14 ms·

Abandoned and little-known airfields

256 points by Stratoscope 3y ago

cstuder 3y ago
I randomly clicked on `Wyoming` and halfway down the page came across a picture of Amelia Earhart. That was a fun surprise.
Pamar 3y ago
This has been published already another 6 times (at least): https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=airfields-freeman.com https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=airfields-freeman.com
- Stratoscope 3y ago
  For an aviation history enthusiast like me, a site like this is always worth another look. I live on the San Francisco Peninsula. I'd heard that there had been little airports up and down the peninsula, but I didn't know much about them. This page brought them to life: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm I used to live in Los Gatos, and I had no idea there was a little airport in the hills just out of town! http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanJose.htm http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanJose.htm
  - fragmede 3y ago
    Of course, the local trivia about San Carlos, which is just down the street from Redwood city, previously Oracle HQ, Is that its IATA code is SQL.
    - Stratoscope 3y ago
      Making this even more of a fun coincidence, San Carlos Airport was SQL long before Oracle was founded!
  - eweise 3y ago
    I remember the airport down at the marina in San Francisco when was a kid. Now its a big grassy field.
    - Stratoscope 3y ago
      Would that be Crissy Field? http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm#crissy http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm... There was also Montgomery Field / Marina Airfield (now the Marina Green), but you would have to be even older than me to have seen that one. http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm#marina http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm...
      - eweise 3y ago
        Yes the Crissy Field one. Didn't realize there was another marina one.
- Cthulhu_ 3y ago
  And yet, every time it's reposted, new eyes will see it; this is the same problem that e.g. Reddit has, it's full of reposts, but there's so many posts that nobody will ever actually go down the list and read all previous posts. Reposts are an issue on low-volume sites, but HN is not a low volume site. Reposts are also allowed, since reposts done on different times or times of the week can attract a lot more comments, as proven by the search link that shows just one of the 6 reposts having more than one comment.
  - Pamar 3y ago
    I posted the list, so people can also see when it was commented the most, I am not advocating "do not post duplicates", just making an effort to show that this specific site/article had been discussed more than once so if you are interested maybe you'd like to check the old threads. (btw, I thought that in the past "duplicates" would be converted to automatic +1 to older entries of the same item? Has this changed? am I misremembering?)
    - Stratoscope 3y ago
      > I thought that in the past "duplicates" would be converted to automatic +1 to older entries of the same item? You are definitely correct about that. Several times recently, I have submitted articles and found myself on a recent submission of the same article (which presumably got a +1 as a result). Maybe enough time elapsed since the last submission of this article that this didn't happen? In any case, we can all enjoy this cool site that documents so much aviation history.
- toyg 3y ago
  https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
- rob 3y ago
  And I've seen it 0 times since joining in 2007. Happy that it was re-posted today - I spent about 20 minutes on it.
rft 3y ago
A related tidbit of trivia: some highways around the world are intended as emergency airfields. It doesn't mean you can just stop traffic and land, you need to prepare the area, e.g. remove dividers, but it can be done relatively fast if needed. Wikipedia has some info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_strip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_strip At least here in Germany many were abandoned/removed, but you can still see traces around. The German Wikipedia on this topic has a list.
- throwaway798214 3y ago
  At least in Finland and Sweden those highways-as-emergency-airfields are always in use, no need to prep the area or remove dividers in any way. They are mostly used by the army for practicing, basically the police will just close the road so the army can practice, and when the army is done the road is opened again. https://moottori.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Kesabaana23-Tikkakoski-Ilmavoimat-2.jpeg https://moottori.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Kesabaana23-T...
  - fineline 3y ago
    Plus the Swedish Gripen jet fighters are designed to operate off roads rather than requiring long, smooth runways, as well as be main†ained in the field.
  - CTDOCodebases 3y ago
    Switzerland hides some of their jets in mountains and uses the highways as runways. https://migflug.com/jetflights/hidden-swiss-air-force/ https://migflug.com/jetflights/hidden-swiss-air-force/
    - cf141q5325 3y ago
      Swiss military is a really interesting topic from so many perspectives. With such a high percentage of the population trained and involved in the military the terrain was also supposed to massively aid asymmetrical warfare. Holding mountain passes with light troops if need be. There were even some books that were discussed to become regular army manuals and had to be vetoed by the chief of staff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Resistance_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Resistance_(book) The article doesnt cite a source, but there are other sources claiming the same. https://www.fr.de/kultur/literatur/renne-fahrzeug-weg-10997147.html https://www.fr.de/kultur/literatur/renne-fahrzeug-weg-109971... https://blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/historyreloaded/index.php/2401/das-gefaehrlichste-buch-der-schweiz/ https://blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/historyreloaded/index.php/2401... Pls be advice that depending on local law, you might be better off sticking to the wiki page. >Nonetheless, the book remains part of the curriculum of the Swiss Army Military Academy at the ETH Zurich as one of the "classics of the history of strategy and the theory of war."[3]
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
Some previous discussion a few years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27192626 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27192626
- dang 3y ago
  Thanks! Macroexpanded: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27192626 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27192626 - May 2021 (38 comments) Abandoned and little known airfields - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16627274 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16627274 - March 2018 (1 comment)
defrost 3y ago
