Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
Maryland, Northern Prince George's County area
© 2002, 2008 by Paul Freeman. Revised 5/27/08.
For a suburban community, Prince George's County has a remarkable aviation heritage.
A total of 12 airfields within the county are profiled on this web site (many of which have historic value).
Unfortunately, the county's proud aviation heritage is not very widely known.
A perfect example of this is the fact that of the 12 Prince George's County airfields profiled on this web site,
only 3 of them are still in operation as of 2003,
and all 3 of those will most likely be closing soon
as a result of heavy-handed government "security precautions" established in response to terrorism concerns.
More aviation history, soon to be largely forgotten.
Capitol Airport (2nd location) (revised 4/16/08) - College Park Airport (revised 5/27/08)
Intermediate Field 57B / Beltsville Airport (revised 12/2/07) - Schrom Airport (revised 4/16/08)
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College Park Airport (CGS), College Park, MD
38.98 North / 76.92 West (Northeast of Washington, DC)
The Wright Military Flyer is set up on a launching rail at College Park in 1909.
What has happened to the College Park Airport
is a shame for anyone who cares about our country's aviation heritage.
College Park is the oldest operating airport in the world,
and yet we are allowing our elected leaders to strangle its business,
and threaten it with closure,
in the name of post-9/11 "security concerns".
College Park Airport was founded in 1909 by none other than the inventors of the airplane, the Wright Brothers.
It is one of the most significant airfields in aviation history,
and it was home to many "firsts" in aviation.
The Wrights established College Park Airport in 1909 to teach military aviators to fly their new invention.
A Blériot monoplane outside the National Aeroplane Company hangar, College Park, 1912.
Civilian aviation began at College Park with Rex Smith,
who operated the Rex Smith Aeroplane Company.
In 1911, our nation's first military aviation school was opened at College Park,
with newly trained pilot Lt. Hap Arnold (later to become famous in Air Force History) among its first instructors.
The military aviation school saw numerous aviation firsts.
In 1918, after a three-month trial with the War Department,
the Post Office Department inaugurated the first Postal Airmail Service from College Park,
serving Philadelphia & New York.
Flights from College Park continued until 1921.
The compass rose & original airmail hangar remain at the modern airport as a witness to this history.
Emile Berliner with early experiment in vertical flight, College Park, 1920 (photo courtesy USAF).
In 1920, Emile & Henry Berliner brought their theories of vertical flight to the field
and in 1924 made the first controlled helicopter flight.
Henry Berliner eventually went on to found the ERCO company,
which built ERCO Field just to the south of College Park.
From 1927-33, the Bureau of Standards developed & tested at College Park
the first radio navigational aids for use in "blind" or bad weather flying.
George Brinckerhoff took over management of College Park Airport & ran it from 1927-59,
hosting numerous airshows & teaching hundreds of pilots to fly during his tenure.
The 1929 "Rand McNally Standard Map of MD with Air Trails" (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
described College Park Airport as being 3,200' x 1,200' in size.
College Park Airport, as depicted on the May 1932 J-18 Washington D. C. Airway Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
An early 1930s aerial view (courtesy of Don Warrington) looking northwest at College Park Airport,
showing the north/south & northwest/southeast runways,
and the cluster of buildings on the west side of the field.
An aerial view looking northeast at College Park Airport
from The Airport Directory Company's 1937 Airport Directory (courtesy of Bob Rambo).
It described College Park as a commercial airport,
consisting of a rectangular 85 acre sod field having 2 runways: 2,200' north/south & 1,800' east/west.
A cluster of hangars was located immediately at the west end of the east/west runway.
A 1938 aerial photo of College Park Airport showed the field to have 2 grass runways,
with several hangars along the west side of the field.
The Airport Directory Company's 1938 Airport Directory (courtesy of David Brooks)
described College Park as a commercial airport,
consisting of a rectangular 85 acre sod field having 2 runways: 2,200' north/south & 1,800' east/west.
The 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields (courtesy of Ken Mercer)
described College Park as having a 2,200' unpaved runway.
