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1940–present. During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) established numerous airfields in Arizona for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers. Most of these airfields were under the command of Fourth Air Force or the Army Air Forces Training Command (AAFTC) (A predecessor of the current-day United ...
Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now, Vol. 2. Pictorial Histories Pub . ISBN 1575100517; Military Airfields in World War II – Arizona; Marana Arizona Airport History; History of Ernest A. Love Field; Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields
Southwest Airways established four training airfields in the Phoenix area: Thunderbird Field No. 1 in Glendale, Thunderbird Field No. 2 in Scottsdale, Falcon Field in Mesa and at Sky Harbor Airport. At the conclusion of the War, Thunderbird Field No. 1,649 acres of land on the southwest corner of 59th Avenue and Greenway Rd., was sold by the Army as wartime surplus.
- Overview
- Major Airfields
- Known Secondary Facilities
- References
- External links
During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) established numerous airfields in Arizona for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers. Most of these airfields were under the command of Fourth Air Force or the Army Air Forces Training Command (AAFTC) (A predecessor of the current-day United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command). However, the other USAAF support commands (Air Technical Service Command (ATSC); Air Transport Command (ATC) or Troop Carrier Command) commanded a significant number of airfields in a support roles.
It is still possible to find remnants of these wartime airfields. Many were converted into municipal airports, some were returned to agriculture and several were retained as United States Air Force installations and were front-line bases during the Cold War. Hundreds of the temporary buildings that were used survive today, and are being used for other purposes.
Air Transport Command
•Coolidge Army Airfield, 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Coolidge
Now: Coolidge Municipal Airport (IATA: P08)
•Winslow Municipal Airport, Winslow
Now: Winslow-Lindbergh Regional Airport (IATA: INW, ICAO: KINW)
Fourth Air Force
•Ernest Love Field 34°39′16″N 112°22′33″W / 34.65444°N 112.37583°W / 34.65444; -112.37583
(8 mi (13 km) north-northeast of Prescott); USAAF Limited Usage
•Laguna Army Airfield 32°51′36″N 114°23′48″W / 32.86°N 114.39667°W / 32.86; -114.39667
(6 mi (9.7 km) northeast of the Laguna Diversion Dam); USAAF Limited Usage
•Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
•Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
•Thole, Lou (1999), Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now - Vol. 2. Pictorial Histories Pub . ISBN 1-57510-051-7
•Military Airfields in World War II - Arizona
•Arizona in World War II
during World War II
People
•John Brown, Jr.
•Thomas Claw
•Jack Fujimoto
Profiles from WWII: Arizona WWII Military Aviation. Sept. 18, 2007. More from this show. Arizona’s weather and wide-open spaces made it an excellent place to train American, British and Chinese pilots during World War II. The state was home to dozens of air fields, some of them among the largest in the world.
Thunderbird Field was a military airfield in Glendale, Arizona, used for contract primary flight training of Allied pilots during World War II.Created in part by actor James Stewart, [1] the field became part of the United States Army Air Forces training establishment just prior to American entry into the war and was re-designated Thunderbird Field #1 after establishment of Thunderbird Field#2 ...
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Now Scottsdale Airport. Scottsdale Airport began on June 22, 1942, as Thunderbird Field II, a basic training facility for World War II Army Air Corps pilots. Since its inception, Thunderbird Field II graduated more than 5,500 students, a total three times greater than the entire total contemplated by the Air Forces’ original expansion program.
