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The Scars of War

Scott Chastain

Active Member
Be ever hearing, but never understanding,
Be ever seeing, but never perceiving.
---Isa 6:9
 
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As usual, Scott, superb photos and write up of an interesting and informative trip. Thank you for taking us along on the flight.
 
Riding Along

Vicariously, until my project?s airborne...

Charlie
 
Scott, I really look forward to these installments. I'm going to set aside some time this weekend to turn off my phone and slowly enjoy every word and picture.

Thank you for this.

v/r,dr
 
And a one day trip this time. I don't have to keep checking every hour for an update!! I love those big old wooden hangars, The greatest generation.
 
I liked it very much.

Questioning why you chose "scars" of war rather than relics.

I'm curious, the pictures show aging, not battle damage.

Do you feel the old airfields should have been returned to their natural state?

FWIW
 
WWII

This is one of my favorite subjects. I have been to Tonopah many times. The wings in the fenced in hangar are Twin Cessna T50 wings. Out of several thousand build only a handful survive.
Tonopah was also a Bell P39 training base.
The late Harvey Mace trained on the P39 at Tonopah but then switched to P51.Harvey was one of the very earliest EAA members. He was a crop duster in Sacramento area and spent his final years in Ft Bragg area.
Don't give me a P39
with the engine mounted behind
They tumble and roll
and dig a big hole
don't give me a P39
 
Another great trip report Scott, thanks!

These old military bases just fascinate me for some reason, whether it's more recently closed Navy or Air Force SAC bases or from WWII, it's just eerie, cool stuff.
 
Thanks Scott!

The way you tell it, is like being there. Thanks for capturing the atmosphere of a place once busy with men and machines but now at total peace, as it should be.

Bevan
 
This one spoke to me as well. It brought back memories of all the wonderful road trips I've made up and down the Owens Valley. I loved the way you used archival photos, then took current photos from the same vantage point. I look forward to the day when I make a similar journey in my RV-8, returning to CA and visiting all the places I love and miss.
 
Great read Scott.

I'm not sure what percentage of today's airports were originally built for war service between '41 and '45, but I suspect it may be a majority. Especially true here in the Southeast, where bases typically had multiple outlying auxiliary fields. A lot of them were handed over to local municipalities after the war. Wetumpka (08A) began as Gunter Auxiliary #2, one of seven, three of which still operate. Research says a lot of BT-13s met their end in the vicinity.

Sometimes history gets revised, on purpose or by accident. Most pilots are familiar with the story of the Tuskegee Airmen. Some years ago the National Park Service acquired and restored the hangars and base buildings at Tuskegee's Moton Field (06A). The museum is well worth a visit, but Moton was an auxiliary, a detail I suspect few visitors really grasp. The main base, Tuskegee Army Airfield, was much larger. It is a few miles to the NW, toward Tallassee AL, and remains quite obvious from the air.

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/AL/Airfields_AL_Montgomery.htm#Tuskegee

Want to visit the original Tuskegee Airmen's hangars? They are at Clanton, Troy, and Dannelly Field, all still in use.
 
War and Our Freedom

Here is Scott with Descending Dove enjoying freedom and sharing this emotion and thought provoking aviation documentary.
Some of the WW ll airfields in Kansas and Nebraska were operational in only 90 days after construction started. 1000 laborers worked 24 hours a day. Trains brought in labeled hangar materials and the hangar structures would be erected in seven days.
Lt. Colonel Paul Tibbets came to the Fairmont Army Airfield in Nebraska and picked several crews and their support personnel for a secret mission.
Enjoy the holiday Scott and every one else.
 
Nebraska

I spent a year flying full time in NE and became very interested in the history of the NE Army Air Fields. The local historical society usually has historical info on the subject. There is also a book about NE WWII Airfields.
On a slightly different subject I occasionally spent a long day at Ord NE. At that time there was a small room in the terminal devoted to Evelyn Sharp. She had a short but fascinating history. She was in her early 20's when she died in a Lockheed P38 after an engine failure on takeoff. A school teacher for Lincoln NE wrote a book about her titled "Sharpie".
 
Wow

Just wow.

The closest we Europeans get to something like that is with derelict Cold War airfields (from both sides). This one in Northern France, where the Royal Canadian Air Force was stationed from 1955 to 1963, flying their Sabres. All very interesting to watch these days, but that desert landscape.... wow.

Marville.jpeg


You've re-ignited an old bucket list wish of mine. Back when I was searching for a Bowers Fly Baby to buy, I had planned on buying it Stateside, first flying it around the country - low and slow -, possibly leaving it with the wings folded in a friends hangar, coming back later for another stint and only when having seen enough bringing the plane over to Europe.

Then I found a very nice one in Vancouver, didn't have the time for this plan so brought it here without flying so much as a minute in it over there. And with your write-up the itch is back. Thank you... :)

(Now, with three aircraft in my personal airforce already, how am I going to do this? Buy a fourth???)
 
Scott,
Fantastic post as always, I too had to bookmark this to read when I could afford the attention it deserves.

I learned to fly at and spent 3 1/2 years on a previous WWll base utilizing the same concrete, hangars and facilities about 60 years later. Not just the flying facilities but our rec center as well. Flaking chunks of paint everywhere, a finicky HVAC at best and multiple trash cans Dotting the basketball court and weight room catching water whenever it rained.

https://www.salinaairport.com/public-information/history.aspx

Half the airports within the XC range of my training Cessna were 1 North/South shortened/narrower usable Runway left of the 3 triangular runways seen from the air and the same era hangars still in use as well as abandoned. The crosswind runways were either drag strips, feed lots, truck parking or given back to nature. I am in concurrence with your scars assessment....

I’ld made numerous night flights as a student and instructor returning hours after everyone else had left. I can’t quite put into words the experience of landing and taxiing in on the same concrete late at night with no one else around. The experience of firing up the same WWll era tugs inside the same B29 hangars to push those same enormous doors open so we could push our little airplanes inside. Backing that same tug up to hook the chain to the same wrinkled section of the door that has been hooked countless times before, trying to be easy but a door that size with a 1940’s tug doesn’t equal finesse. Turning the same light switch off and the long dark walk past airplanes I can’t see as I make my way to the walkthrough door. Lots of times I didn’t feel alone.
 
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Great pics and historical content, Scott.
Your writing style makes for an enthralling read!
Am slightly jealous of your ease and ability to hop over those big rocks out west.
 
Scott, another great read from you, surreal if you will…just this afternoon I stumbled upon it for a slow but steady reading…your adventures with photographs and your distinctive style are truly appreciated and held upon high…Godspeed in your future travels…
Chris
ps…we met up at Westover awhile back…bumped elbows we did. :>)
 
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