An advertisement for College Park Airport's Brickerhoff Flying Service,
from the Haire Publishing Company's 1945 Airport Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
Note that Brickerhoff even offered training using a flight simulator - "Link Trainer instruction".
The 1950 MD Airport Directory (courtesy of Stephen Mahaley) depicted College Park
as having 2 turf runways of 2,200' & 2,000' length.
Hangars were located along the west side of the field, next to the railroad tracks.
A 1957 aerial view showed College Park to have 2 unpaved runways,
with the north/south strip appearing to be the predominantly used runway.
The 1960 Jeppesen Airway Manual (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
shows that College Park's north/south runway had evidently been closed, leaving the field with a single unpaved 3,100' Runway 13/31.
A cluster of buildings was sandwiched in between the end of Runway 13 & the railroad tracks.
The 1962 AOPA Airport Directory described College Park as having 2 turf runways:
3,000' Runway 11/29 & 1,500' Runway 2/20.
The operator was listed as George Brinckerhoff.
A 1965 aerial view showed that the size of the College Park Airport property had shrunken somewhat,
as the southern portion of the former north/south runway had been covered with non-airport buildings.
A 1965 aerial photo of College Park Airport showed the field to have a single unpaved northwest/southeast runway,
with the northern portion of the former crosswind runway still remaining recognizable.
The size of the airport property had shrunken considerably when compared to the 1938 aerial photo,
with a considerable portion of former airport property along the south having been redeveloped with a row of non-airport buildings.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft" by Preston, Lanman, and Breilhan,
College Park's crosswind grass runway,
"which ran roughly north/south in parallel to the railway,
was closed in about 1967.
The remaining strip, with a northwest heading, had been paved by 1969."
The 1972 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe)
depicted the field as having a single 2,700' paved runway.
The first paved runway was Runway 13/31.
The Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission purchased the Airport in 1973
and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
A 1980 aerial view of College Park showed that the original paved Runway (13/31)
had been replaced by a slighly offset paved Runway 15/33 just to the north.
A circa early 1980s aerial view looking southeast at College Park Airport,
showing both the former Runway 13/31 (in the center) as well as the newer Runway 15/33 (to the left).
The 1982 AOPA Airport Directory (courtesy of Ed Drury)
described the field as consisting of a single 2,740' asphalt Runway 15/33.
The College Park Aviation Museum opened in 1998.
It is a 27,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility,
with numerous aircraft displayed inside,
overlooking the approach to the runway.
A circa 2001 aerial view of College Park Airport
(just before 9/11-related "security measures" proceeded to ruin the business of this historic airport).
Note the new ramp & terminal building in the center, the new College Park Aviation Museum just below them,
and the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant just west of the south end of the runway.
A 2001 photo looking northwest along College Park's Runway 33 as a Cessna touches down.
A 2002 USGS aerial view looking southeast along College Park's Runway 15.
As of 2003, the airfield configuration at College Park consists of a single 2,607' asphalt Runway 15/33.
With all of the post-9/11 security restrictions in place,
the number of aircraft which were listed as being based at College Park had decreased to a mere 69 by 2003.
A circa 2005 aerial photo looking north at the hangar & several light planes at the northwest end of College Park Airport.
A 2007 photo of the College Park Aviation Museum.
A 2007 photo of the WW2 warbirds (replicas?) outside of College Park's 94th Aero Squadron restaurant,
including a P-40, Bf-109, F4U, P-51, and P-47.
It will be a crime to allow our elected leaders to close down the world's oldest operating airport,
but it appears that is the course that we the voters are allowing them to proceed on.
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Capitol Airport (2nd location), College Park, MD
39 North / 76.93 West (Northeast of Washington, DC)
The second location of Capitol Airport, as depicted on the 1945 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss).
Photo of the airfield while open has not been located.
The date of construction of Capitol Airport at this location is unknown.
Another airfield named "Capitol" had operated at a different site in Bladensburg (6 miles to the south),
from prior to 1933 until prior to 1942.