Almost abandoned, now revived but relatively unknown, one of my favourites is the Mungalalu Truscott Airbase in northern Australia, used during WWII for long range bombing of Japanese oil wells and depots in SE Asia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mungalalu_Truscott_Airbase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mungalalu_Truscott_Airbase Still home to WWII era (well, 1946 to 1951) Grumman G-73 Mallard air boats. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_G-73_Mallard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_G-73_Mallard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqMQWO5ffTA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqMQWO5ffTA
- sumtechguy 3y ago
  One guy I worked with started a glider club. Turns out they needed a runway. So they made one out of an old farmers field. No real runway just an empty field cut low and a small shack at the end of the run way to fix things. "I am going to name it an international something, not sure what". Few years later I asked him if they gave him his international name. They had! So this little random field is an 'international' airport.
  - seabass-labrax 3y ago
    I'm curious; what's the ICAO airport code? The story reminds me of Llandegley International airport[1], except in your colleague's case there actually was somewhere to land! [1]: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/wales-airport-llandegley-joke-b2226200.html https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/wales-a...
    - sumtechguy 3y ago
      Aw sorry dude it was like 20 years ago at this point. I do remember it started with an I and it was in the middle of North Carolina near Advance. They may have closed it since then.
      - seabass-labrax 3y ago
        Could it have been the Northbrook International Ultraport Ultralight Airport? It gets pretty close to your description: one grass runway, listed as privately owned by a James K. Peeler and nestled in underneath the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport's airspace in North Carolina.
KineticLensman 3y ago
Interesting to find out if there is a UK equivalent. We have a lot of historic airfields, partly as a legacy of the many that were constructed in WW2. Where these have been redeveloped for housing, a clue to the old purpose is often that many of new streets are named for old aircraft. I used to work at a Plessey [0] site that was built on an old airfield near Christchurch UK, along with a housing state. Street names include Brabazon, Halifax, De Havilland, The Runway, Sunderland, Catalina and Comet. Amusingly, when Siemens acquired Plessey [1], a team of senior Germans visited the site. They presented the management with a book of WW2 Luftwaffe photo-reconnaissance imagery (!) on which the old airfield was featured, saying IIRC "We didn't get you then, but we've got you now!". [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessey [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessey#GEC_Siemens_takeover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessey#GEC_Siemens_takeover
- arethuza 3y ago
  I found this page that has a map of WW2 airbases in the UK: https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/page.php?PgID=632446&ClubID=460 https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/page.php?PgID=632446&ClubI... edit: I thought there were quite a few of these in the part of Scotland where I grew up - nothing compared to the number in the south east of England!
  - martinclayton 3y ago
    Thanks for the link. I couldn't see Woodley in there: where Douglas Bader crashed, the home of Miles Aircraft, and also very close to where I lived as a child. Which led me to this one that might also be of interest: https://www.ukairfieldguide.net https://www.ukairfieldguide.net Woodley specifically: https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Woodley https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Woodley
    - cs02rm0 3y ago
      I think there are probably quite a lot missing. Long Marston and St. Athan for two.
  - 3y ago
wiredfool 3y ago
Interesting -- the one that I know of isn't listed on the Seattle Area page. https://www.openstreetmap.org/query?lat=48.06021&lon=-122.46199#map=15/48.0581/-122.4559 https://www.openstreetmap.org/query?lat=48.06021&lon=-122.46...
- S201 3y ago
  Cool, I'm in the Seattle area and didn't know of that one either. Do you have any background on it? I run a similar website to catalog all current airports, but also collect info on closed airports for historical purposes. I added a page for it here: https://pirep.io/airports/UNM96 https://pirep.io/airports/UNM96. If there's any info to document on it that would be wonderful.
  - wiredfool 3y ago
    It's a well known hiking area on the island. It's been part of the Saratoga Woods public park since it was bought by the land conservancy in ~2001. It was noted as abandoned at the time. The main part of the park is second growth, but the area around the airstrip looks to be mainly smaller trees, so possibly logged later, post early Seattle logging boom times.
dustincoates 3y ago
Floyd Bennett[0] is a nice abandoned airport to visit. It's a friendly bike ride from many parts of Brooklyn and they still have many of the original buildings. It's worth the afternoon trip. 0. http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_NY_Brooklyn.htm#Floyd http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_NY_Brooklyn...
AtlasBarfed 3y ago
Holy crap, there are planes that flew with 50 horsepower engines? Were they made of bamboo and canvas? Apparently the great creeping evil of airports is ... suburban housing.
- bombcar 3y ago
  There still are! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipistrel_Taurus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipistrel_Taurus is 55 horse, and I'm sure there are light sport aircraft that are even lighter.
  - seabass-labrax 3y ago
    I believe the lowest power aircraft engine currently in production is the Swedish Radne Raket 120 at the manufacturer's claimed output of 14 hp. However, Wikipedia suggests that the only fixed-wing aircraft using this powerplant requires two of of them, therefore adding up to 28 hp.
  - kirrent 3y ago
    If we're going to stay away from motor paragliders and other ultralights then you've still got the flight sustainer single seat gliders such as the Diana 2 which take off with an engine with peak 35hp power.
- cylinder714 3y ago
  >Were they made of bamboo and canvas? More like lightweight cotton fabric and steel tubing or Sitka spruce. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_fabric_covering https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_fabric_covering
hammock 3y ago
Meigs Field, Chicago's third, downtown airport is my favorite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field
- sokoloff 3y ago
  The (IMO) illegal destruction of that airfield is the reason I've vowed to never again voluntarily spend money in Chicago. I only flew in there a handful of times, but it was amazing to fly in and walk 10 minutes over to the Loop. Mayor Daley decided he didn't have to follow the law and his city doesn't want my money, so I don't want to force it upon them... https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/ten-years-later-daleys-midnight-raid-to-bulldoze-meigs-field/ https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/ten-years-later-daleys-...
  - ianbicking 3y ago
