Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields:
Michigan: Southern Detroit Area
© 2002, © 2008 by Paul Freeman. Revised 5/28/08.
Newport NOLF (revised 5/28/08) - Smith Airport / Hartsell Air Terminal / National Airport (revised 8/22/06)
____________________________________________________
Smith Airport / Hartsell Air Terminal / National Airport (1G2), Westland, MI
42.32 North / 83.43 West (Southwest of Detroit, MI)
Smith Airport, as depicted in the May 1945 Detroit Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
This general aviation airport was evidently established at some point between 1944-45
(like hundreds of other small airports across the U.S.),
as it was not yet depicted on the October 1944 Detroit Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).
The earliest depiction of Smith Airport which has been located
was on the May 1945 Detroit Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
It depicted Smith as a commercial/municipal airport.
The Haire Publishing Company's 1945 Airport Directory (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
described Smith Airport as a “class 1” privately-owned field
consisting of 3 sod runways, with the longest being the 2,400' northwest/southeast strip.
The airport was apparently renamed Hartsell Air Terminal at some point between 1945-46,
as it was labeled “Hartsell” on the July 1946 Detroit Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
The location & airfield layout of the Hartsell Air Terminal,
as depicted in the 1946 MI Airport Directory (courtesy of Doug Ranz).
The directory depicted the field as having 3 unpaved runways, with the longest being the 2,400' northwest/southeast strip.
A hangar & an office building were depicted north of the runway intersection.
The 1949 Detroit Sectional Chart (courtesy of Donald Felton)
depicted Hartsell as having a 3,500' unpaved runway.
A 1949 aerial photo of Hartsell Air Terminal, from Wayne State University (courtesy of Greg Steinmayer).
The field had 2 unpaved runways (there was no evidence of the east/west runway depicted on the 1946 diagram).
However, 3 rows of T-hangars had evidently been added at some point between 1946-49.
A total of 7 light single-engine aircraft were visible parked on the field.
A 1956 aerial photo from Wayne State University (courtesy of Greg Steinmayer)
showed that yet another, even longer runway had been added on the south side of the field, running due east/west.
A 3rd row of T-hangars had been removed to make way for the northwest end of the new runway.
A total of 10 light single-engine aircraft were visible parked on the field.
The airfield configuration at Hartsell continued to change further,
as a 1961 aerial photo from Wayne State University (courtesy of Greg Steinmayer)
showed that at some point between 1956-61 the field had gained a longer 3rd runway, running northwest/southeast.
The westernmost row of T-hangars was also added, just north of the original runway intersection.
However, fewer planes were visible on the field - a total of only 4 planes.
A 1964 aerial view showed that the field had 3 unpaved runways.
A total of a dozen light aircraft were visible on the field.
The 1967 aerial photo of Hartsell Air Terminal, from Wayne State University (courtesy of Greg Steinmayer)
showed that the east/west runway had been paved at some point between 1961-67.
It also appeared as if this had become the sole runway still in use,
as the area previously occupied by several unpaved runways was now used to park aircraft.
Yet another row of T-hangars had also been added, on the west side of the field.
The number of planes visible on the field was up sharply - to a total of 36.
The field was evidently renamed to National Airport at some point between 1949-70,
as that is how it was labeled on the 1970 USGS topo map.
The last photo which has been located of National Airport was a 1973 aerial view.
The field appeared well-used,
with a total of 21 light aircraft parked on the field.
Gary Bartz recalled, “I grew up near the National Airport.
I remember landings there from the mid-1970s (when I was old enough to notice).
My home was just to the northwest.
The approach to the west was fairly steep because of trees.
The runway was also much narrower than the nearby Plymouth Airport.
Some of the neighbors liked to cry about the noise even though the planes only flew during the day.”
1979 Flight Guide (courtesy of Chris Kennedy)
depicted National Airport as having a single 2,800' paved Runway 9/27,
with several rows of T-hangars on the north side of the field.
The last reference which has been located to National as an active airport
was its listing in the 1980 AOPA Airports USA Airport Directory (according to Chris Kennedy).
National Airport was evidently closed at some point between 1980-82,
as it was no longer listed among active airfields in the 1982 AOPA Airports USA Airport Directory (according to Chris Kennedy).
Gary Bartz recalled, “These were all reasons given for the closure.
I think a real reason was the railroad track to the east side of the property.
The track was/is a main line for the CSX railroad.
The other reason was that a major east/west state highway stretching from Detroit to Ann Arbor is just to the north,
and it connects to a branch of the I-75 highway system just 1 mile west of the location.
By the mid-1980s the lumber company Weyerhaeuser had a distribution center on the property,
and they used the east half of the runway for a loading ramp/driveway.
