Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:

Florida, Daytona Beach area

© 2002, © 2012 by Paul Freeman. Revised 9/3/12.

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Bear Island Airfield (revised 9/3/12) - (Original) Flagler Beach Airport (revised 11/14/05)

Osceola NOLF (revised 9/3/12)

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Bear Island Airfield, Crescent City, FL

29.44 North / 81.49 West (West of Daytona Beach, FL)

The Bear Island Airfield, as depicted on a 1970 aerial photo (from the U of FL Libraries).

Photo of airfield while in use has not been located.



This unusual little airfield takes up almost the entire length of Bear Island, in the middle of Crescent Lake.



Bear Island Airfield was evidently constructed at some point between 1964-70,

as it was not yet depicted on a 1964 aerial photo.



The earliest depiction which has been located of the field was a 1970 aerial photo (from the U of FL Libraries).

It depicted Bear Island as having a single paved northeast/southwest runway,

running almost the whole length of the island.



The 1972 USGS topo map depicted a single northeast/southwest runway, labeled simply as “Landing Strip”.



The 1978 USGS topo map depicted a single northeast/southwest runway, labeled simply as “Landing Strip”.



The 1999 USGS aerial photo depicted Bear Island as having a single unpaved runway,

along with what may have been a residence on the north side of the island.

The airfield was presumably a private field for the residence.



A Spring 2004 photo by Jeff Ellsworth of his friend & his Murphy Rebel on Bear Island.

Jeff recalled, “After landing, we walked off the length of the runway & estimated it to be 900'.

My Murphy Rebel... only used about 300' of the 900'.

We went in there on 2 different occasions in 2004, but in August/September of that same year 3 hurricanes struck Central Florida,

and I remember my buddy who flew over it some time later telling me that he saw pine trees down on the runway.”



The 2004 Putnam County GIS photo (courtesy of William Chambers)

depicted the airfield as being in relatively good condition, but with no sign of current usage.



A 2004 aerial view (courtesy of Dan Guerra) looking northeast at the Bear Island Airfield.

According to Dan, “The guy who took these pics actually landed a Cessna 185 there.”



A 3/20/04 aerial view by Philip Pecoulas looking northeast at the Bear Island runway from a Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser.



William Chambers reported in 2006, “The last time I flew over here it looked overgrown.”



As of 2006, there was no airfield depicted on aeronautical charts on Bear Island,

nor any listed among the FAA Airport/Facility Directory data.

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(Original) Flagler Beach Airport, Flagler Beach, FL

29.47 North / 81.13 West (North of Daytona Beach, FL)

Flagler Beach Airport, as depicted on the 1935 Orlando Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

 

The original airfield for the town of Flagler Beach was built along the narrow barrier island along the Atlantic coast,

with the eastern edge of the 2 runways a mere 800 feet from the beach of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Flagler Beach Airport was evidently established at some point between 1933-34,

as it was not listed among active airfields in The Airport Directory Company's 1933 Airport Directory (according to Chris Kennedy).

The earliest reference to the airfield which has been located

was in the 1934 Department of Commerce Airfield Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),

which described Flagler Beach as a municipal field having 2 sod runways under construction:

3,200' northwest/southeast & 3,000' north/south.

 

According to the Flagler Beach Historical Museum,

Charles Lindbergh & Amelia Earhart landed at the Flagler Beach Airport in the early 1930s.

 

The earliest depiction of the field which has been located

on the 1935 Orlando Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),

which depicted Flagler Beach as an auxiliary airfield.



The 1937 USGS topo map depicted Flagler Beach Airport as having 2 unpaved runways,

with a beacon on the northeast corner.

 

A 1943 USDA aerial view of Flagler Beach Airport,

from the Digital Library Center / University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

The airfield consisted of 2 grass runways.

At the northeast corner of the field, it appears as if there may have been a small hangar & some aircraft.

 

"Flagler Beach (Aux)" was depicted as a municipal airport on the July 1943 Orlando Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).

 

The 4/1/44 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer)

described Flagler Beach Airport as having a 3,000' unpaved runway,

and indicated that the field conducted Civil Air Patrol Operations.



Flagler Beach Airport was still depicted on the 1944 USGS topo map.

 

The Flagler Beach Airport was evidently closed (for reasons unknown) at some point within the next year,

as the February 1945 Orlando Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy)

no longer depicted an airfield at the location, although its beacon was still depicted.



