Trip Report: Abilene Roundup
First published in 1999. Reformatted 2025. This trip included some off-base installations of Dyess AFB. I also worked a couple of WWII contract flying schools and the Abilene municipal airport into the game plan. 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.Saturday, 3 July 1999
Hamilton Airport TX, 31-40, 98-09. Departing home at 0620, I took a somewhat indirect route from Arlington to Abilene. First, I cruised south to visit a WWII contract flying training base. It's still used as an airport, and no obvious traces of WWII use were present.Airfield Dyess AF Missile Site #4 TX. From there, I took Texas highway 36 toward Abilene. The next stop was an Atlas F missile site. One Quonset hut was visible on the property. Dyess AFB was ringed by 12 of these ICBM sites, operational from 1961 to 1965.
View from road Dyess AF Missile Site #5 TX. Continuing on Farm Road 604, I found this Atlas F site gated and posted.
Gate Dyess AF Missile Site #6 TX. This Atlas F site was later used as a landfill by Lawn. Gated and locked, with a sign stating the landfill had closed in 1993.
Gate Abilene Bombing and Gunnery Range TX, 32-02-58, 99-48-22. Now it was time to detour south from Farm Road 604, and follow some dirt roads to the approximate center of the former WWII range. Nice and scenic, and no traces of AAF use that I could see.
General view
General view Dyess AF Missile Site #7 TX. Back to the paved Farm Road 604, and on to the next missile site. Also gated and locked.
Gate Dyess AF Missile Site #8 TX. Now it was time to venture a bit south, to Winters, and head east on Farm Road 1770. Some houses and mobile homes are on the former Atlas F site.
View from road Dyess AF Missile Site #9 TX. Heading back north and onto US 277, I found this Atlas F site gated and locked, with a "Positively no trespassing" sign.
Gate Dyess AF Missile Site #10 TX. Meandering to the west took me to another gated and posted former Atlas F site.
Gate Dyess Small Arms Range Annex TX. While I was in the neighborhood, I drove by my former rifle range. It was on part of the WWII Camp Barkeley.
Gate Dyess ILS Outer Marker Annex TX, at 32-20, 99-50. Then I tried to find a former NAVAID. I couldn't get to the exact location, but from the road I could see the tall wooden poles, evidence of the property's early use as a radio range.
View from road
View from road Abilene Municipal Airport TX. I made a brief visit just north of the present airport, validating what USGS maps indicated--the parking lot of the Abilene Zoo sits on what used to be the north end of a runway at the airport. The northwest end of another former runway is a parking lot for ball fields next to the zoo. At some point in time after WWII, the airport was reconfigured to the south of its original siting. The City Coliseum sits on the edge of the former ramp area. This airport was listed as "Abilene Army Air Field (old)" in a March 1943 airfield directory. By the May 1943 directory, this airport was called "Abilene Air Terminal."
General view
General view
General view Dyess AF Missile Site #1 TX. Picked up Farm Road 1082 and took it north to the site of... another locked gate. Gee, I'm gonna have fun sorting out all these photos of gates.
Gate Nike DY-10L TX. I paused at Nike launcher site for a quick photo of the gate.
Gate and sentry house. I ended the day at Dyess AFB, paying all of $13.50 for a suite. Stopping at 1820, I drove 535 miles in 12 hours.
Sunday, 4 July 1999
Dyess AF Missile Site #11 TX. Wheels in the wells at 0630. First item on the day's agenda was to head north on Farm Road 707 to yet another former Atlas F site. I found a locked gate, with a Quonset hut visible in the distance.Gate
Quonset hut Dyess AF Missile Site #12 TX. Found my way back to US 277 and headed north past Corinth; headed west on Ranch Road 1636 to another Atlas F missile site. The gates were open, but the signs left no doubt strangers were not welcome.
Gate Arledge Field TX. Continuing on US 277 to Stamford, I found this WWII contract flying school. A few buildings and hangars were reminders of the wartime days, as was a circular sidewalk with a flagpole mount in the center.
Building
Hangars
Hangars
184-foot demountable hangar
184-foot demountable hangar Dyess AF Missile Site #2 TX. Took State 6 and US 180 to Anson, and shortly after turning south on US 283 I found this former Atlas F site.
Gate Dyess AF Missile Site #3 TX. Time to head south to I-20 and backtrack a few miles to locate this former Atlas F missile site on Ranch Road 18. A telltale Quonset was visible on site.
View from road Elmdale Air Park TX, 32-26-58, 99-38-56. Before I settled in for a couple hours on the interstate, I visited this small airport. It was never a military installation, but is the site of my one and only parachute jump, once upon a time in 1977. Static line jump from 3,000 feet out of a Cessna 182.
General view Wolters AFB TX, 32-50-15, 98-02-13. Headed east on I-20 until I neared Mineral Wells, then I headed north to the former base. I noticed the 1,000-yard targets for the George Tubb Memorial Range, operated by the Fort Wolters Shooting Sports Club. The range is near a former munitions storage area, and some munitions storage igloos are visible from the firing line.
Firing range
Munitions storage igloos Nike DF-70L TX. I located Nike Site DF-70 using satellite imagery on TerraServer. Both the launcher and control sites are on the former Wolters AFB and are now TX ArNG property, not accessible from public roads. The closest I was to the launcher site was a gate at 32-50-37, 98-03-55.
Gate Nike DF-70C TX. The closest I got to the control site was a gate at 32-50-28, 98-02-41.
Gate Ended the trip at 1530, covering 451 miles in 9 hours. Total distance for this trip was 986 miles. Updated January 26, 2025
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