starliner, N8083H...  At the time it was one of only 
> 4 airworthy Starliners in the world."  I thought that plane looked like 
> a Lockheed Constellation, and with a further read at Wikipedia I learned 
> that the Starliner was an improved (and final) member of the 
> Constellation lineage:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_L-1649_Starliner
> 
> And, it was interesting to see on that same page, a pic of a 
> cosmetically-restored Starliner that now sits at the TWA Hotel at JFK 
> airport -- it is N8083H, the one seen in the 1982 photo at Memorial airport:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Constellation_Starliner_Airplane_at_TWA_Hotel_JFK_Airport,_New_York_City_20190521-jag9889.jpg
> I would love to see that if I ever get to JFK.
> 
> Even further back in time (70s) I also lived near Havasu Airpark (which 
> also began as a WW2 airfield):
> http://www.airfields-freeman.com/AZ/Airfields_AZ_W.htm#havasu
> Robert McCulloch exploited Havasu (and also Fountain Hills) when he 
> bought the Havasu land for something like a buck an acre, bought the 
> London Bridge, dismantled/shipped/reassembled the bridge in Havasu, and 
> started flying people from the east coast and Canada in the cold and 
> snowy wintertime to sunny Arizona, to sell them home lots (originally 
> flew them in Connies, so we come full-circle again). He had put in 
> utilities, paved roads, platted off lots to sell, and built a chainsaw 
> plant so folks could make minimum wage while they enjoyed the sun, many 
> hours from decent shopping in Phoenix.
> 
> Anyway, I recall another of his adventures there, the J-2 Gyrocopter:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCulloch_J-2
> These were pretty cool, and test-flew at the airpark often.
> 
> Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
> 
> gil
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> gil smith, AF7EZ
> greenkeys moderator
> gil at baudot.net <mailto:gil at baudot.net>
> 
> 
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [GreenKeys] Old Airfields
> From: Sheldon Daitch via GreenKeys <greenkeys at mailman.qth.net 
> <mailto:greenkeys at mailman.qth.net>>
> Date: Sat, January 25, 2020 7:53 pm
> To: greenkeys at mailman.qth.net <mailto:greenkeys at mailman.qth.net>, 
> "groupsrichart at gmail.com <mailto:groupsrichart at gmail.com>"
> <groupsrichart at gmail.com <mailto:groupsrichart at gmail.com>>
> 
> 
> 
> Changing the subject line -
> 
> Take a look at:
> 
> http://www.airfields-freeman.com/
> 
> 
> Sheldon
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Saturday, January 25, 2020, 08:06:33 PM EST, groupsrichart at gmail.com 
> <mailto:groupsrichart at gmail.com> <groupsrichart at gmail.com 
> <mailto:groupsrichart at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The airfields with three runways were known as Class A airfields (they 
> look like an A.) They were originated by the RAF during WWII and widely 
> adopted by the U.S. Army Air Corps. There is a good description of a 
> Class A airfield in this article.
> https://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/CE_Magazine/Home_Page/Content_Pieces/2018-11-history-lesson-paving-the-way-for-victory.pdf
> 
> 
> You see variations of this in the U.S. often with just two crossed 
> runways. Many current commercial airfields started out as USAAC 
> airfields and will have two crossed runways in a V shape. One example is 
> Wright Army Airfield at Fort Stewart near Savannah which is now 
> co-inhabited by Mid-Coast Regional Airport.
> 
> 
> Some of the reasons for the multiple runways are:
> Operational safety for all types of aircraft of that vintage
> The longest runway was usually oriented for aircraft to take off or land 
> into the prevailing wind
> The other runways allowed for operations to continue when the wind was 
> blowing from other directions
> Allowed aircraft to be dispersed around the field in the event of an 
> enemy attack
> 
> 
> There were hundreds of USAAC airfields constructed during WWII. You can 
> find a list of them arranged by state on Wikipedia. Many of the articles 
> contain photos of the airport configuration in the familiar V shape.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Airfields_of_the_United_States_Army_Air_Forces_in_the_United_States_by_state
> 
> 
> 73,
> 
> 
> Tim WS4V
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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