No Capitol Airport was depicted at all on the 1944 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
At some point between 1944-45, "Capitol" Airport apparently reopened at this site in College Park,
as that is where it was depicted on the 1945 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss)
and the 1946 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
Capitol Airport was owned by Horace Thompson,
according to Keith Lippincott, who spoke to Doug Thompson (the son of Horace Thompson).
“It was a grass field & had a single hangar.
It was accessed from Metzerott Road.”
According to Doug Thompson, Capitol Airport was owned by his father (Horace “Tailspin Tommy” Thompson)
and his uncle (Wendell “Gene” Miller.
Apparently the Capitol Airport at this location in College Park lasted no more than 3 years.
It was apparently closed at some point between 1946-47,
as no airfield was depicted at this location on the 1947 Washington Sectional Chart
or the 1949 USGS topo map.
According to Keith Lippincott, who spoke to Doug Thompson (the son of Horace Thompson),
“It was cut in half by the extension of Greenbelt Road.
They moved again to what is now Freeway Airport but sold it soon after relocating.”
A 1957 aerial photo showed the rectangular north/south outline of the former Capitol Airport property,
bisected by the new Greenbelt Road,
but did not show any specific remnants of the former airport.
According to Keith Lippincott, Capitol Airport “was located on land which is now Acredale Park & Paint Branch Golf Course.”
Neither the 1979 or 1982 USGS topo nor the 1988 USGS aerial photo
show any recognizable trace which remained at the site of a previous airfield.
As seen in the 2002 USGS aerial photo, no trace remains at the location of the Capitol Airport in College Park.
However, the shape of the property of the Paint Branch Golf Course is a narrow north/south outline,
which would seem to indicate that the former airfield had a runway oriented north/south.
The site of the 2nd location of Capitol Airport is located along University Boulevard (Greenbelt Road), just west of Route 1.
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38.99 North / 76.88 West (Northeast of Washington, DC)
A 1938 aerial photo of the Schrom Field property did not yet show any recognizable trace of an airfield.
This fairly substantial general aviation airport was located in Greenbelt,
south of what was then Route 430.
Curiously, Schrom Airport was located in close proximity to 3 other airports,
with College Park Airport being only 2.5 miles southwest,
ERCO Field only 3 miles southwest,
and Beltsville Airport only 3.5 miles to the northeast.
According to the interpretive panel which sits today at the site of the former airport
(courtesy of Jill St. John of the Greenbelt Museum),
civil engineer William Schrom built a chicken farm on this land in the 1890s.
His son, Frederick ("Fritz") Schrom, built an airport on his family’s farm in 1928.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft" by Preston, Lanman, and Breilhan,
Fritz Schrom was described as a "flight-crazy farm boy."
Schrom Airport was apparently was not officially listed as an airfield during its early years,
as it was not depicted on the May 1932 J-18 Washington D. C. Airway Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
or the 1935 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The earliest depiction which has been located of Schrom Airport was a 1938 aerial photo.
However, it did not yet show any recognizable trace of an airfield, just a farm.
Schrom Airport still was not yet depicted at all
on the 1939 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The Civilian Pilot Training Program used Schrom Airport actively in the late 1930s to train student pilots,
many of them from the nearby University of MD.
In the airport’s heyday in 1940, more than 50 planes called the field home,
and 120 pilots, mechanics, and instructors flew, worked, and trained here.
The earliest aeronautical chart depiction which has been located of Schrom Airport
was on the 1940 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
It depicted Schrom as a commercial/municipal field.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft",
a 1941 Civil Aeronautics Administration bulletin described Schrom Field as consisting of 60 acres,
with 2 gravel & dirt runways (measuring 2,400' & 1,900'), and 3 hangars.
Schrom was depicted as a commercial airport on the 1942 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
However, according to local historian Mary Williamson, Schrom Airport was temporarily closed in 1942,
due to wartime security restrictions,
like many other small civil airports along the east coast during the war.
Schrom Field was not depicted on the 1944 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
Fritz Schrom was still serving with the Army Ferrying Command in 1944,
when easing of security restrictions allowed his wife to reopen the airport.
