Trip Report: Dickey-Goober or Bust!
First published in 2005. Reformatted 2025. This adventure began in Plano, Texas, on Friday morning, and ended back home in Arlington on Monday afternoon. This trip was planned around a visit to Richards-Gebaur AFB (informally known in the Air Force by the nickname "Dickey-Goober"), a base I have long wanted to visit. Just a reminder PIN means Permanent Installation Number and ILC means Installation Location Code; I include these for Air Force properties when I know them.Friday, 1 July 2005
Pittsburg Airport KS, 37-27, 94-44. In Kansas, I looked for Atkinson Municipal Airport (PTS), just NW of Pittsburg. This was a WWII contract flying school (liaison pilot) operated for the AAF by McFarland Flying Service. No obvious WWII remnants were visible.General view
General view Garland Gap Filler Annex (P-72A) KS, 37-45-40, 94-38-51. The last stop for the day was southeast of Fort Scott, Kansas. This gap filler reported to Olathe AFS. The building still stands, but the brush was too thick for me to see the antenna footings.
Building
Building At this point it was time to find a motel for the night; I had planned on staying in Fort Scott, but since I was way ahead of schedule I pushed on and stayed in Ottawa, Kansas. I covered 499 miles in 9.25 hours, checking in to a Super 8 at 2000.
Saturday, 2 July 2005
Forbes AF Missile Site No. 2 KS, PIN 6985. I checked out of the motel at 0630 and pushed west for my first stop of the day. This former Atlas E missile site is located near Lawrence, Kansas, and I visited the blocked access road at sunrise. This property was acquired in 1959 and disposed of in 1967, and it served as an operational missile site from 1961 to 1965.Access road
Ventilation structure
General view Nike KC-60C KS, 38-46-35, 94-55-42. Driving east toward Gardner, Kansas, I looked for the components of the KC-60 Nike site, operational from 1959 to 1969. The Kansas City Defense Area had four Nike batteries, and I would look for two of them on this day. The control site was easy to find and is now used as Nike Intermediate School. I could not find any trace of the radar mounts, possibly because of extensive grading work in progress.
General view
Building
Building
Building
Building
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Building Nike KC-60L KS, 38-45-38, 94-56-05. The launcher component offered me only a view down the access road from the gate.
Gate Naval Air Station Olathe KS, 38-50-00, 94-53-30. Just a couple miles to the east of KC-60 was this former Navy airfield, which had its start in WWII. It is now a commercial airport and industrial park. Some Navy buildings still stand, amid lots of new development.
Hangar with control tower
Building Olathe Air Force Station KS (P-72), PIN 3246, 38-50-06, 94-54-16. Tucked on the grounds of the airport, this was a long-range radar site from 1953 to 1968. Olathe was my last Kansas visit on this trip. Driving east, I crossed into Missouri on my way to Grandview.
General view Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base MO, 38-51, 94-33. This airfield was known as Grandview Airport in WWII, when it served as an auxiliary field for Sedalia AAFld (later Whiteman AFB). Declared surplus in 1945, it was reacquired by the government and designated Grandview AFB on 1 October 1952. It was redesignated Richards-Gebaur AFB on 27 April 1957. Richards-Gebaur was transferred to the Air Force Reserves in 1977, and Air Force activity was further reduced in 1994. Significant portions of the base are under USAF or USMC control. The Marines control the base housing and operate a billeting facility. There is even an AAFES BX, and yes, I stopped in for provisions. The base also has three nice examples of historic air defense architecture. First, at the north end of the base, I found the fighter-interceptor alert hangar. This was one of the first-generation ADC hangars, built by Butler, and has the modified (bulged) rear doors. The hangar has non-historic cinder block infill under the control booth. Second was the SAGE Direction Center. It appears in good condition, although the adjacent power plant has been painted. The adjacent, distinctive communications tower also remains. Third, I found the Type 4 Air Defense Direction Center (which preceded the SAGE Direction Center).
General view
General view
Fighter-interceptor alert hangar
Fighter-interceptor alert hangar
Fighter-interceptor alert hangar
Fighter-interceptor alert hangar
Fighter-interceptor alert hangar
SAGE direction center
SAGE direction center
SAGE direction center
Type 4 air defense direction center
Type 4 air defense direction center
Type 4 air defense direction center
Type 4 air defense direction center
Type 4 air defense direction center
Hangar
Hangar
Hangar
Maintenance dock
Navy hangar
Control tower
Chapel
Dormitory Belton Communications Facility Annex MO, ILC BFWD, 38-49-47, 94-33-05. Just south of the base this property is still fenced and gated. The communications building is visible from the gate. This property was first used by the Air Force in 1959.
