Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields

© 2002, © 2012 by Paul Freeman. Revised 2/3/12.

*** Dedicated in the memory of my father, Harris Freeman (1929-2010), who supported my interest in aviation ever since I was a little boy. ***

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.

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This website contains descriptions & images of 1,550 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 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.

This site is not supported by commercial advertising –

it is purely supported by donations.

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

you may use a credit card via PayPal:

Or if you prefer to contact me directly concerning a contribution (for a mailing address to send a check),

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:

Harris Freeman,

Arnold Lieber in honor of Julian Goldman, Cory Crabtree,

Ken Hendrickson, Dennis Boykin, Paul Fulenwider, Bill Broussard, Scott Jeff & Susan Kimball in memory of Wildey “Bud” Kimball,

The California Pilots Association, Brian Rehwinkel, Mark McConnell, Joe Rao, Dean Focke, John Hawranick, John Voss, George Miller, Steve Cruse,

James Smith, Troy Helton, Vernon Maine, Mark Lineberry, Sonoma County Historical Society, Daniel Shively, David Starr (In memory of Ed & Julia Gorski),

The Essex Sky Park Association, Tom Beamer, Jim Rosenberry, Tony Cox, Edward Moore, Robert Burns, Christopher Pryble, Christopher Ludwig, Greg Babinski,

Chris Kennedy,Timothy Rasmusson, Mark Thaisz, Richard Russell, Jason McCullough, Steve Owen, Vaughn Dewey, Tom McKerr, Shawn Bailey, Curtiss Knowles, Richard Crowder,

Wayne Klaw, Leon Begin, T. Shafer, Kevin Kennedy, Janice England, Mike Brace, ich Peabody, George Hill, James Hackman, Greg Steinmayer, Jim Rice, Linda Hartman, Mike Sandman, Craig Foster,

Coleman Conrad, Dennis Crenshaw, Robert Berg, David Martin, Jim Higgins, Tony Petrulio, William Woodall, Floyd Taber, Anton Wittkamp, Robert Spofford, Harm Buning, Michael Kersten, Dave Menard, Sidney Schwartz,

Mark Hrutkay, Gregor Guntner, Lee Englund, Charles Gruenwald, Lee Unterborn, John Price, Jay Doucet, Donald Macomber, James Moffett, Guillaume de Syon, Jeffrey Doran, Carl Kangas, John Breihan, Bruce Jones,

Robert Peters, Glenda Hill, Kelley Burns, Harold Allen, Jim Patton, William Fuchs, Mark Morgan, Jim Economos, Walter Beachell, Alexander Nelon, Hiroshi Ando, Geoff Sobering, Jay Carter, Wayne Hildebrandt, Jose Matos,

Gordon Lamb, Joe Hamlin, John Fiske, Don Weber, Chris George, Russell Lee, Richard Arabian, Kenneth Lawrence, Sheila Wood, JAG Aviation, Michael Horwith, John Keane, Ron Rychlik, Steven Schindler, Timothy Seward,

James Howard, Penrice Technology, Carolyn Jones, Everett Priestley, Ira Seskin, Chris Saulit, Kathleen Varraso, Stanley Thomas, Ronald Shank, Liza Eckardt, Jeffrey Greason, Phillip Perry, Jeffrey Holland, Dave Kupiec,

Stephen Mahaley, Charles Robertson, Philip Wright, Ken Mercer, Michel Carr, James Ruhnke, Christopher Ness, Bradley Newbould, David Klinzing, Mitch Patenaud, Patrick Reilly, Timothy Hahn, William Hecht, Rex Ricks.

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

Contact the author at: thefreemans@hotmail.com

 

If you have pictures or other historical information to help tell the story of these airfields, please send them.

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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In December 2008 the “Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields” had passed ONE MILLION visitors!

Thanks to all who have supported the website with historical material

and financial contributions over the past 12 years.

History of the site:

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

From 4/02-2/07, it had 697,300 visitors.

From 4/02-1/12, it had 1,569,200 visitors.

Site visitors since 4/02:



 

Hit counter provided by digits.com.

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Sources & other sites of interest:

Web sites:

http://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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