Weyerhaeuser had flown in by helicopter right as the closure was announced, and most neighbors suspected what was coming.
Helicopters almost never flew into National because the nearby Plymouth airport had full helo facilities.
Everyone noticed the Weyerhaeuser flights.”
Gary continued, “Plans and construction took a few years,
and in the meantime many of the locals used the west end of the runway as an access point to bring in 4-wheel drive trucks & bikes.
The runway made a good staging area to access the swampy creek area just to the south of the runway.
Weyerhaeuser dug a berm between the road & the runway,
and when that didn't work they finally took up the west half of the runway & redid the east.
Later a shopping center tore down the wooded area to the northwest of the runway
and built a Home Depot almost back to the runway line with way too much parking.”
National Airport was depicted as an abandoned airfield on the October 1983 Detroit Terminal Area Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).
The 1999 USGS aerial photo showed that the site of the former National Airport
had been largely covered by commercial buildings.
In the 2002 USGS aerial photo, although the site of the former National Airport was largely covered by several commercial buildings,
it appeared as though a section of runway pavement from the former east/west runway still remained intact (at the center of the photo),
along with traces of the former northwest/southeast unpaved runway.
Greg Steinmayer reported in 2006 that “The remaining part of the runway has disappeared
under a multiplex theater that has recently been built”, at some point between 2002-2006.
Remarkably, a 2006 photo by Greg Steinmayer shows that a former airport building visible in the 1949 aerial photo
still remains standing at the northeast corner of the site more nearly 60 years later,
even after almost all else of the airport has been covered over.
Greg reported that the building “has a distinctive curved 'finger' that juts out.”
It's “still standing, though somewhat worse for wear.”
The site of National Airport is located south of the intersection of Ford Road & Superior Parkway.
____________________________________________________
Newport Naval Outer Landing Field, Newport, MI
42 North / 83.37 West (Southwest of Detroit, MI)
A 1942 map (courtesy of the NAS Grosse Isle web site) depicting "Newport Field "23813"
as well as other Grosse Isle auxiliary airfields.
This field was built during the WW2 era as the largest of 16 satellite landing fields
which supported primary flight training at Grosse Isle Naval Air Station.
The date of construction of Newport NOLF has not been determined,
but the earliest depiction of the field which has been located
was a 1942 map (courtesy of the NAS Grosse Isle web site), which labeled it as "Newport Field "23813".
As seen in a WW2-era view of Newport (National Archives photo),
the airfield consisted of a 1,700' concrete hexagon landing pad, taxiways, a ramp, fire station & barracks.
A WW2-era view looking north at the large number of biplanes on the Newport ramp (National Archives photo).
The fire station with attached control tower was visible just above the airplanes, and the “H”-shaped barracks was visible above it.
Most of NAS Grosse Isle's cadets solo flights were conducted from Newport.
After the end of primary flight training at Grosse Isle,
Carrier Air Group 97 used Newport for Field Carrier Landing Practice.
"Newport (Navy)", as depicted on the July 1946 Detroit Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy).
"Newport (Navy)" was still depicted as a military airfield on the 1948 Detroit Sectional Chart (according to Chris Kennedy).
However, it was apparently closed within the next year,
as the airfield was not depicted at all on the 1949 Detroit Sectional Chart (courtesy of Donald Felton).
Ironically, in the span of a mere 10 years,
the mission of Newport changed from training flight cadets in biplanes
to shooting down Soviet nuclear bombers with huge guided missiles.
Beginning in 1955, the Newport airfield property was reused by the Army
to construct 2 Nike surface-to-air missile batteries:
sites D-57 (Newport) & D-58 (Carleton).
These installations were part of the ring of Nike batteries surrounding Detroit.
The D-57 Newport & D-58 Carleton batteries were activated in January 1955.
They were each armed with 30 of the 1st-generation Nike Ajax missiles.
The underground missile magazines & launchers were built adjacent to the south side of the Newport landing pad,
with Battery D-57's 3 rows of launchers on the north side,
and D-58's 3 rows of launchers to the south.
The barracks were built on top of the former landing pad.
The former airfield fire station was reused as a movie theater for the Nike troops.
The Integrated Fire Control areas for the 2 batteries, with numerous radar towers,
were built to the northeast of the airfield, with D-58's IFC closer to the airfield, and D-57's IFC somewhat further east.
In June 1959, battery D-58 was converted & upgraded to fire the more capable Nike Hercules missile,
The battery was armed with 18 of the 2nd-generation Nike Hercules missiles.
Battery D-57 was not upgraded with Nike Hercules, and was deactivated in February 1963.