It was used during this period as a training center for the Civil Air Patrol.
Schrom Airport, as depicted on the 1945 USGS topo map.
Schrom Airport was depicted as a commercial airport on the 1945 Washington Section Chart (courtesy of John Voss).
The airport was also labeled on the 1945 USGS topo map, but no runways were depicted.
A history of the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association said that a predecessor group,
the Washington Soaring Club, operated in 1946-1948 at Schrom Airport.
The club had 3 Pratt-Read gliders & a Laister-Kauffmann glider, flown by 8 active members.
The club disbanded "after a few years".
A 1948 photo of the Desque family in front of a Ryan STA at Schrom Airport.
Photo is courtesy of Jill St. John, of the Greenbelt Museum.
An undated photo of a Piper Cub & a Fairchild 22 in front of a hangar at Schrom Airport.
Photo is courtesy of Jill St. John, of the Greenbelt Museum.
An undated photo of Schrom Airport owner Fritz Schrom refueling a Piper Cub.
Photo is by Don O'Reilly, undated, courtesy of Jill St. John, of the Greenbelt Museum.
A 1940s panorama of several Piper Cubs parked at Schrom Airport.
Photo is courtesy of Jill St. John, of the Greenbelt Museum.
The runway at Schrom was paved in 1949.
The 1949 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe)
described the field as having a 5,000' hard-surface runway.
The 1950 MD Airport Directory (courtesy of Stephen Mahaley)
depicted Schrom as having a 5,000' bituminous runway,
which is quite remarkable for a general aviation airport in 1950 (particularly one which doesn't exist anymore!).
The runway was oriented north-northwest/south-southeast.
The runway orientation would later run parallel to the Washington Beltway,
which had not yet been built in 1950.
An office & 3 other small buildings (at least 1 of which was a hangar)
sat on either side of the north end of the runway.
Barbara Ann Schrom recalled, “My father was William Schrom Jr., son of William Schrom Sr., owner of the farm & Schrom Airport.
And of course, my crazy fly-by-the-pants Uncle was Fritz Schrom
whom I heard endless flying stories about from my father William.
My Dad used to ride shotgun with Uncle Fritz
and they would have to fly down low at night in order to count the lamp post lights along the streets of Washington D.C.
to help navigate their way back through College Park and to the airstrip back on the farm in Greenbelt.
What fantastic flights they must have had back in the day.”
The 1951 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe)
described Schrom Airport as having a single 5,300' hard-surface runway.
Unfortunately, Schrom Airport closed a mere 3 years after the runway was paved.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft",
"as described in paper by Karin Thiessen, Schrom's desire to improve the airport conflicted with his neighbors' wish
to maintain their town's 'green belt'."
[That is ironic, given that Schrom Airport predated the adjacent planned community of Greenbelt.
But that kind of thinking still results in small airports getting closed by pressure from new neighbors, even 50 years later!]
"Residents objected to his ambitious plans, including an air freight depot,
which they saw as promoting unwanted noise & road construction."
[Once again - how ironic, given that within a few years this property would be
adjacent to the intersection of the new Washington Beltway & the Baltimore-Washington Parkway -
no noise or road construction from them, right?]
Schrom Airport was apparently closed "in about 1952" (according to "Maryland Aloft").
The Baltimore-Washington Parkway was built adjacent to the site of Schrom Field in 1954,
which no doubt helped to seal the fate of the little general aviation airport.
It was not depicted on the 1955 Washington Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
A 1957 aerial photo of the site of Schrom Field showed the field remained mostly intact for a few years after it had been closed.
A 1965 aerial photo of the site of Schrom Field showed the remains of the field's single paved northwest/southeast runway.
The clover-leaf intersection of the newly-built Washington Beltway & Baltimore-Washington Parkway was visible on the northwest corner of the property.
As can be seen on the 1979 USGS topo map,
Hanover Parkway was built on an alignment that passes directly over part of the former runway.
The City of Greenbelt acquired 43 acres of land on the southeast end of the former airport
for the Schrom Hills Recreation Center in 1986, which was completed in 1991.
