Trip Report: Spring is in the Air
First published in 2002. Reformatted 2025. This report consolidates several trips I made during April-June 2002. 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, 20 April 2002
Heavy rains for several weekends had postponed this trip. Today's forecast looked like lots of clouds but only light to moderate rain, so I went for it. Childress AAFld TX, 34-26, 100-18. Heading west before dawn, my first stop of the day would be the farthest point from home. Currently the Childress Municipal Airport (CDS), this base was a bombardier school in WWII. It was raining during my visit, so I photographed from inside the car. These were the only structures I saw that seemed to date from the 1940s.Hangar
Hangar
Building Arlie Intermediate Field TX, 34-40-15, 100-07-30. From Childress, I started the return trip. Now farmland, this was site 9 on the AQ-FV airway. I don't find it listed under any specific AAF base, but it is shown on a 1944 map of AAF facilities.
General view Altus AF Missile Site #9 OK. Moving east, I crossed into Oklahoma. This was one of 12 Atlas F sites controlled by Altus AFB in the early 1960s.
General view
General view
Gate Altus Training Annex OK, ILC AGNJ, 34-31-30, 99-42-00. I don't know the specific use of this property, but Altus AFB controlled it from 1943 until an unknown date, then again from 1975 to 1996. It covers 1,280 acres of land, and has reverted to farmland with hunting leases.
General view
General view
General view Altus AF Missile Site #8 OK. From the access road, one Quonset hut was visible. From the access gate of a neighboring business, the launch control center access portal was visible.
Access road
Quonset hut and access portal Olustee Auxiliary Field #3 OK, 34-31, 99-26. Making my way east to the town of Olustee, I looked for Olustee Municipal Airport OK (F09). During WWII this was an auxiliary to Altus AAFld. None of the buildings looked to be WWII vintage. Visibility was limited with a low ceiling during my brief visit, and I could hear a small aircraft flying nearby. So, I kept a cautious watch as I walked around the end of the current runway looking for signs of the other two runways. The outlines are visible in recent aerial photos; I was disappointed that I could not see traces of them on the ground. When I returned to my vehicle, the aircraft engine was still audible, although I never saw the airplane. I hope he wasn't lost in the overcast.
Runway and hangars Altus AF Missile Site #7 TX. Missile buffs know there was only one ICBM main base in Texas: Dyess AFB. It controlled 12 Atlas F sites. But there were 13 ICBM sites in Texas. One of the 12 sites controlled by Altus AFB, OK, was located across the state line, in Texas. One Quonset hut was visible from the gate.
Quonset hut
Gate Vernon Intermediate Field TX, 34-16, 99-18. Heading south toward Vernon, I viewed the location of a former intermediate field. The published coordinates are in this overgrown area. This was site 15 on the AQ-FV airway. It was shown in 1943 and 1944 airfield directories with military use authorized, although it does not seem to have been under AAF control, or assigned to a specific base.
General view Vernon Municipal Airport Auxiliary Field #5 TX, 34-13-30, 99-17. A few miles farther south, closer to Vernon, I visited the current Wilbarger County Airport (F05). This was used in 1944 and 1945 as an auxiliary to Frederick AAFld.
General view
Hangar I made it home shortly after 1600, making this a 10.5-hour trip covering 570 miles. In spite of the rain and mist, it was a nice day's drive.
Saturday, 27 April 2002
Hale County Airport TX, 34-10, 101-43. Another trip out west! First stop on this journey would be Plainview, Texas, to check out a couple of airfields. South of town, this airport was used as an auxiliary field to Reese AFB, during 1952 and 1953.Hangar
Control tower
T-33 display aircraft Plainview National Guard Armory TX On the airport grounds, this armory was constructed in 1956.
General view Plainview TX, 34-16-15, 101-43-00. Several miles north of Plainview, I sought remnants of the civil glider school operated by Clent Breedlove Aerial Service for the AAF during WWII. This contract flying school only operated until late 1942 or early 1943. The airport continued to operate until at least 1944, with use by Army aircraft authorized.
General view Hereford Communications Site GWEN 892 TX, ILC KLZY. From Plainview I drove toward Amarillo, stopping at this former GWEN site. Disposed of in 2000, this site had been in use since the late 1980s or early 1990s. Also referred to as Summerfield, this was a detached installation of Cannon AFB.
