Airport in Madison Township, Fillmore County
United States historic place
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Fairmont Army Airfield
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Show map of the United States
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Nearest city
| Fairmont, Nebraska
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Area
| 1,827 acres (739 ha)
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Built
| 1942
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Architectural style
| Aircraft hangars
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NRHP reference
No.
| 03000105
[2]
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Added to NRHP
| March 11, 2003
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Fairmont State Airfield
(
ICAO
:
KFMZ
,
FAA
LID
:
FMZ
) is three miles south of
Fairmont
, in
Fillmore County, Nebraska
. The
National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
for 2011?2015
categorized
it as a
general aviation
facility. It has no scheduled airline service.
Most U.S. airports use the same three-letter
location identifier
for the FAA and
IATA
, but this airport is
FMZ
to the FAA and has no IATA code.
History
[
edit
]
Construction of Fairmont State Airfield by the
United States Army Air Forces
began on September 17, 1942. It was one of eleven training airfields built in Nebraska during
World War II
. Shortly after construction began, a railroad spur was built from Fairmont to the site to haul materials for the construction. About 1,000 laborers were hired to build the base, and the small towns of Geneva (pop. 1,888) and Fairmont (pop. 800) were hard pressed to find housing for the workers. Early in the construction, the facility was referred to as the
Fairmont Satellite Airfield
, and was designated a satellite of the
Topeka Army Air Base
in
Kansas
, however by early 1943, the name was changed to the
Fairmont Army Airfield
, as its mission was determined to be a training facility for heavy bomber groups. The first military personnel arrived in November 1942
The airfield was under the command of
Second Air Force
Headquarters,
Colorado Springs
,
Colorado
. The
241st Army Air Force Base Unit
was the Operational Training Unit at the airfield. It was assigned to the
15th Bombardment Training Wing
(September 1943 ? March 1944), then transferred to the
17th Bombardment Training Wing
in March 1944 for B-29 training. The
511th Army Air Force Base Unit
commanded the support elements at Fairmont as part of
Air Technical Service Command
.
Fairmont Army Airfield was a training installation for twenty-seven bombardment squadrons. Complete engine and airframe repairs were available for
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
and eventually in the more technologically advanced
Boeing B-29 Superfortress
bombers at the five hangars on the field. Extensive concrete runways and other structures were built. A 350-bed hospital served personnel from Fairmont along with
Harvard AAF
and
Bruning AAF
. The cantonment area provided quarters for nearly 6,000 officers and enlisted men.
Known units that trained at Fairmont AAF were:
- 828th, 829th, 830th and 831st Bombardment Squadrons
- Deployed to:
Fifteenth Air Force
, in
Italy
(
B-24 Liberator
)
- 724th, 725th, 726th and 727th Bombardment Squadrons
- Deployed to: Fifteenth Air Force, in Italy (B-24 Liberator)
- 393rd, 398th, 421st and 507th Bombardment Squadrons
- Deployed to:
Twentieth Air Force
in
Tinian
(
B-29 Superfortress
)
- 15th, 16th and 17th Bombardment Squadrons
- Deployed to: Twentieth Air Force in
Guam
(B-29 Superfortress)
- 343rd, 344th, 345th, and 415th Bombardment Squadrons
- Trained on B-29 Superfortresses but inactivated in November 1945
- 788th, 789th, 790th and 791st Bombardment Squadrons
- Trained on B-29 Superfortresses but inactivated in August 1946
- 844th, 845th, 846th and 847th Bombardment Squadrons
- Trained on B-29 Superfortresses but inactivated in October 1945
In September 1944
Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets
visited Fairmont and selected the
393d Bombardment Squadron
of the 504th to join the
509th Composite Group
at
Wendover AAF
,
Utah
. This group dropped both
atomic bombs
on
Japan
.
The base was inactivated on December 31, 1945. In the spring of 1946, the
War Assets Administration
declared the property surplus in the spring of 1946. Buildings were sold and dismantled or moved. The chapel was moved to
Friend, Nebraska
. The Enlisted Men's Service Club was dismantled and rebuilt in
Shickley, Nebraska
as St. Mary's Church. In 1946 Nebraska Department of Aeronautics acquired the Airfield from the U.S. Government for use as a state-owned civilian airport.
The Fairmont Army Airfield, with its well maintained hangars, support buildings, and commander's house, was the best remaining example, as a collection of buildings, of the Army Airfields in the State of Nebraska. Due to the rural location, unencumbered by surrounding development, and the good condition of the remaining buildings, particularly the hangars, the Fairmont Army Airfield was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places
as an historic district. The District includes the hardstands, aprons and existing runways, all remaining buildings, extending to the edges of the roads where buildings remain. This encompasses historic landscape features such as roads and World War II-era planted trees.
Facilities
[
edit
]
Fairmont State Airfield covers 687
acres
(278
ha
) at an
elevation
of 1,636 feet (499 m). It has two concrete
runways
: 17/35 is 4,317 by 75 feet (1,316 x 23 m) and 12/30 is 3,021 by 60 feet (921 x 18 m).
[1]
In the year ending June 12, 2012 the airport had 1,625 aircraft operations, average 135 per month: 99.7%
general aviation
and 0.3% military. 21 aircraft were then based at this airport: 95% single-engine and 5% multi-engine.
[1]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
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Airfields
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Units
| Commands
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Wings
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Groups
| Bombardment
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Fighter
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Reconnaissance
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Troop Carrier
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- United States Army Air Forces
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Topics
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Lists by state
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Lists by insular areas
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Lists by associated state
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Other areas
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Related
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