An interpretive panel at the Recreation Center recounts the history of Schrom Airport.
An office complex with several high-rise towers & the Greenway Shopping Center
was built over the northern end of the former airport.
In the 1993 USGS aerial photo, traces of the southern end of the former runway were still apparent.
However, a later 2002 USGS aerial photo shows that even this remnant of the runway was no longer perceptible,
as that area had been redeveloped as well.
Now not a trace (other than the historical sign)
remains of this airport that once boasted an almost-mile-long paved runway.
The site of Schrom Airport is located east of the intersection
of the Capital Beltway & the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (295).
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Intermediate Field 57B / Beltsville Airport, Beltsville, MD
39 North / 76.83 West (Northeast of College Park, MD)
Intermediate Field "57B", as depicted on the May 1932 J-18 Washington D. C. Airway Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
This obscure airport in the Washington suburbs has had a confusing history.
According to the book "Maryland Aloft" by Preston, Lanman, and Breilhan,
the Beltsville Airport appears to have originated
as one of the Department of Commerce's network of Intermediate Landing Fields,
which were constructed in the 1930s for the emergency use of commercial aircraft along airways between major cities.
A January 1931 Airway Bulletin listed an Intermediate Field 57 in Beltsville,
located 3 miles northwest of Bowie.
The field was said to comprise of a 3,000' x 500' rectangular sod field,
along with a rotating beacon & course light.
Intermediate Field "57B" was depicted on the May 1932 J-18 Washington D. C. Airway Map (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The 1935 Washington Sectional Chart labeled Intermediate Field 57B as "Bowie".
It continued to be listed in the Airway Bulletins until 1935.
The Beltsville Intermediate Field evidently was abandoned at some point between 1935-36,
as it was not depicted on a 1936 aeronautical chart.
Many other Intermediate Fields also met the same fate, as the increasing reliability of commercial aircraft,
coupled with the development of more elaborate airports generally made them unnecessary.
A 1938 aerial photo of the Beltsville Intermediate Field depicted the site as having 2 grass runways,
oriented almost directly north/south & east/west.
There did not appear to be any buildings at the field.
The 1939 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted an Airway Beacon 57B at the site, but no airfield.
The Beltsville airfield had a second life starting in 1941,
when the Roosevelt Administration announced appropriation for the Works Progress Administration
to construct an airfield at Beltsville's Agricultural Research Center
(which by then occupied the area surrounding the old Beltsville Intermediate Field).
The Civil Aeronautics Administration also contributed toward the cost of the new facility,
whose purpose was to train units of the District of Columbia National Guard & the Naval Reserve.
A tract of 186 acres was acquired from the Forrest Service for the project.
In 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps provided labor to clear the land & prepare the site for its wartime role.
It has been reported that the Beltsville Airfield was actually constructed
to serve as a wartime point of evacuation for President Roosevelt,
if that ever became necessary.
No airfield at Beltsville was yet depicted on the 1942 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
A 1943 photo of the Custer Channel Wing CCW-1 aircraft being flown at Beltsville Airport (courtesy of Joel Custer).
An interesting chapter in the history of the Beltsville Airfield came in 1943,
when the exotic Custer Channel Wing CCW-1 experimental aircraft was flown at the field.
This was described in an article by Walter Boyne in the 5/77 issue of Airpower Magazine (courtesy of Joel Custer).
“The CCW-1 was later [1943] flown in demonstration for the military at the Beltsville MD airport,
where gruff, hard boiled Brigadier General W.E. Gilmore was excited enough to authorize a test program.
Custer recalls that Gilmore actually phoned Orville Wright, who was in Washington at the time,
urging him to come out and witness the new development.”
An article in the 5/47 issue of Popular Mechanics Magazine provided further description of the Custer flights at Beltsville.
“While most experiments with the wing have been in wind tunnels and laboratories,
a test ship flew more than 100 hours over a government field at Beltsville MD using 75-horsepower engines.
The engines & propellers were mounted on metal supports extending across the upper rear section of each channel.