    When I lived in Chicago I generally hated how Daley operated, but on this one I was on his side. It was a silly use of space and served practically no one amidst a giant and bustling city. Removing the field would have been hung up in endless petty and bad-faith lawsuits. On principle I'm not sure I agree with what he did, but in practice I 100% supported it.
    - quantumwannabe 3y ago
      Today it's a lagoon and a field so it's even more of a waste of space.
  - hammock 3y ago
    Some awesome photos from OP website http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IL/Airfields_IL_Chicago_C.htm http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IL/Airfields_IL_Chicago_C.h...
  - ryandrake 3y ago
    The worst part is: Once an airport gets torn down, it's lost forever. It never gets re-built. And we basically don't build new airports in the USA anymore. Can anyone remember the last time a new airport was built (outside of people building private dirt airstrips on their 20 acre ranch in Idaho)? As population centers shift and housing gets built, people move in next to noisy airports and then say to themselves "Holy shit, I moved next to an airport and it's loud. How could I have known? Surely this is the airport's fault!" and they go complain to their city. A little public airport with a nice asphalt runway in my hometown recently went up for sale, and the price was within striking distance of what I could afford as an investment, but I chickened out and failed to pull the trigger. It would have meant moving across the country to manage it and convincing my company to let me work remotely (this was just before COVID when WFH suddenly became normalized). Sadly some shitty developer bought the plot and promptly closed the runway and facilities so he could build whatever shit he's going to build. Big regret.
xwdv 3y ago
Site has been around since 1999. Please be careful to not overwhelm the server.
est 3y ago
looks like this gets posted every year https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=airfields-freeman.com https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=airfields-freeman.com
- dang 3y ago
  Reposts are ok once a year or so! This is in the FAQ: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html.
SkyPuncher 3y ago
It's always fun with this site pops up. I discovered a new tidbit about the old Menominee Airport, MI [0] There's a park along US-2 that I've driven past called "Airport Park" [1]. It made little sense to me as there's nothing but woods around it and there's a airport in the town. Turns out, that park's name is still a holdover from when there was an actual airport there. [0] - http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/Airfields_MI_N.htm#menominee http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/Airfields_MI_N.htm#menom... [1] - https://www.google.com/maps/place/Airport+Park/@45.1627892,-87.5664517,13.73z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4d52a7121725006f:0x4591bf3c053985a0!8m2!3d45.1839009!4d-87.563944!16s%2Fg%2F11hy9vd723?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/place/Airport+Park/@45.1627892,-...
NelsonMinar 3y ago
Shout out to my local story in Grass Valley, CA: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/ca/Airfields_CA_NE.htm#grassvalley http://www.airfields-freeman.com/ca/Airfields_CA_NE.htm#gras... It has a credible claim to operating since around 1900, which makes it very old for a California airport. The owner (Lyman Gilmore) has a less-than-credible claim to flying an airplane in 1902, a year before the Wright Bros. It's a good story even if it's perhaps not true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman_Gilmore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman_Gilmore The local school built near the old airfield has a windsock as a commemoration.
- JKCalhoun 3y ago
  An aerodrome then.
dinkblam 3y ago
anyone know a similar resource for europe? ( i'd love to buy as much asphalt for as little as possible… )
gangstead 3y ago
I looked up the once-airport near where I grew up: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_Dallas_E.htm#temco http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_Dallas_E.ht... My parents worked at the defense contractor company on that site, E-Systems, for 30 years. I learned more about what they did there from this site today than I ever learned from them!
- vogt 3y ago
  Pretty cool. I lived out that way for a bit in the early 2010s (Abrams + Munger). I take it you're from Garland originally, or did you grow up in the city?
  - gangstead 3y ago
    I've bounced around the suburbs from there (Richardson, Garland, etc)
vogt 3y ago
Wow, this is a great blast from the past. I grew up on the road where this airport http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MA/Airfields_MA_C.htm#norfolk http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MA/Airfields_MA_C.htm#norfo... was. You would walk right out our front door and the field with runways was right in front of you. I vividly remember being about 6-7 years old (so, 1993-1994) and seeing a plane crash in the field. Was hoping to find mention of it but didn't see any. Either way, total nostalgia flood. Simpler times. Thanks OP!
mindcrime 3y ago
One that I guess would fit into the "little known" category would be Bear Pen Airport[1] in Brunswick County NC. The facility is owned by the NC Forestry Service for use in firefighting efforts. But as far as I know it's very rarely (if ever) used anymore. As the linked notes say: - FACILITY USED BY NC FOREST SVC FOR FIRE CONTROL. - NOT MAINTAINED DURING OFF SEASON; USE NOT RECOMMENDED DURING FIRE SEASON. [1] https://www.airnav.com/airport/NC43 https://www.airnav.com/airport/NC43
yubiox 3y ago
Very nice site. The northwest Sacramento, CA page has Natomas Field where I used to hang out all the time and fly amazing planes from. The flying club had a Decathlon for acrobatics, a Piper Cub for cruising low and slow, and a Bonanza for taking trips, plus many other aircraft. So much fun. It was so sad when the houses were built there and they closed the airport around 2000.
phkahler 3y ago
There is a huge one missing in northern Michigan. The site is used for winter testing by several auto companies. They have a website here: https://www.smithers.com/industries/transportation/automotive/winter-proving-grounds https://www.smithers.com/industries/transportation/automotiv... It was a large airport with 3 runways in a triangle configuration. Last time I was there I thought it was owned by Continental.
jameshart 3y ago
Here’s one entry that should fascinate young hackers, who think tech company extravagance was a invented by Google in the dotcom era, and exclusive to Silicon Valley: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MA/Airfields_MA_NE.htm#dec http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MA/Airfields_MA_NE.htm#dec > As the 1960s progressed, Digital's success found it expanding rapidly, but unable to find office space near its Maynard headquarters. They began purchasing additional campuses all around Boston & initiated their own dedicated helicopter service to ferry people between locations. > … > Jack Falvey reported, “The helicopters were not executive perks at DEC; they were used by any & all employees who wanted to avoid traffic in going from place to place. > This egalitarian policy further emphasized just how different DEC was & how indifferent they appeared to be to the cost of anything. > In doing [my] case study, we were told that DEC had state-of-the-art video-conferencing facilities that no one used because it was sexier to take the helicopters.”