Battery D-58 continued to operate the Nike Hercules for several more years.
A 1964 aerial view of the Nike D-57 & D-58 launch sites, adjacent to the south side of the Newport airfield.
The above-ground Nike Ajax launchers had been removed from battery D-57 (the northern row of 3 launchers),
but the Nike Hercules launchers could be seen on Battery D-58 (the southern row of 3 launchers).
A 1973 aerial view of the remains of Newport NOLF, showing the Nike D-57 & D-58 launch sites to the southwest,
and the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites to the northeast.
The Nike Hercules D-58 IFC (closer to the airfield) was still operational (note the shadows from its large radomes),
while the Nike Ajax D-57 IFC (to the east) had been deactivated.
This was also the last photo which has been located which depicted the WW2-era “H”-shaped airfield barracks still standing on the north side of the airfield.
Nike Battery D-58 was deactivated in April 1974,
bringing an end to the military's usage of the Newport site.
A 1996 Army Corps of Engineers photo of a Nike missile silo being demolished at Newport.
Most of the buildings of the Nike installation still remain, but have decayed considerably.
A 1998 photo of the drive-through Nike Warhead Assembly Building at Newport.
An undated recent aerial view by Dick Merrill looking north at the remains of NOLF Newport.
The former “H”-shaped airfield barracks buildings at the north end of the site had been removed at some point between 1973-2000,
but the former fire station / control tower building remained standing, on the northeast side of the airfield.
A circa 2001 aerial photo, with the Nike launch site at the bottom.
A 2007 photo by Jeff Kroll looking at the Newport Nike site from “from the main gate,
with the Administration Building on left, Theater ahead; the blue thing is a shipping container.
When I was even with the shipping container 3 deer jumped out in front of me.”
Jeff Kroll visited the site of the Newport Naval Outer Landing Field in 2007.
He reported, “The site is much more overgrown than in the 1998 photos,
almost the entire concrete landing field for the old airbase is completely overgrown,
and is now relatively heavy forest, what concrete remains exposed has broken down into gravel.
All the buildings that were there in 1998 are still there now,
but the vandals are really starting to take there toll,
and the vegetation in the launcher area is so heavy it's disorienting it's like walking through a jungle,
it took me a good 15 minutes or so to find the launcher pit area, and I was standing right at the warhead building.
The warhead building is almost entirely obscured by trees,
and the Nike generator building while visible is so overgrown you would almost need a machete to get inside.
Several of the buildings are pockmarked by bullets, and I ran across a shotgun husk,
the missile test, and assembly building has been hit hardest by the vandals,
but the whole luncher area has been hit pretty hard, and they've smashed all the windows in the Administration building,
knocked down a lightpole outside, and they're tearing down the ceiling - it's really sad to see the damage there doing there.”
A 2007 photo by Jeff Kroll of the interior of the Administration Building.
Jeff remarked, “I think this may have been made into a messhall.
Also note the Nike Insignia at the far end of the room.”
A 2007 photo by Jeff Kroll “of the Warhead Building, note how much more overgrown it is now than in the 1998 photo,
the whole area around the Nike section is completely overgrown, it's like a jungle back there.
Even though this is right next to the Launcher area, it took me a good 15 minutes to find the pathway there.
The inside of the Warhead building has been hit heavily by vandals, and one of the remaining panels has been shot up.
The lighting in this picture is interesting, it makes it look rendered, but I assure you it's quite real.”
A 2007 photo by Jeff Kroll “of what's left of the launcher pits from near the end of what I believe was D-58
looking back Towards the Warhead Building, note the metal plates on the ground.
The blast barriers are still there but there completely overgrown now.”
Jeff continued, “The area appears to be in use by local ATVers judging by the tracks,
and the one that I saw following me when I was on my way out,
and I assume it was them who knocked the southeastern corner of the fence down in the Nike area.
The whole area is teeming with wildlife now,
3 whitetail deer jumped right out in front of me by the Administration Building not even 25 yards away,
and rabbits & birds abound, the noises they make make exploring, particularly inside the buildings a little nerve racking.
The Army appears to have just up & left as the buildings were still fully-furnished,
although the vandals have done a number on the furniture,
and theres a large stack of field manuals in the Administration building, for what looks like an obsolete piece of radio equipment.
The Administration Building appears to have been converted into a barracks,
as almost all of the what I assume to have been offices had beds in them.
The site does not appear to be in use by the National Guard, or anyone else for that matter,
and the main gate was open, and there were no signs posted that said keep out, so it appears to be completely abandoned.”
The Newport airfield is located southwest of the intersection of Newport Road & North Telegraph Road.
____________________________________________________