During those first test flights the plane, weighing only 1,785 pounds with pilot,
was held to a top speed of 60 mph.
Takeoffs & landings were made under 100 feet, upwind, downwind, and crosswind.”
The Beltsville airfield was still not depicted at all on the 1944 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
According to the book "Maryland Aloft",
the earliest depiction of the Beltsville airfield which has been located
was on a November 1944 Sectional Chart.
The 1945 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of John Voss) labeled the field as "Beltsville (Navy)".
This agrees with other sources which indicate that it served as an Outlying Landing Field
for Anacostia Naval Air Station during WW2.
Bill Needham recalled, "My dad Lt. William Needham was the operations officer at NAS Anacostia.
On May 17 1945 he took off in a Lockheed Lodestar with a co-pilot & nine passengers
to instruct the co-pilot in instrument flying.
However the cloud cover was below minimums,
so they decided to proceed to the Beltsville Auxiliary Airport to do one engine 'Bounces',
which we call 'touch & go's' today.
As they executed their first 'bounce' they lost the good engine when they were about 100' off the deck.
The nine passengers scrambled off & my dad & his co-pilot Commander Foley were trapped inside unconscious.
One of the passengers, an enlisted man, went back inside to rescue the pilots.
As he was inside the plane it caught fire & he was only able to pull out the co-pilot, Commander Foley.
My dad was burned to death while still trapped inside."
According to the book "Maryland Aloft",
a 1946 airport directory described Beltsville as having a 4,000' runway,
and indicated that Navy flight operations were conducted at the field.
After military use of the airport had ceased,
the Civil Aeronautics Administration wished to take over the airport,
but the Department of Agriculture was granted control of the property.
A May 1947 newspaper article reported that "the Department of Agriculture had abandoned the facility
due to the persistent bird hazard to aircraft operations there."
However, the airport apparently continued to be used for various purposes.
According to a paper by Karin Thiessen, these included testing for pesticides & crop dusting,
local university flying club activities, and Reserve Officer Training Corps flight instruction.
"Beltsville (Navy)" was described on the 1949 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe)
as having a 4,400' hard-surface runway.
"Beltsville Landing Field" was depicted on the 1949 USGS topo map
as having 2 paved runways, with a single building northwest of the runway intersection.
Beltsville Airport was described on the 1951 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe)
as having 2 runways, with the longest being a 4,400' hard-surface strip.
The remarks in the Aerodromes table said, "Open to government aircraft."
Henry Retzer recalled, “I worked around & on the airfield for about 30 years.
I began work at the USDA's Beltsville Agricultural Reseach Center in October 1956.
The project I was assigned to had a storage shed in the woods off the south end of the runway
and I would drive there along the edge of the runways.
I could see 2 TBM torpedo bombers parked by the hangars with their wings folded but never dared to go there.
Later I found out one was flown by the Forest Service's Insect Lab (BFIL) on spraying experiments. The other was a parts pane.
The spray tank was located in the torpedo compartment.”
It was listed as "Beltsville (US Dept. of Agriculture)" on the 1960 Washington Sectional Aeronautical Chart,
with the note "Official business only."
It was described as having 2 paved runways (the longest being 4,400'),
although the ENE/WSW runway was described as "pavement broken".
The 1960 Jeppesen Airway Manual (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted Beltsville Airport as having 2 paved runways: 4,400' Runway 8/26 & 3,960' Runway 16/34.
A taxiway from the end of Runway 16 led to a single building (a hangar?).
It was listed among active airports in the 1962 AOPA Airport Directory,
under the name of "Beltsville (Government)", with a 4,400' paved runway,
and the operator listed as the US Department of Agriculture.
A closeup from a 1963 aerial view showing 2 planes at Beltsville Airport,
parked next to the building on the northwest side of the field.
Merton Meade recalled, “We snuck into Beltsville many times just to land on the nice grass.
We never got caught... there was seldom anyone there.”
Henry Retzer (former USDA agricultural engineer) recalled, “In 1965 the TBMs were gone & BFIL moved out west,
their hangar was taken over by the Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service.