- MichaelZuo 3y ago
  Helicopter flight costs per passenger were much cheaper back then due to low oil prices, less stringent safety standards, and close to zero regulations regarding noise around helipads. Maybe as little as a fifth of the cost, inflation adjusted, a similar heli service in 2023 would be. So not as extravagant as it sounds in the modern context.
  - jameshart 3y ago
    True. The 1960s ‘Massachusetts Helicopter Airlines’ flier included on that page indicates that a scheduled half hourly commercial helicopter service from Logan to 128 was charging $10 a ticket - that’s about $70 in today’s money, which, coincidentally, is about what an Uber from Logan to 128 will cost you. So in terms of extravagance I guess running your own inter-office helicopter service in the 1960s amounts to something similar to running an on demand ride service today. Not ridiculous for a multi campus company to consider doing such a thing. That said, DEC apparently kept this helicopter thing running right up to the 1990s, through a couple of oil shocks and the invention of the EPA, so… not sure it remained that cheap to run.
spelunker 3y ago
I live near the site of the old Lowry AFB in suburban Denver. I remember when the base was shut down, but not much beyond that because I was pretty young. Those photos of when it was in operation are incredible. Thank you for sharing!
browningstreet 3y ago
The interface is pretty rough. A publicly shared Airtable or Excel spreadsheet would work better. Tried to find this airfield in Sierraville, CA: https://www.airnav.com/airport/O79 https://www.airnav.com/airport/O79 I may or may not have been able to find the right categorization page, from which.. as far as I can tell.. it's absent.
- buildsjets 3y ago
  This is a website for abandoned airfields. Your link is to an actively used airfield. So, you should bot be surprised that it is absent.
  - browningstreet 3y ago
    My point is: if there was a search field I could confirm the airfield’s absence. If CA was more hierarchical or clearly organized I could see whether or not the airfield is present or absent. Also, it’s for little used airfields too, which this one probably qualifies.
wing-_-nuts 3y ago
Apparently, my hometown had an airfield associated with the local country club. I was pretty shocked to see pictures of people with nice cars at a time when my great grandfather was still traveling to town with a mule and buggy. Wow.
UberFly 3y ago
So much cool info and photos on that site. I was able to find the (abandoned at the time) runway a mile from my house that we used to ride bikes on as a kid. I had no idea the infrastructure that had been there at one time.
tamimio 3y ago
Slightly off-topic: Take a note web developer, you see there is a fully functional site with images, links, and everything with no or minimum js needed, it looks authentic and fast to browse, pretty much 90% of the cases you don’t need most of the stuff you shove into visitors faces, grapghQL node_modules vite etc.. look at this! https://roadmap.sh/frontend https://roadmap.sh/frontend
julienchastang 3y ago
I grew up near one of these [0]. My friends and I would go to the air traffic control hut just to hang out and watch planes. There was also a vending machine where we could buy soda (enticing for kids in a rural area with not many services). The airstrip had a role to play in WWII apparently something that was mentioned when developers wanted to build a large condo complex there and local opposition mounted to scuttle the project (NIMBY in retrospect). I remember an accident when two planes landed too close together if memory serves correct and killed one of the pilots. Anyway, I loved that little airport checking out the parked Cessna's and watching planes land and take off. The landing flight path was right above our house. Over the years the trees grew taller and we could no longer see the landing strip from our house. The red fuel towers were there until recently (long after the airport closed, probably had toxic waste that required elaborate cleanup), but apparently no longer there[1]. Good times... [0] http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_SE.htm#mahopac http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_SE.htm#maho... [1] https://goo.gl/maps/99chYDHCWkFmbhku5 https://goo.gl/maps/99chYDHCWkFmbhku5
Simon_O_Rourke 3y ago
Add in Boston Logan airport to that list, while it might be more widely known it's basically an abandoned zoo once you get in the front doors
pfist 3y ago
This is great! Some of the listed Oregon airfields aren't foo far from me, so I might have to pay them a visit. I'm an avid researcher of abandoned locations and their histories. There is nothing quite like immersing yourself in the past, especially if you can stand in the location for yourself. Imagine all the paths that intersected there; the lives that were changed. Even the smallest trace you leave behind may be rediscovered by someone in the future, and they may wonder what your life was like. They may even be connected to you in some way. Perhaps this trace is what leads them to discover that connection.
username135 3y ago
The color scheme on that site is horrendous
JoeDaDude 3y ago
My former employer, the Naval Air Development Center in Warminster PA is listed. The one-time Naval base once supported a centrifuge (as mentioned in the listing) used to subject future astronauts to high G levels. What became of the centrifuge is somewhat unexpected, as described in this little blog post: https://jeffzurita.com/2019/07/15/about-things-that-arent-there-anymore-except-they-are-but-different/ https://jeffzurita.com/2019/07/15/about-things-that-arent-th... TL;DR: It is now a party zone! https://rentthefuge.com/thefuge/ https://rentthefuge.com/thefuge/
theyknowitsxmas 3y ago
Worth noting most of these are developed over and don't exist. You won't land your ultralight.
sfmike 3y ago
I find myself clicking around because how snappy this is to load
throw-ru-938 3y ago
Tangentially related: after Izhma Airfield (in Komi Republic, Russia) was closed to fixed-wing aircraft, its supervisor still continued to do maintenance on the airstrip, even through it was no longer needed. Then, 7 years later, an airliner lost power in that area, and the pilots were surprised to find a perfectly functional runway. The plane landed with no injuries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alrosa_Flight_514 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alrosa_Flight_514
- xattt 3y ago
  The origin airport was located in an area called Udachny, which means Lucky.
tantony 3y ago
Wow! I used to fly out of the Ames airport and earned my PPL there. It turns out that it wasn't always at the same spot. I looked it up and apparently my house was on land that used to be the airport back in the day! My old house is actually on the map shown there. [1] http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IA/Airfields_IA_W.htm#ames http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IA/Airfields_IA_W.htm#ames [1] http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IA/Airfields_IA_W.htm#ames http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IA/Airfields_IA_W.htm#ames