A 1952 aerial photo still showed the outline of the 2 runways,

but the airfield appeared to have been abandoned.



Nothing was depicted at the site of the airport on the 1960 USGS topo map.



Incredibly, the 2004 USGS aerial photo showed that the outline of the 2 runways

of the former Flagler Beach Airport remained almost completely intact.

When this picture is compared with the 1943 aerial photo, it is amazing that the site has remained intact after 61 years.

 

Chris Kennedy pointed out in 2004 that the reason the airfield property has remained intact & not redeveloped is that it is a preserve -

the Flagship Harbor Preserve.



The site of the Flagler Beach Airport is located west of the intersection of Flagler Avenue & South 12th Street.

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Osceola Naval Outer Landing Field, Osceola, FL

28.79 North / 81.08 West (Northeast of Orlando, FL)

A March 15, 1944 U.S. Navy aerial view looking west at NOLF Osceola (courtesy of Brian Rehwinkel).



This airfield was built in 1943 as an auxiliary gunnery field for Sanford NAS,

which initially trained bomber crews, and later switched to training fighter crews.



The earliest depiction which has been located of NOLF Osceola was on the 1943 Orlando Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).

It depicted "Osceola (Navy)" as having a 4,000' hard-surface runway.



The earliest photo which has been located of the Osceola airfield

was a March 15, 1944 U.S. Navy aerial view looking west at NOLF Osceola (courtesy of Brian Rehwinkel).

It depicted the field as having 4 paved runways, paved taxiways,

and a few small buildings alongside the access road.



A closeup from the March 15, 1944 U.S. Navy aerial view of NOLF Osceola (courtesy of Brian Rehwinkel),

showing a single low-wing single-engine aircraft on a taxiway on the north side of the field.



"Osceola (Navy)" was still depicted as an active airfield on the 1945 Jacksonville Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss).



Osceola NOLF was declared surplus in 1946.

It is not known if the field was ever reused for civilian aviation.

 

An 11/25/48 USDA aerial photo of Osceola NOLF, from the FL DOT (courtesy of Brian Rehwinkel).

The airfield consisted of 4 paved 4,100' runways & taxiways.

In this photo, the airfield was still completely intact,

but it appeared abandoned - there was no indication of any current use of the airfield.

There also did not appear to be any traces of any buildings at the site.

 

"Osceola OLF (Navy)" was still depicted as an active airfield on the August 1954 Orlando Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy),

but the Aerodromes table on the chart listed its status as "Closed, leased for grazing."



The last photo which has been located showing the Osceola airfield remaining intact was a 1958 aerial photo (from the U of FL Libraries).

It would've made a nice municipal airport, if it had been located elsewhere.



Al Fitzgerald recalled, “Osceola NOLF was used mostly as a drag strip & model airplane flying field when I knew of it in the early 1960s.

I can remember landing there a couple times for the fun of it in a Mooney M21 around 1964-65.

The runways were in good shape, but had a lot of trash on them.”



The 1966 USGS topo map still depicted the 4 intact runways & taxiways of “Osceola Field (Abandoned)”.



Sonny Hartley recalled of Osceola, “When I was in high school in the early 1960s,

drag races were held on the old airstrip every other Saturday night.

That was from about 1961-67.

In 1968 the SCCA held regional sports car races on the airfield.

I was a volunteer flagman at many of those events until 1973.”



The 1988 USGS topo map showed that the southern half of the runways & taxiways of “Osceola Field (Abandoned)” remained,

but the northern half had been removed at some point between 1966-88.



Ross Burton recalled, “I did a lot of flight training down in the Orlando area.

I had always wanted to know the origin of the abandoned airfield in Osceola.

One day in 1991 we had a massive wind storm.

The next day I flew over the site & the runways were far more visible (largely intact)

as the sand/dirt had blown off the runways.”



The 1995 USGS aerial photo shows that a significant proportion of the runways had been removed.

 

Gary Klingebiel reported in 2002 that the property is currently being used as the county landfill,

with almost nothing left of the runways.



A circa 2006-2007 aerial view looking north at the remains of the Osceola runways,

showing that a shed had been built over the former east/west runway.



Sonny Hartley reported in 2007, “I had occasion to visit Osceola Airfield. Yes, it is a [landfill].

Most of the landing strips are gone but a lot of the access roads are still there.”



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