Equipment shelters
Gate and tower
Fence and tower
Equipment shelters
Equipment shelters Fort Sumner Army Air Field NM, 34-29, 104-13. I drove west to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Northeast of town I visited Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (FSU). During most of WWII it was a flying school under the training command; first an advanced glider school then advanced two-engine. Late in the war the base transferred to Second Air Force. One vintage hangar stands, and I saw the floor of another. Foundations remained from some buildings. NASA has a facility on the airport. A short distance from the former main gate of the base, I found a sign for the Zia Rapid Assessment Area (ZRAA). Seems that AFOTEC used part of the airport, along with thousands of acres of ranch land, for a field test of an unmanned aerial vehicle in 1998.
Hangar
Hangar and foundation of former building
Hangar door tracks and floor
Building foundations
NASA bulding
ZRRA sign
General view Final stop of the day was Cannon AFB, where I checked into billeting and made the mandatory BX/Shoppette run before settling in for the night. Today's drive covered 673 miles in 13 hours.
Sunday, 28 April 2002
Scurry County Airport TX, 32-42, 100-57. Since my path home took me through Snyder, I checked out the airport, now also called Winston Field. It was an auxiliary field for Webb AFB from 1963 to 1968.Buildingr
Hangar
Hangar
Beacon light and wind tetrahedron Lonestar Snyder Electronic Scoring Site TX, ILC SNYD. On the west side of the airport, a new electronic scoring complex is under construction. It is described in an environmental survey published in 2000, and newspaper reports indicate construction began in 2001. The sign at the site proclaimed an estimated completion date of December 2001, which was four months late at the time of my visit. The Lonestar ESS is the product of the Realistic Bomber Training Initiative, designed to provide effective training for B-1s from Dyess AFB and B-52s from Barksdale AFB. This facility in Snyder is replacing the ESS in Everton (Harrison), Arkansas. The RBTI program includes a similar ESS complex near Pecos, Texas, which is already in use and replaced the ESS at La Junta, Colorado. Orders published by Air Combat Command shows this site was activated as Snyder Winston Field Electronic Scoring Site on 1 December 2001, and renamed on 6 March 2002.
Building and sign This was a 581-mile day, covered in 11.25 hours. Total miles for this overnight trip: 1,254.
Saturday, 11 May 2002
Howard County Airport TX, 32-18-20, 101-26-17. My first stop was north of Big Spring. Back around 1970, the Air Force based T-41s from Webb AFB at this airport, and conducted the T-41 phase of training here. Now the airport is mostly abandoned, with a few industrial businesses and a RC model airplane activity. The red-and-white greenhouse structure on one hangar looks very much like GCA facilities I've seen at other Air Force auxiliary fields. It was likely part of the USAF operation from thirty years ago.General view
Airfield pavement and hangar
Hangar with control cab
Hangar with control cab Big Spring Army Glider School TX, 32-30, 101-33. Moving north out of Big Spring, toward Ackerly, I picked up FM 1584 and headed west. This was a glider school (probably a contract school) in use from about 1942-1944, but I have discovered very little information beyond that. This photo is looking east at the location of the coordinates.
General view Lamesa Field TX, 32-50-45, 101-55-00. Driving through Lamesa on US 87, I cut west a couple miles on dirt roads. This was an AAF contract flying school in WWII, operated first by John H. Wilson Glider School then switching in 1943 to liaison pilot training by Clent Breedlove Aerial Services. For at least a few years after the war, this served as Lamesa Municipal Airport. Currently, the airfield area is farmland, and the building area has a few private driveways leading in, with lots of trees blocking the view.
General view
Hangar
Hangar Dyess AF Missile Site #12 TX. I headed to Anson, and cut north a ways to revisit an Atlas F site. I noticed an azimuth marker east of the entrance gate, that I overlooked on my previous visits. In the photo, the missile site is in the background.
Azimuth marker post After a Dairy Queen stop in Anson, I headed down through Abilene to home. This was a long day, 14 hours covering 785 miles.
