Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
Southeastern Arkansas
© 2002, © 2007 by Paul Freeman. Revised 11/16/07.
Erwin Aux AAF (revised 11/16/07) - Milltown Aux AAF (revised 6/26/04)
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Erwin Auxiliary Army Airfield, Newport, AR
35.57 North / 91.25 West (Northwest of Memphis, TN)
The Erwin airfield, as depicted on the October 1945 Little Rock Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Photo of the airfield while open has not been located.
This abandoned airfield was one of several satellite fields
which were constructed during WW2 for the use of Newport Army Airfield (several miles northeast),
which conducted training as part of the 70,000 Pilot Training Program.
The date of construction of Erwin is unknown.
It was apparently built at some point between 1937-44,
as it was not listed among active airfields in The Airport Directory Company's
1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo).
The earliest reference to Erwin which has been located
is the 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer).
It described the field as having a 4,500' hard-surfaced runway,
and the remarks said, "Aux to Newport AAF."
The earliest depiction of the Erwin airfield which has been located
was on the October 1945 Little Rock Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Erwin may have been used for civilian aviation,
as it was depicted as an auxiliary airfield without any indication of military use.
The Erwin airfield, as depicted on the September 1946 Little Rock Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The Erwin airfield was apparently reactivated by the Air Force at some point between 1946-49,
as "Erwin AF" was depicted on the January 1949 Little Rock Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The February 1956 Little Rock Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted "Erwin AF" as having a 4,500 unpaved runway.
The Erwin airfield was apparently abandoned at some point after 1956.
Claud Pipkin recalled, “My Grandfather, from the early 1950's to the mid 1960s was a Dodge-Plymouth dealer in Newport.
I think he bought the Erwin Auxiliary airfield & farmed it... perhaps I should say he tried to farm it.
The land around it grew crops OK but the old airstrip just seem to defy all efforts.
To my knowledge he never mentioned that the airstrip was ever paved.
Of course it had been heavily tamped (with sheep-foot rollers I'm sure).
My Dad and I went to see it once with Granddad.
Being a airplane nut, even at that age, I had to know all about it.
He stated that it was a practice landing field for the B-25 pilot trainees from the main training field at Newport.”
The Erwin airfield was was labeled "Abandoned airport"
on the July 1964 Little Rock Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The 1981 USGS topo map depicted the Erwin field as “Airport (Abandoned)”,
and depicted it as having 2 runways, each with a parallel taxiway.
Two small buildings were depicted on the runways at the center of the field.
As seen in the 1994 USGS aerial photo,
the airfield consists of two 5,000' runways, each of which has a parallel taxiway.
The remains of the runways & taxiways are still plainly evident, though somewhat deteriorated.
Several buildings (for agricultural use?) have been placed over the former runways since the field's closure.
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Milltown Auxiliary Army Airfield, Tuckerman, AR
35.73 North / 91.11 West (Northwest of Memphis, TN)
The Milltown airfield, as depicted on the October 1945 Little Rock Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Photo of the airfield while open has not been located.
This abandoned airfield was one of several satellite fields
which were constructed during WW2 for the use of Newport Army Airfield (located a few miles to the southwest),
which conducted training as part of the 70,000 Pilot Training Program.
The date of construction of Milltown is unknown.
It was apparently built at some point between 1937-44,
as it was not listed among active airfields in The Airport Directory Company's
1937 Airports Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo).
The earliest reference to Milltown which has been located
is the April 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer).
It described the field as having a 4,500' hard-surfaced runway,
and the remarks said, "Aux to Newport AAF."
Newport was closed by the Army in 1944 & turned over to the Marine Corps,
who operated SBD, SB2C, and PBJ squadrons from the field.
Milltown was also reused by the Marines, to conduct Field Carrier Landing Practice.
The date of Milltowns's closure by the military is unknown,
but it was most likely abandoned immediately after the end of WW2,
as was the case with many satellite airfields.
The earliest depiction of the Milltown airfield which has been located
was on the October 1945 Little Rock Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Milltown may have been used for civilian aviation,
as it was depicted as an auxiliary airfield without any indication of military use.
The Milltown airfield, as depicted on the September 1946 Little Rock Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Milltown's parent military airfield, MCAAF Newport, was deeded to the city of Newport in 1947.
The Milltown airfield was evidently abandoned at some point between 1946-49,
as it was no longer depicted at all on the January 1949 Little Rock Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
or subsequent Sectional Charts.
A portion of the Milltown airfield may have seen some later reuse as a civilian airfield,
as a 2,000' portion of the southwest end of the northeast/southwest runway
was labeled "Oil Trough Landing Strip" on the 1980 USGS topo map.
The northeastern end of the runway was labeled as the "Parsley Reservoir".
Milltown was not listed among active airfields in the 1982 AOPA Airport Directory (courtesy of Ed Drury).
As seen in the 1994 USGS aerial photo,
the Milltown airfield consisted of two 5,000' runways, each of which had a parallel taxiway.
This is exactly the same runway configuration as Erwin Aux AAF,
another one of the former Newport auxiliary airfields.
The remains of the runways & taxiways were still plainly evident, though somewhat deteriorated.
The southwest end of the northeast/southwest runway
was apparently reused for civil aviation, as it is in noticeably better condition than the remainder of the original runway.
The northeast end of that runway (labeled on the 1980 topo map as the "Parsley Reservoir")
did not appear to be a reservoir in the 1994 aerial photo.
The airfield at Milltown is no longer depicted at all (even as an abandoned airfield) on 2002 aeronautical charts.
The site of Milltown Aux AAF is located north of Route 73, five miles east of Tuckerman.
Thanks to Joe Benson for pointing out this airfield.
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