256 points by Stratoscope 3y ago

I randomly clicked on `Wyoming` and halfway down the page came across a picture of Amelia Earhart. That was a fun surprise.

Pamar 3y ago

This has been published already another 6 times (at least): https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=airfields-freeman.com https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=airfields-freeman.com

Stratoscope 3y ago
For an aviation history enthusiast like me, a site like this is always worth another look. I live on the San Francisco Peninsula. I'd heard that there had been little airports up and down the peninsula, but I didn't know much about them. This page brought them to life: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm I used to live in Los Gatos, and I had no idea there was a little airport in the hills just out of town! http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanJose.htm http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanJose.htm
- fragmede 3y ago
  Of course, the local trivia about San Carlos, which is just down the street from Redwood city, previously Oracle HQ, Is that its IATA code is SQL.
  - Stratoscope 3y ago
    Making this even more of a fun coincidence, San Carlos Airport was SQL long before Oracle was founded!
- eweise 3y ago
  I remember the airport down at the marina in San Francisco when was a kid. Now its a big grassy field.
  - Stratoscope 3y ago
    Would that be Crissy Field? http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm#crissy http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm... There was also Montgomery Field / Marina Airfield (now the Marina Green), but you would have to be even older than me to have seen that one. http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm#marina http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanFran.htm...
    - eweise 3y ago
      Yes the Crissy Field one. Didn't realize there was another marina one.
Cthulhu_ 3y ago
And yet, every time it's reposted, new eyes will see it; this is the same problem that e.g. Reddit has, it's full of reposts, but there's so many posts that nobody will ever actually go down the list and read all previous posts. Reposts are an issue on low-volume sites, but HN is not a low volume site. Reposts are also allowed, since reposts done on different times or times of the week can attract a lot more comments, as proven by the search link that shows just one of the 6 reposts having more than one comment.
- Pamar 3y ago
  I posted the list, so people can also see when it was commented the most, I am not advocating "do not post duplicates", just making an effort to show that this specific site/article had been discussed more than once so if you are interested maybe you'd like to check the old threads. (btw, I thought that in the past "duplicates" would be converted to automatic +1 to older entries of the same item? Has this changed? am I misremembering?)
  - Stratoscope 3y ago
    > I thought that in the past "duplicates" would be converted to automatic +1 to older entries of the same item? You are definitely correct about that. Several times recently, I have submitted articles and found myself on a recent submission of the same article (which presumably got a +1 as a result). Maybe enough time elapsed since the last submission of this article that this didn't happen? In any case, we can all enjoy this cool site that documents so much aviation history.
toyg 3y ago
https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/
rob 3y ago
And I've seen it 0 times since joining in 2007. Happy that it was re-posted today - I spent about 20 minutes on it.

rft 3y ago

A related tidbit of trivia: some highways around the world are intended as emergency airfields. It doesn't mean you can just stop traffic and land, you need to prepare the area, e.g. remove dividers, but it can be done relatively fast if needed. Wikipedia has some info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_strip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_strip At least here in Germany many were abandoned/removed, but you can still see traces around. The German Wikipedia on this topic has a list.

throwaway798214 3y ago
At least in Finland and Sweden those highways-as-emergency-airfields are always in use, no need to prep the area or remove dividers in any way. They are mostly used by the army for practicing, basically the police will just close the road so the army can practice, and when the army is done the road is opened again. https://moottori.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Kesabaana23-Tikkakoski-Ilmavoimat-2.jpeg https://moottori.fi/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Kesabaana23-T...
- fineline 3y ago
  Plus the Swedish Gripen jet fighters are designed to operate off roads rather than requiring long, smooth runways, as well as be main†ained in the field.
- CTDOCodebases 3y ago
  Switzerland hides some of their jets in mountains and uses the highways as runways. https://migflug.com/jetflights/hidden-swiss-air-force/ https://migflug.com/jetflights/hidden-swiss-air-force/
  - cf141q5325 3y ago
    Swiss military is a really interesting topic from so many perspectives. With such a high percentage of the population trained and involved in the military the terrain was also supposed to massively aid asymmetrical warfare. Holding mountain passes with light troops if need be. There were even some books that were discussed to become regular army manuals and had to be vetoed by the chief of staff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Resistance_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Resistance_(book) The article doesnt cite a source, but there are other sources claiming the same. https://www.fr.de/kultur/literatur/renne-fahrzeug-weg-10997147.html https://www.fr.de/kultur/literatur/renne-fahrzeug-weg-109971... https://blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/historyreloaded/index.php/2401/das-gefaehrlichste-buch-der-schweiz/ https://blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/historyreloaded/index.php/2401... Pls be advice that depending on local law, you might be better off sticking to the wiki page. >Nonetheless, the book remains part of the curriculum of the Swiss Army Military Academy at the ETH Zurich as one of the "classics of the history of strategy and the theory of war."[3]

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

Some previous discussion a few years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27192626 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27192626

dang 3y ago
Thanks! Macroexpanded: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27192626 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27192626 - May 2021 (38 comments) Abandoned and little known airfields - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16627274 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16627274 - March 2018 (1 comment)

defrost 3y ago

Almost abandoned, now revived but relatively unknown, one of my favourites is the Mungalalu Truscott Airbase in northern Australia, used during WWII for long range bombing of Japanese oil wells and depots in SE Asia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mungalalu_Truscott_Airbase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mungalalu_Truscott_Airbase Still home to WWII era (well, 1946 to 1951) Grumman G-73 Mallard air boats. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_G-73_Mallard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_G-73_Mallard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqMQWO5ffTA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqMQWO5ffTA

sumtechguy 3y ago
One guy I worked with started a glider club. Turns out they needed a runway. So they made one out of an old farmers field. No real runway just an empty field cut low and a small shack at the end of the run way to fix things. "I am going to name it an international something, not sure what". Few years later I asked him if they gave him his international name. They had! So this little random field is an 'international' airport.
- seabass-labrax 3y ago
  I'm curious; what's the ICAO airport code? The story reminds me of Llandegley International airport[1], except in your colleague's case there actually was somewhere to land! [1]: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/wales-airport-llandegley-joke-b2226200.html https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/wales-a...
  - sumtechguy 3y ago
    Aw sorry dude it was like 20 years ago at this point. I do remember it started with an I and it was in the middle of North Carolina near Advance. They may have closed it since then.
    - seabass-labrax 3y ago
      Could it have been the Northbrook International Ultraport Ultralight Airport? It gets pretty close to your description: one grass runway, listed as privately owned by a James K. Peeler and nestled in underneath the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport's airspace in North Carolina.

