Abandoned & Former Airfields

[Ryan Keough]

Hi everyone,

I have been a long-time map (cartography) and aviation history enthusiast and since I found the internet back in 1996, I have become pretty engrossed in the hobby of finding and exploring former sites of airfields and learning the history of them (at least as much as I reasonably can).  Sites like Paul Freemans "Abandoned & Little Known Airfields" site at http://www.airfields-freeman.com (with a LOT of content featured there from our own Chris Kennedy!) and David Brooks' "Open and Closed/Inactive Listing of Airports/Airfields" site at http://www.airfieldsdatabase.com have helped inspire me immensely -- and both have been amazing resources while I was in New England.

Since moving to Arizona three years ago, those sites have been even MORE of a resource with the sheer number of airfields out here... both public, private, and former.  Another great resource for Phoenix area airports has been John Arthurs page on his Sierra Estrellas site: http://www.sierraestrella.com/ports.html

Now, with Google Maps and their street views (http://maps.google.com) and Bing Maps' Birds-Eye view (http://maps.bing.com) for general maps and aerial views, and http://www.skyvector.com for current aeronautical charts, and the NOAA online archives of select Aeronautical charts at http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/historicals/historical_zoom.asp ... I do a lot of "searching" online before I even venture out to look around.  And I have been fortunate enough to "inherit" a little more than a dozen 1944-vintage aeronautical charts of the Southern U.S. of my own (and always on the lookout for more if anyone is selling... any aeronautical charts from 1920s to the 1980s), so those have been an amazing resource to pick out landing fields I have never heard of and trying to find any trace of them in modern charts or aerial views.

Does anyone have any other resources other than those I have mentioned above?  If so, please share them here!

Now, since finding the Google Maps capability to create my own maps last night, I have started to compile some unidentified airfields that don't necessarily appear on charts websites as I have mentioned...or... well... anywhere.  My ongoing map can be found at: http://bit.ly/rkeough-airfields

One airfield I have NO idea what it is... or what it may have been used for can be found at: http://bit.ly/unidentified-mexico (it is an "at one time" paved field, is not listed on any chart I can find, has no traceable roads near it, and looks like it has been decommissioned).  I initially thought it could be an aux airfield for Marfa AAF as it is only about 4 miles from the border, but its a bit too far away for that.  Does anyone know anything about this field?

Thanks!
Ryan