Saturday, 25 May 2002
We spent Memorial Day weekend in Colorado Springs. Naturally, I managed to see a few former bases while we were there. Ent AFB CO, ILC GBUZ, 38-50-24, 104-47-51. The former base is now the Olympic Training Center. Two dormitories and other buildings look vintage. Many of the buildings are either new or altered since the Air Force days. Ent had its start in 1943 as Headquarters Second Air Force; by the time the base transferred from the Army to the Air Force in 1948 it was known as Headquarters 15th Air Force. It was designated Ent Air Force Base on 10 June 1949--and the designating general order called it the former Colorado Springs Tent Camp. Ent AFB was inactive from December 1949 to January 1951, and then stayed open until 1975. It was then assigned to Peterson AFB, and may have been known as Ent Annex. Records I've seen are a bit confusing after this time. One Air Force book says Ent was declared excess on 30 June 1976 and disposed of 7 February 1978; a DAF order shows Ent AFB transferring from ADC to SAC on 1 October 1979; and a Space Command order shows Ent AFB disposed of on 12 December 1990.Building
Building
Non-historic buildings
Non-historic buildings
Non-historic buildings
Non-historic buildings
Non-historic buildings
Monday, 27 May 2002
I had the day to myself, so I hit the road for some historical "site" seeing. Vineland Communications Site GWEN 665 CO, ILC XZGM. We first headed south to Pueblo, and caught a peek of a GWEN antenna in the distance. We didn't get a close look since the former USAF site is on the still-active Pueblo Chemical Depot. But the tower was easily seen from a public road two miles to the west. This GWEN site was in use from sometime in the 1980s until 1999.General view Pueblo Army Air Base CO, 38-17-30, 104-29-30. We also stopped at Pueblo Memorial Airport (PUB), a WWII base. There is a museum on the airport grounds, which has some nice aircraft. Only problem was we were "assigned" to a docent, who led us step-by-step through the displays and didn't want us getting ahead of him. I handed him my card and explained my research, in hopes he would realize we were smart enough to browse the museum on our own. That didn't work, so when he was distracted by a phone call, we made a run for it. The museum has potential, but I won't return unless they change their procedures. A vintage airways beacon, moved from another location, is on display outside.
Hangar
Beacon light
Sign Ellicott Communications Site GWEN 880 CO, ILC FWHK. Motoring back to Colorado Springs, we found this GWEN site on part of the former Peterson Ground Gunnery Range. The GWEN tower had been removed, but it once stood between this short tower and the taller tower. The equipment shelters are probably among these, or possibly they were in this empty enclosure. This GWEN site served from sometime in the 1980s until about 2000.
General location of former tower
Possible equipment shelters
Empty equipment enclosure Lowry Missile Site #2 (725-C) CO, ILC NTNM. Our last stop of the day was near Elizabeth. This was a Titan I site, in use from about 1960 to 1965. Now controlled by the county, the site didn't show us many clues. We could make out what I think were the guidance antenna silos, and possibly a pair of orientation targets, but not much more.
Gate
General view
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General view
Tuesday, 28 May 2002
On our drive home from Colorado to Texas, we stopped at Sheppard AFB for food and fuel. Sheppard is still an active training base, and those airmen look younger every time I visit.Saturday, 8 June 2002
Another one-day romp across west and central Texas. Dyess Recreation Annex No. 2 TX, 31-49-20, 99-03-12. First stop was the south shore of Lake Brownwood. This property was donated to the U.S. Government by Brown County in 1957, and was used by of Dyess AFB until early 1966. Now, much of it is in private hands although there is a public boat ramp.General view
General view Dyess Small Arms Range Annex TX. I paused for a quick look at my former rifle range, on the WWII Camp Barkeley. The road up the hill looks much like it did when I drove it many times in the late 1970s.
Gate
View from gate Eldorado Air Force Station TX, ILC ELAW. I saw this site in 1994 when it was active; then in 1997 when it was in caretaker status. Since then, the radar components have been removed from the facility and shipped to Alaska. Instead of seeing the antenna arrays, those sections of the building are covered with protective siding. Aside from some unruly weeds and a tattered windsock at the helipad, the site looks very much like it did on my earlier visits.
Gate
General view
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Helipad Goodfellow Radio Range TX, PIN 1150, 31-23-35, 100-23-00. Driving back north into San Angelo, I looked for this former NAVAID. This site was in use from about 1940 to 1964. The site has been pretty well obliterated. The view from the south shows the general area.
General view Goodfellow Direction Finder Annex TX, PIN 5225, 31-24-25, 100-22-55. Not far to the northeast, this site served Goodfellow AFB from the early 1950s to 1960. Comparing layout plans to aerial photos, I could find the site quite easily. The photograph shows the view from the north.
General view Next, I stopped on Goodfellow AFB for fuel, food, and the mandatory BX visit. Then I headed for home, wrapping up this 670-mile trip in 13 hours. Updated January 26, 2025
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