Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields

© 2002, © 2008 by Paul Freeman. Revised 5/16/08.

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.

To place an advertisement on this website, email Paul Freeman.

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So far, I've compiled descriptions & images of 1,389 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 would like to 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.

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

I have set up a link with the Amazon.com honor system to enable contributions electronically:



 

Or if you prefer to contact me directly concerning a contribution,

please contact 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:

George Miller, John Voss, Chris Kennedy, Steve Cruse, Troy Helton, Brian Rehwinkel, Harris Freeman,

Mark Thaisz, Greg Babinski, Shawn Bailey, Tom Beamer, Leon Begin, Mike Brace, George Hill,

Guillaume de Syon, Jeffrey Doran, Jay Doucet, Chris George, Wayne Hildebrandt, Michael Horwith, James Howard,

Carolyn Jones, Dave Kupiec, Stephen Mahaley, Ken Mercer, Christopher Ness, Bradley Newbould, Mitch Patenaud,

Rex Ricks, Peter Saxe, Ira Seskin, Tim Smolen, Michael Strobach, Don Taylor, Allen Thomson, James VanHorne, David Walsh, Lee Walus,

Douglas Warren, Bill Griffith, Lane Hardison, Bruce Shepardson, Dave Kirker, Robert Brooks, Billy S, Don Gillmore, John Stegman,

Mark Robinson, Robert Sanford, David Blevins, Kent Dyer, Aidan Brainard, Rick Tavan, Melvin Davidow, Mat Matecko, Brad Weisenburger,

Ronald Cox, Carolyn Hastings, Harm Buning, Franklin Brown, Gilbert Bergeron, Phil Beutel, Paul Cotrufo, Scott Schuyler, Eugene Wilson, Chuck Kissner,

Richard Stmupf, Craig Thorson, Rolf Kappe, Grace Dirling, Mike Zimmer, Richard Calarco, Nicole Bender, David Carnes, James Heffernan,

Kevin Buonagurio, Jeremy Bishop, Kim Kwasniewski, John Nance, Steve Clouser, Steve Jax, Donald Gaudet, Ross Turk, Lee Ziegenhals, Angela Pippenger,

Mark Leonard, Harry Silvers, Harry Leicher, Robert Dietrich, Bob Besal, Charles Wyndham, Daniel Carlson, Bill Reidy, Charles LaBow, Mark Hrutkay,

Everett Priestley, Dennis Winegarner, Hans Friedebach, Douglas Fulton, Jack O'Connor, Donald Weber, James Parks, Andrew Elwood, H. Buning,

Dan Dionne, Barry Cowan, Nicholas Sandin, John Williams, Richard Peabody, Richard Hotchkiss, Ed Hamlin, Gwen Shafer, Leigh Kelly, James O'Leary,

Dave Menard, Tina Batori, Patricia Barber, Ken Sherman, Broadus Bowman, Greg Steinmayer, Gerald Burney, J.C. Follender-Birns, Russell Morland, Roger Smith,

Charley Stone, David Gurkin, MRP, Jean Dispaux, Charles Seevers, Matt Lockman, Michael Kersten, William Griffith, Mark Ratliff, Karl Kreisher,

Lance Bills, William Lokes, Laurence Deutsch, Bill Baab, Jon Goldenbaum, William Woodall, Christopher Joiner, James Topham, Charles E Nolan.

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

Contact the author at: thefreemans@hotmail.com

 

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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History of the site:

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

From 4/02-3/04, it had 170,300 visitors.

From 4/02-2/06, it had 498,900 visitors.

From 4/02-1/08, it had 878,200 visitors.

Site visitors since 4/02:



 

Hit counter provided by digits.com.

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Sources & other sites of interest:

 

Web sites:

http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com - A huge database of aerial pictures & topo maps.

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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To place an advertisement on this website, email Paul Freeman.