General view
Gate
General view A short distance to the west sits the former ADC munitions storage area. Also abandoned and gated, a few of the site's buildings and structures were visible from outside the fence. (I initially thought this was the Belton Training Annex, but I later learned it was not. Belton Training Annex is a few miles away and I did not visit it.)
Gate and building
Building
Building
Building
Building
General view Nike KC-30C MO, 38-49-51, 94-09-43. Time for the second Nike site of the day, this time KC-30, operational from 1959-1969. It looked like the buildings had been demolished in recent years. A couple of basketball hoops were the tallest objects I could see from the gate.
General view
General view Nike KC-30L MO, 38-49-01, 94-09-20. Most of the buildings were in reasonably good exterior condition, as seen from outside the gate. The launcher area itself looked like it is used for farm storage.
Gate
General view
General view
General view
General view
General view
General view
General view
General view Leaving the Kansas City area, I drove toward Warrensburg, Missouri. On my way I stopped at a few of the former Whiteman AFB Minuteman missile sites, which had been demolished in accordance with nuclear weapons treaty provisions. These launch facilities were assigned in 1963 and disposed of in 1999. Whiteman AF Missile Site M-09 MO, ILC YWQH, 38-44-12, 94-02-46
Gate Whiteman AF Missile Site M-06 MO, ILC YWQE, 38-42-26, 93-51-21
View from gate Whiteman AF Missile Site M-05 MO, ILC YWQD, 38-42-08, 93-43-03
Gate Whiteman AF Missile Site O-08 MO, ILC YWRE, 38-38-20, 93-33-50
View from gate Whiteman AF Missile Site F-01 MO, ILC YWLH, 38-28-48, 93-26-00. I did get a look at one launch control facility. It was assigned in 1962, excessed in 1999, and disposed of in 2002.
General view
General view Whiteman Communications Annex (Transmitter) MO, ILC YWHU, 38-41-56, 93-32-05. South of Whiteman AFB, I found this facility, acquired in 1953 and declared excess in 1977. It now appeared to be a residence.
General view
Access road Whiteman AF Missile Site O-1 MO. This launch control facility is on Whiteman AFB, so it does not have a separate installation location code. At the six operational Minuteman missile wings, this is the only one out of 100 launch control facilities to be located on the support base. It is now a museum, but was not open at the time of my visit.
General view
General view
General view
Launch control building
Minuteman II missile and B-47 bomber displays Then I made my way to Whiteman AFB and checked into billeting for the night, ending my driving day at 1600. This was a short day, covering only 282 miles in 9.5 hours.
Sunday, 3 July 2005
I made an early start, getting on the road at 0615. I had lots of ground to cover, since today's stops were all in the vicinity of Little Rock, Arkansas. These were Titan II missile sites; assigned in 1960 or 1961, and disposed of between 1990 and 1997. Little Rock AF Missile Site No. 10 AR (374-1), ILC NKCP, 35-13-36, 92-49-18Gate Little Rock AF Missile Site No. 12 AR (374-3), ILC NKCR, 35-18-41, 92-43-25
Gate Little Rock AF Missile Site No. 13 AR (374-4), ILC NKCS, 35-17-15, 92-43-51
Gate Little Rock AF Missile Site No. 11 AR (374-2), ILC NKCQ, 35-11-19, 92-37-50
Access road Little Rock AF Missile Site No. 07 AR (374-7), ILC NKCL, 35-26-08, 91-34-06
Gate Eberts Field AR, 34-47-50, 91-55-20. Next, I drove to Lonoke. The line of hangars for this WWI airfield runs north-south, at the east edge of the former flying field. I had access to the hangar floors--about a dozen of them--via a paved road running north-south just to their west. A historical marker describes the field and its wartime contribution. Much of the area of the flying field itself is now bermed and used as a fish farm. Construction on Eberts Field began in 1917, and it was operational from 1918 to 1920. I believe (but have not confirmed) that this was also the site of a WWII contract glider school, operated by Kenneth Starnes Flying Service for the AAF.
General view
Historical marker
Hangar floor
Hangar floor I stopped on Little Rock AFB at 1745, covering 554 miles in 11.5 hours. My billeting was in a 1955-vintage SAC dormitory (Building 880), my suite consisting of two former airman rooms and the connecting bath. I have stayed in this same building on all four of my overnight visits to Little Rock AFB. (And yes, of course I did the BX thing. Shoppette, too.)
Monday, 4 July 2005
Little Rock AF Missile Site No. 8 AR, ILC NKCM, 35-18-16, 91-39-08. I started out at 0500 and made my only stop of the day during twilight, just before sunrise.Gate Then I headed west. This final day of the trip took eight hours and covered 483 miles. Total mileage for the trip was 1,818. Updated March 29, 2025
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