Fort Sumner Municipal Airport: Difference between revisions

Fort Sumner Municipal Airport
Fort Sumner Municipal Airport
	1997 USGS Photo
	IATA: FSU; ICAO: none;
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Village of Fort Sumner
Location	Fort Sumner, New Mexico
Elevation AMSL	4,165 ft / 1,269 m
Coordinates	34°29′16″N 104°12′57″W / 34.48778°N 104.21583°W
Runways

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Revision as of 14:22, 23 February 2010

Fort Sumner Municipal Airport (IATA: FSU) is a public airport located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

The airfield's orgins date to the 1920s when the Transcontinental Air Transport airline built an airfield in Fort Sumner as part of its coast-to-coast air passenger network, but the site was abandoned when the airline's ambitious plans collapsed in the Great Depression.

The airfield was reopened in February 1941, and was rebuilt in 1942 by the United States Army Air Force as a World War II training airfield. It was assigned to the AAF Flying Training Command West Coast Training Center and was known as Fort Sumner Army Airfield. The flying cadets at the airfield were trained in advanced twin engine aircraft as phase three of their pilot training. The airfield had two auxiliary landing fields located at Taiban and Tucmcari, New Mexico. The facility later became a Prisoner of War Camp in March, 1944 as pilot training was phasing down.

On 6 August 1944, the airfield was transferred to Second Air Force, where it became a replacement facility for B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator crew training.

The facility was inactivated on 15 November 1945 and returned to civil control. It is now a public airport providing general aviation service.

In the 1980s, the airport was chosen as a launch site for NASA's high altitude balloon program. NASA spent about $100.000 to construct large insulated walls and air conditioning inside the one remaining wartime hangar so payloads could use the place in a controlled environment. Three bays with tall sliding doors that opened into the main hanger area provided a workable area for scientists and their payloads with large steel A-frames used to suspend the payloads. Other NASA buildings were constructed at the airport. Current two operational balloon launch campaigns are conducted at the airport each year. These occur in the May-June and September-October timeframe surrounding the two stratospheric turnaround events. The NASA Ft. Sumner facility has grown in capability over the years and now includes a machine shop and still utilizes the old World War II hanger as a work area, storage area for support vehicles, and a hanger for NSBF aircraft during balloon flight operations.

The airport retains the large parking ramp from its training use. Two of the three wartime runways are still in use, the 00/18 runway now abandoned. The containment area street pattern still exists, with large numbers of foundations of wartime buildings still in evidence, including the foundations of a large cluster of what were probably the barracks of the POW Camp on the north side of the station.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
Scientific Balloon Flight Facility

External links

Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KFSU
- ASN accident history for FSU
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KFSU
- FAA current FSU delay information

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 '''Fort Sumner Municipal Airport''' {{Airport codes|FSU|}} is a public airport located approximately {{convert|2|mi|km}} northeast of [[Fort Sumner, New Mexico]].
+The airfield's orgins date to the 1920s when the [[Transcontinental Air Transport]] airline built an airfield in Fort Sumner as part of its coast-to-coast air passenger network, but the site was abandoned when the airline's ambitious plans collapsed in the [[Great Depression]].
-Opened in February 1941, during [[World War II]], the facility was rebuilt in 1942 by the [[United States Army Air Force]] and assigned to the AAF Flying Training Command West Coast Training Center known as '''Fort Sumner Army Airfield'''.   The flying cadets at the airfield were trained in advanced twin engine aircraft as phase three of their pilot training. The airfield had two auxiliary landing fields located at Taiban and Tucmcari, New Mexico.   The facility later became a Prisoner of War Camp in March, 1944 as pilot training was phasing down.
+The airfield was reopened in February 1941, and was rebuilt in 1942 by the [[United States Army Air Force]] as a [[World War II]] training airfield.  It was assigned to the AAF Flying Training Command West Coast Training Center and was known as '''Fort Sumner Army Airfield'''.   The flying cadets at the airfield were trained in advanced twin engine aircraft as phase three of their pilot training. The airfield had two auxiliary landing fields located at Taiban and Tucmcari, New Mexico.   The facility later became a Prisoner of War Camp in March, 1944 as pilot training was phasing down.
 On 6 August 1944, the airfield was transferred to [[Second Air Force]], where it became a replacement  facility for [[B-17 Flying Fortress]] and [[B-24 Liberator]] crew training.
 The facility was inactivated on 15 November 1945 and returned to civil control.  It is now a public airport providing [[general aviation]] service.
+In the 1980s, the airport was chosen as a launch site for [[NASA]]'s [[high altitude balloon]] program. NASA spent about $100.000 to construct large insulated walls and air conditioning inside the one remaining wartime hangar so payloads could use the place in a controlled environment. Three bays with tall sliding doors that opened into the main hanger area provided a workable area for scientists and their payloads with large steel A-frames used to suspend the payloads.   Other NASA buildings were constructed at the airport.  Current two operational balloon launch campaigns are conducted at the airport each year. These occur in the May-June and September-October timeframe surrounding the two stratospheric turnaround events. The NASA Ft. Sumner facility has grown in capability over the years and now includes a machine shop and still utilizes the old World War II hanger as a work area, storage area for support vehicles, and a hanger for NSBF aircraft during balloon flight operations.
-The airport retains the large parking ramp from its training use with one of the large wartime hangars still in use.  Two of the three wartime runways are still in use, the 00/18 runway now abandoned.   The containment area street pattern still exists, with large numbers of foundations of wartime buildings still in evidence, including the foundations of a large cluster of what were probably the barracks of the POW Camp on the north side of the station.
+The airport retains the large parking ramp from its training use.  Two of the three wartime runways are still in use, the 00/18 runway now abandoned.   The containment area street pattern still exists, with large numbers of foundations of wartime buildings still in evidence, including the foundations of a large cluster of what were probably the barracks of the POW Camp on the north side of the station.
 ==See also==
@@ Line 59: / Line 63: @@
 {{reflist}}
 * Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
+* [http://stratocat.com.ar/bases/26e.htm Scientific Balloon Flight Facility]
 ==External links==