KineticLensman 3y ago

Interesting to find out if there is a UK equivalent. We have a lot of historic airfields, partly as a legacy of the many that were constructed in WW2. Where these have been redeveloped for housing, a clue to the old purpose is often that many of new streets are named for old aircraft. I used to work at a Plessey [0] site that was built on an old airfield near Christchurch UK, along with a housing state. Street names include Brabazon, Halifax, De Havilland, The Runway, Sunderland, Catalina and Comet. Amusingly, when Siemens acquired Plessey [1], a team of senior Germans visited the site. They presented the management with a book of WW2 Luftwaffe photo-reconnaissance imagery (!) on which the old airfield was featured, saying IIRC "We didn't get you then, but we've got you now!". [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessey [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessey#GEC_Siemens_takeover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessey#GEC_Siemens_takeover

arethuza 3y ago
I found this page that has a map of WW2 airbases in the UK: https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/page.php?PgID=632446&ClubID=460 https://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/page.php?PgID=632446&ClubI... edit: I thought there were quite a few of these in the part of Scotland where I grew up - nothing compared to the number in the south east of England!
- martinclayton 3y ago
  Thanks for the link. I couldn't see Woodley in there: where Douglas Bader crashed, the home of Miles Aircraft, and also very close to where I lived as a child. Which led me to this one that might also be of interest: https://www.ukairfieldguide.net https://www.ukairfieldguide.net Woodley specifically: https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Woodley https://www.ukairfieldguide.net/airfields/Woodley
  - cs02rm0 3y ago
    I think there are probably quite a lot missing. Long Marston and St. Athan for two.
- 3y ago

wiredfool 3y ago

Interesting -- the one that I know of isn't listed on the Seattle Area page. https://www.openstreetmap.org/query?lat=48.06021&lon=-122.46199#map=15/48.0581/-122.4559 https://www.openstreetmap.org/query?lat=48.06021&lon=-122.46...

S201 3y ago
Cool, I'm in the Seattle area and didn't know of that one either. Do you have any background on it? I run a similar website to catalog all current airports, but also collect info on closed airports for historical purposes. I added a page for it here: https://pirep.io/airports/UNM96 https://pirep.io/airports/UNM96. If there's any info to document on it that would be wonderful.
- wiredfool 3y ago
  It's a well known hiking area on the island. It's been part of the Saratoga Woods public park since it was bought by the land conservancy in ~2001. It was noted as abandoned at the time. The main part of the park is second growth, but the area around the airstrip looks to be mainly smaller trees, so possibly logged later, post early Seattle logging boom times.

dustincoates 3y ago

Floyd Bennett[0] is a nice abandoned airport to visit. It's a friendly bike ride from many parts of Brooklyn and they still have many of the original buildings. It's worth the afternoon trip. 0. http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_NY_Brooklyn.htm#Floyd http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_NY_Brooklyn...

AtlasBarfed 3y ago

Holy crap, there are planes that flew with 50 horsepower engines? Were they made of bamboo and canvas? Apparently the great creeping evil of airports is ... suburban housing.

bombcar 3y ago
There still are! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipistrel_Taurus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipistrel_Taurus is 55 horse, and I'm sure there are light sport aircraft that are even lighter.
- seabass-labrax 3y ago
  I believe the lowest power aircraft engine currently in production is the Swedish Radne Raket 120 at the manufacturer's claimed output of 14 hp. However, Wikipedia suggests that the only fixed-wing aircraft using this powerplant requires two of of them, therefore adding up to 28 hp.
- kirrent 3y ago
  If we're going to stay away from motor paragliders and other ultralights then you've still got the flight sustainer single seat gliders such as the Diana 2 which take off with an engine with peak 35hp power.
cylinder714 3y ago
>Were they made of bamboo and canvas? More like lightweight cotton fabric and steel tubing or Sitka spruce. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_fabric_covering https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_fabric_covering

hammock 3y ago

Meigs Field, Chicago's third, downtown airport is my favorite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field

sokoloff 3y ago
The (IMO) illegal destruction of that airfield is the reason I've vowed to never again voluntarily spend money in Chicago. I only flew in there a handful of times, but it was amazing to fly in and walk 10 minutes over to the Loop. Mayor Daley decided he didn't have to follow the law and his city doesn't want my money, so I don't want to force it upon them... https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/ten-years-later-daleys-midnight-raid-to-bulldoze-meigs-field/ https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/ten-years-later-daleys-...
- ianbicking 3y ago
  When I lived in Chicago I generally hated how Daley operated, but on this one I was on his side. It was a silly use of space and served practically no one amidst a giant and bustling city. Removing the field would have been hung up in endless petty and bad-faith lawsuits. On principle I'm not sure I agree with what he did, but in practice I 100% supported it.
  - quantumwannabe 3y ago
    Today it's a lagoon and a field so it's even more of a waste of space.
- hammock 3y ago
  Some awesome photos from OP website http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IL/Airfields_IL_Chicago_C.htm http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IL/Airfields_IL_Chicago_C.h...
- ryandrake 3y ago
  The worst part is: Once an airport gets torn down, it's lost forever. It never gets re-built. And we basically don't build new airports in the USA anymore. Can anyone remember the last time a new airport was built (outside of people building private dirt airstrips on their 20 acre ranch in Idaho)? As population centers shift and housing gets built, people move in next to noisy airports and then say to themselves "Holy shit, I moved next to an airport and it's loud. How could I have known? Surely this is the airport's fault!" and they go complain to their city. A little public airport with a nice asphalt runway in my hometown recently went up for sale, and the price was within striking distance of what I could afford as an investment, but I chickened out and failed to pull the trigger. It would have meant moving across the country to manage it and convincing my company to let me work remotely (this was just before COVID when WFH suddenly became normalized). Sadly some shitty developer bought the plot and promptly closed the runway and facilities so he could build whatever shit he's going to build. Big regret.

