Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields

© 2002, © 2012 by Paul Freeman. Revised 5/18/12.

*** Dedicated in the memory of my father, Harris Freeman (1929-2010), who supported my interest in aviation ever since I was a little boy. ***

On the following pages, you will find information on vanished or abandoned airfields & their unusual histories.

As a pilot, a particular interest of mine has always been the abandoned airfields that dot the landscape of much of this country.

Both for their potential safety value to a pilot in an emergency,

and also for their sometimes fascinating history, this particular topic has always held my curiosity.

When I'm a passenger on commercial flights,

I've always found myself looking out the window, constantly looking for airfields below.

When I fly as a pilot myself, I've always tried to land at as many airports as possible,

to learn a little about each one.

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Please consider a financial contribution to support the continued growth & operation of this site.

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This website contains descriptions & images of 1,566 airfields in all 50 states.

The pages are organized by state:

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Since this site was first put on the web in 1999, its popularity has grown tremendously.

That has caused it to often exceed bandwidth limitations

set by the company which I pay to host it on the web.

 

If the total quantity of material on this site is to continue to grow,

it will require ever-increasing funding to pay its expenses.

Therefore, I request financial contributions from site visitors,

to help defray the increasing costs of the site

and ensure that it continues to be available & to grow.

What would you pay for a good aviation magazine, or a good aviation book?

Please consider a donation of an equivalent amount, at the least.

This site is not supported by commercial advertising –

it is purely supported by donations.

If you enjoy the site, and would like to make a financial contribution,

you may use a credit card via PayPal, using one of 2 methods:

To make a one-time donation of an amount of your choice:

Or you can sign up for a $10 monthly subscription to help support the site on an ongoing basis:

Or if you prefer to contact me directly concerning a contribution (for a mailing address to send a check),

please email me at: thefreemans@hotmail.com

 

If you enjoy this web site, please support it with a financial contribution.

 

Thanks to the site's financial contributors:

Harris Freeman,

Arnold Lieber in honor of Julian Goldman, Deborah Penrod, Cory Crabtree,

William Hearst, Kevin Rittenhouse, The California Pilots Association, John Collins, Ken Hendrickson, Dennis Boykin,

John Wood, Brian Rehwinkel, Paul Fulenwider, Bill Broussard, Scott Jeff & Susan Kimball in memory of Wildey “Bud” Kimball, Mark McConnell, John Voss,

George Miller, Steve Cruse, Ed Chevrette, John Hawranick, Joe Rao, William Fuchs, Dean Focke, James Smith, Sonoma County Historical Society,

Maurice Gunderson, Troy Helton, Kelley Burns, Fritz Schuetzeberg, Daniel Shively, David Starr (In memory of Ed & Julia Gorski), The Essex Sky Park Association,

Vernon Maine, Kevin Daly, Mark Lineberry, EZ Media, Jim Rosenberry, Edward Moore, Tom Beamer, Tony Cox, Frank Dzwielewski, Christopher Pryble, Dave Jaundrill, Christopher Ludwig,

James Brown, Lee Unterborn, Robert Burns, Greg Babinski, Anton Wittkamp, Harm Buning, Noel Anderson, Alice Kottmyer, Phil Poynor, Chris Kennedy, Timothy Rasmusson, Jason McCullough,

Bill Bein, Richard Russell, Mark Thaisz, Steve Owen, Gail Adams, Vaughn Dewey, Curtiss Knowles, T. Shafer, Tom McKerr, Richard Crowder, Shawn Bailey, Wayne Klaw, William Kahn, Kevin Kennedy, Janice England,

Leon Begin, Rich Peabody, Joe Skaptason, James Hackman, Dallam Oliver-Lee, George Hill, Greg Steinmayer, Mike Brace, Charles Haus, Linda Hartman, Jim Rice, Mike Sandman, Coleman Conrad, Dennis Crenshaw,

Craig Foster, Robert Berg, David Martin, Jim Higgins, Tony Petrulio, William Woodall, Robert Spofford, Michael Kersten, Floyd Taber, Bo Bowman, Sidney Schwartz, Dave Menard, Mark Hrutkay, Charles Gruenwald,

Donald Macomber, Gregor Guntner, Lee Englund, John Price, Guillaume de Syon, Jay Doucet, Gerben van Ijken, James Moffett, Jeffrey Doran, Mark Davis, Allen Brown, Robert Albee, Carl Kangas, Troy Whistman,

John Breihan, Bruce Jones, Robert Peters, Glenda Hill, Harold Allen, Jim Patton, Mark Morgan, Jim Economos, Alexander Nelon, Wayne Hildebrandt, Walter Beachell, Geoff Sobering, Hiroshi Ando, Jay Carter,

Jose Matos, Gordon Lamb, Joe Hamlin, Jesse Daley, John Fiske, Don Weber, Chris George, Richard Arabian, Russell Lee, Kenneth Lawrence, James Black, Sheila Wood,Steven Schindler, Timothy Seward,

Michael Horwith, Penrice Technology, James Howard, Everett Priestley, Robert McCown, JAG Aviation, Carolyn Jones, Kathleen Varraso, John Keane, Stephen Mahaley.

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Comments about my page? Information you would like to contribute?

Contact the author at: thefreemans@hotmail.com

 

If you have pictures or other historical information to help tell the story of these airfields, please send them.

If you have photographs to share, a few requests:

- JPG format usually works the best.

- Higher resolution photos are generally better.

- Please specify the year the picture was taken, and the photographer (if you know that information).

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In December 2008 the “Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields” had passed ONE MILLION visitors!

Thanks to all who have supported the website with historical material

and financial contributions over the past 12 years.

History of the site:

This site has been on the web since 4/99.

From 4/02-2/07, it had 697,300 visitors.

From 4/02-1/12, it had 1,569,200 visitors.

Site visitors since 4/02:



 

Hit counter provided by digits.com.

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Sources & other sites of interest:

Web sites:

http://historical.maptech.com/ - Vintage USGS topo maps.

http://historicals.ncd.noaa.gov/historicals/histmap.asp - Vintage aeronautical charts & topo maps.

www.airnav.com - Published airport information.

www.airforcebase.net - Scott's USAF Installation Page.

www.airfieldsdatabase.com - David Brooks' detailed archive of information on airfields in AZ, NM, OK, and TX.

Movies:

http://www.onesixright.com – A beautiful film about the history of California's Van Nuys Airport

and the importance of protecting general aviation airports.



Internet discussion groups:

Abandoned Airfields Yahoo Group.

 

Books:

"United States Navy & Marine Corps Bases", Paolo Coletta.

"Forgotten Fields of America", by Lou Thole.

"Richard E. Osborne's World War II Sites in the United States".

"United States Naval Air Stations of World War II", M. L. Shettle, Jr.

"Virginia Airports" by Vera Rollo & Norman Crabill (published by the VAHS).

"Maryland Aloft" by Preston, Lanman, and Breilhan.

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Also, be sure to visit my Home page,

for pictures of the planes I've flown, the flight simulators I've worked on, & my family.

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