Their pilots supervised spraying contracts down south with Cessna 180s & other aircraft
whose inspections & overhauls were done here.
In the winter the hangars were crammed with planes.
There was constant pressure from other agencies & defense contractors, even private flying clubs, to use the airfield.
There often was a strange aircraft sitting there after a weekend of touch & go landings.
When NASA began activities at Goddard SFC in the 1960s
there was great activity at the field, it was common to see C-47s there.
I remember a Bendix man experimenting with a drone tried to run me off,
but I pointed out I worked there & he was visiting.”
A 1965 aerial photo of the Beltsville Airport showed the 2 paved runways which had been built,
each at a somewhat different alignment than the grass runways depicted in the 1938 aerial photo.
A single hangar sat northwest of the runway intersection.
Note also the appearance of a octagonal clearing to the southwest, presumably for the NASA antenna site.
It was labeled as "Beltsville (USDA)" on the September 1965 Washington Local Visual Navigation Chart
and the 1967 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe).
Apparently, at least at some point this airfield was open to general aviation.
Former Washington-area pilot Will McGuffin recalled,
"I made my first landing with my instructor at the USDA airstrip at Beltsville", in the late 1960s.
"As to how we were able to use the USDA strip at Beltsville,
I can't remember if [my instructor] Jerry Rochez had to phone ahead for permission
or if we just flew up there for me to make my first landing attempts.
I do remember that the only other aircraft there during one of our practice sessions was a crop duster, which made sense.
Otherwise, it was deserted except for my repeated passes trying not to flare out 15 feet above the asphalt.
Actually I did OK the second time we went up there.
Apparently Jerry usually took his students up there for touch & go stuff.
There was no other traffic at any of the times we were there."
According to Angelo Vacchio, "Beltsville Airport it was still in use in 1972.
I know because I landed there & was chased off - 'government use only' I was told.
I remember seeing a DC-3 there in 1974 when it landed for some reason; it was gone in 2 days.
Pilots used to buzz it & shoot go-arounds there & approaches but never landed.
If you go there & look by the old water tower you can find large holes on the sides of the runway.
They were used for anti-aircraft guns.
There is supposed to be a DC-3 that crashed there in the woods but I never found it.
I do not know when it crashed but I knew people who looked at it."
It was still labeled as "Beltsville (USDA) (Pvt)" on the 1975 Washington Terminal Area Chart (courtesy of Ed Drury).
The 1979 USGS topo map depicted the 2 paved runways of the Beltsville Airport,
as well as 2 buildings just northwest of the runway intersection.
Beltsville Airport was still depicted as an active airfield on the 3/19/81 Washington Sectional Chart (according to Tom Beamer).
According to Henry Retzer, “By the 1980s BARC's director decided the airfield was more of a liability
since no research was being done there.
He had the runways plowed up with a bulldozer & the rubble hauled away.”
Beltsville Airport was was depicted as closed on the 8/3/81 Washington Sectional Chart (according to Tom Beamer).
According to Henry Retzer, “The last time I went by in 1989, there was corn growing on the west end of the runway.”
Paul Freeman flew remote controlled aircraft from the Beltsville Airport runways as part of
a class from the University of Maryland's Aerospace Engineering Department in the early 1990s.
A January 2001 aerial view by Paul Freeman looking north at the former Beltsville Airport.
According to David Kindig (whose company performed work at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in 2006),
“I have heard (anecdotally) that furniture from the Hart Building was stored at the Beltsville Airport
after the 2001 anthrax attacks, and was decontaminated there.”
Aerial photo circa 2002.
As of 2003, the partially dug-up remains of 2 paved 4,400' runways still exist.
A circa 2005 aerial view looking west at the former Beltsville Airport hangar, which still has “Beltsville Gov't” painted on the roof.
A paved ramp still remains, along with what appears to be the foundation of another former hangar.
David Kindig reported in 2006, “The runways today are still there, although they are 'dug up' in some spots.
It appears that the surrounding property is being used for a small composting facility,
and for agricultural research (orchards... I think they are peach & cherry trees primarily.”
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