xwdv 3y ago

Site has been around since 1999. Please be careful to not overwhelm the server.

est 3y ago

looks like this gets posted every year https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=airfields-freeman.com https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=airfields-freeman.com

dang 3y ago
Reposts are ok once a year or so! This is in the FAQ: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html.

SkyPuncher 3y ago

It's always fun with this site pops up. I discovered a new tidbit about the old Menominee Airport, MI [0] There's a park along US-2 that I've driven past called "Airport Park" [1]. It made little sense to me as there's nothing but woods around it and there's a airport in the town. Turns out, that park's name is still a holdover from when there was an actual airport there. [0] - http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/Airfields_MI_N.htm#menominee http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/Airfields_MI_N.htm#menom... [1] - https://www.google.com/maps/place/Airport+Park/@45.1627892,-87.5664517,13.73z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4d52a7121725006f:0x4591bf3c053985a0!8m2!3d45.1839009!4d-87.563944!16s%2Fg%2F11hy9vd723?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/place/Airport+Park/@45.1627892,-...

NelsonMinar 3y ago

Shout out to my local story in Grass Valley, CA: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/ca/Airfields_CA_NE.htm#grassvalley http://www.airfields-freeman.com/ca/Airfields_CA_NE.htm#gras... It has a credible claim to operating since around 1900, which makes it very old for a California airport. The owner (Lyman Gilmore) has a less-than-credible claim to flying an airplane in 1902, a year before the Wright Bros. It's a good story even if it's perhaps not true. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman_Gilmore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman_Gilmore The local school built near the old airfield has a windsock as a commemoration.

JKCalhoun 3y ago
An aerodrome then.

dinkblam 3y ago

anyone know a similar resource for europe? ( i'd love to buy as much asphalt for as little as possible… )

gangstead 3y ago

I looked up the once-airport near where I grew up: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_Dallas_E.htm#temco http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/Airfields_TX_Dallas_E.ht... My parents worked at the defense contractor company on that site, E-Systems, for 30 years. I learned more about what they did there from this site today than I ever learned from them!

vogt 3y ago
Pretty cool. I lived out that way for a bit in the early 2010s (Abrams + Munger). I take it you're from Garland originally, or did you grow up in the city?
- gangstead 3y ago
  I've bounced around the suburbs from there (Richardson, Garland, etc)

vogt 3y ago

Wow, this is a great blast from the past. I grew up on the road where this airport http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MA/Airfields_MA_C.htm#norfolk http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MA/Airfields_MA_C.htm#norfo... was. You would walk right out our front door and the field with runways was right in front of you. I vividly remember being about 6-7 years old (so, 1993-1994) and seeing a plane crash in the field. Was hoping to find mention of it but didn't see any. Either way, total nostalgia flood. Simpler times. Thanks OP!

mindcrime 3y ago

One that I guess would fit into the "little known" category would be Bear Pen Airport[1] in Brunswick County NC. The facility is owned by the NC Forestry Service for use in firefighting efforts. But as far as I know it's very rarely (if ever) used anymore. As the linked notes say: - FACILITY USED BY NC FOREST SVC FOR FIRE CONTROL. - NOT MAINTAINED DURING OFF SEASON; USE NOT RECOMMENDED DURING FIRE SEASON. [1] https://www.airnav.com/airport/NC43 https://www.airnav.com/airport/NC43

yubiox 3y ago

Very nice site. The northwest Sacramento, CA page has Natomas Field where I used to hang out all the time and fly amazing planes from. The flying club had a Decathlon for acrobatics, a Piper Cub for cruising low and slow, and a Bonanza for taking trips, plus many other aircraft. So much fun. It was so sad when the houses were built there and they closed the airport around 2000.

phkahler 3y ago

There is a huge one missing in northern Michigan. The site is used for winter testing by several auto companies. They have a website here: https://www.smithers.com/industries/transportation/automotive/winter-proving-grounds https://www.smithers.com/industries/transportation/automotiv... It was a large airport with 3 runways in a triangle configuration. Last time I was there I thought it was owned by Continental.

jameshart 3y ago

Here’s one entry that should fascinate young hackers, who think tech company extravagance was a invented by Google in the dotcom era, and exclusive to Silicon Valley: http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MA/Airfields_MA_NE.htm#dec http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MA/Airfields_MA_NE.htm#dec > As the 1960s progressed, Digital's success found it expanding rapidly, but unable to find office space near its Maynard headquarters. They began purchasing additional campuses all around Boston & initiated their own dedicated helicopter service to ferry people between locations. > … > Jack Falvey reported, “The helicopters were not executive perks at DEC; they were used by any & all employees who wanted to avoid traffic in going from place to place. > This egalitarian policy further emphasized just how different DEC was & how indifferent they appeared to be to the cost of anything. > In doing [my] case study, we were told that DEC had state-of-the-art video-conferencing facilities that no one used because it was sexier to take the helicopters.”

MichaelZuo 3y ago
Helicopter flight costs per passenger were much cheaper back then due to low oil prices, less stringent safety standards, and close to zero regulations regarding noise around helipads. Maybe as little as a fifth of the cost, inflation adjusted, a similar heli service in 2023 would be. So not as extravagant as it sounds in the modern context.
- jameshart 3y ago
  True. The 1960s ‘Massachusetts Helicopter Airlines’ flier included on that page indicates that a scheduled half hourly commercial helicopter service from Logan to 128 was charging $10 a ticket - that’s about $70 in today’s money, which, coincidentally, is about what an Uber from Logan to 128 will cost you. So in terms of extravagance I guess running your own inter-office helicopter service in the 1960s amounts to something similar to running an on demand ride service today. Not ridiculous for a multi campus company to consider doing such a thing. That said, DEC apparently kept this helicopter thing running right up to the 1990s, through a couple of oil shocks and the invention of the EPA, so… not sure it remained that cheap to run.

spelunker 3y ago

I live near the site of the old Lowry AFB in suburban Denver. I remember when the base was shut down, but not much beyond that because I was pretty young. Those photos of when it was in operation are incredible. Thank you for sharing!

browningstreet 3y ago

The interface is pretty rough. A publicly shared Airtable or Excel spreadsheet would work better. Tried to find this airfield in Sierraville, CA: https://www.airnav.com/airport/O79 https://www.airnav.com/airport/O79 I may or may not have been able to find the right categorization page, from which.. as far as I can tell.. it's absent.

buildsjets 3y ago
This is a website for abandoned airfields. Your link is to an actively used airfield. So, you should bot be surprised that it is absent.
- browningstreet 3y ago
  My point is: if there was a search field I could confirm the airfield’s absence. If CA was more hierarchical or clearly organized I could see whether or not the airfield is present or absent. Also, it’s for little used airfields too, which this one probably qualifies.

wing-_-nuts 3y ago

Apparently, my hometown had an airfield associated with the local country club. I was pretty shocked to see pictures of people with nice cars at a time when my great grandfather was still traveling to town with a mule and buggy. Wow.

UberFly 3y ago

So much cool info and photos on that site. I was able to find the (abandoned at the time) runway a mile from my house that we used to ride bikes on as a kid. I had no idea the infrastructure that had been there at one time.

tamimio 3y ago

Slightly off-topic: Take a note web developer, you see there is a fully functional site with images, links, and everything with no or minimum js needed, it looks authentic and fast to browse, pretty much 90% of the cases you don’t need most of the stuff you shove into visitors faces, grapghQL node_modules vite etc.. look at this! https://roadmap.sh/frontend https://roadmap.sh/frontend

julienchastang 3y ago

I grew up near one of these [0]. My friends and I would go to the air traffic control hut just to hang out and watch planes. There was also a vending machine where we could buy soda (enticing for kids in a rural area with not many services). The airstrip had a role to play in WWII apparently something that was mentioned when developers wanted to build a large condo complex there and local opposition mounted to scuttle the project (NIMBY in retrospect). I remember an accident when two planes landed too close together if memory serves correct and killed one of the pilots. Anyway, I loved that little airport checking out the parked Cessna's and watching planes land and take off. The landing flight path was right above our house. Over the years the trees grew taller and we could no longer see the landing strip from our house. The red fuel towers were there until recently (long after the airport closed, probably had toxic waste that required elaborate cleanup), but apparently no longer there[1]. Good times... [0] http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_SE.htm#mahopac http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_SE.htm#maho... [1] https://goo.gl/maps/99chYDHCWkFmbhku5 https://goo.gl/maps/99chYDHCWkFmbhku5

Simon_O_Rourke 3y ago

Add in Boston Logan airport to that list, while it might be more widely known it's basically an abandoned zoo once you get in the front doors

pfist 3y ago

This is great! Some of the listed Oregon airfields aren't foo far from me, so I might have to pay them a visit. I'm an avid researcher of abandoned locations and their histories. There is nothing quite like immersing yourself in the past, especially if you can stand in the location for yourself. Imagine all the paths that intersected there; the lives that were changed. Even the smallest trace you leave behind may be rediscovered by someone in the future, and they may wonder what your life was like. They may even be connected to you in some way. Perhaps this trace is what leads them to discover that connection.

username135 3y ago

The color scheme on that site is horrendous

JoeDaDude 3y ago

My former employer, the Naval Air Development Center in Warminster PA is listed. The one-time Naval base once supported a centrifuge (as mentioned in the listing) used to subject future astronauts to high G levels. What became of the centrifuge is somewhat unexpected, as described in this little blog post: https://jeffzurita.com/2019/07/15/about-things-that-arent-there-anymore-except-they-are-but-different/ https://jeffzurita.com/2019/07/15/about-things-that-arent-th... TL;DR: It is now a party zone! https://rentthefuge.com/thefuge/ https://rentthefuge.com/thefuge/

theyknowitsxmas 3y ago

Worth noting most of these are developed over and don't exist. You won't land your ultralight.

sfmike 3y ago

I find myself clicking around because how snappy this is to load

throw-ru-938 3y ago

Tangentially related: after Izhma Airfield (in Komi Republic, Russia) was closed to fixed-wing aircraft, its supervisor still continued to do maintenance on the airstrip, even through it was no longer needed. Then, 7 years later, an airliner lost power in that area, and the pilots were surprised to find a perfectly functional runway. The plane landed with no injuries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alrosa_Flight_514 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alrosa_Flight_514

xattt 3y ago
The origin airport was located in an area called Udachny, which means Lucky.

tantony 3y ago

Wow! I used to fly out of the Ames airport and earned my PPL there. It turns out that it wasn't always at the same spot. I looked it up and apparently my house was on land that used to be the airport back in the day! My old house is actually on the map shown there. [1] http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IA/Airfields_IA_W.htm#ames http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IA/Airfields_IA_W.htm#ames [1] http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IA/Airfields_IA_W.htm#ames http://www.airfields-freeman.com/IA/Airfields_IA_W.htm#ames