Hatbox Field is a closed airfield located within city limits, two nautical miles (3.7 km) west of central
Muskogee, a city in
Muskogee County,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
, United States.
It was opened sometime in the early 1920s and was closed in 2000. It is the location of the Love-Hatbox Sports Complex, a large recreation center and waterpark.
The former airfield site includes 10 lighted baseball fields‚ eight lighted softball diamonds‚ two full-size football fields and a 30 acre‚ 19-field soccer area called the Georgia Pacific Soccer Complex.
In addition‚ a 3.1-mile (5 km) asphalt Centennial Trail walking/biking exercise pathway loops around the 120 acres‚ and a former airplane hangar houses three indoor batting cages. Three Rivers Area Model Plane Society (T.R.A.M.P.S.), a local model airplane club, hosts two annual events at Love-Hatbox that attract flying enthusiasts from around the country.
History
Hatbox Field was depicted on the 1929
Rand McNally
Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation, and education markets. The company is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois with a di ...
"Standard Indexed Map with Air Trails of OK" as a public airport with a radio station. The airfield was Muskogee's original municipal airport, and is a very historic
airfield
An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...
. It is one of the airports that the
Douglas aircraft
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace and defense company based in Southern California. Founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr., it merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas, where it operated as a di ...
of the Army's
1924 Around the World Flight stopped, and was a stop on the Army's mail route.
In 1929, the airfield was described as a municipal airport, operated by the
Army Air Corps, and having a beacon light.
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...
was on hand for the dedication.
The Spartan Aviation School opened at the field in 1940. They used the two large arch-roofed hangars at Hatbox. Renamed Muskogee Army Airfield during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Spartan provided primary flight training to cadets as an Army Air Forces contract flying school until 1944. The USAAF
410th Bombardment Group 41 may refer to:
* 41 (number)
* one of the years 41 BC, AD 41, 1941, 2041
Art and entertainment
* ''41'' (film), a 2007 documentary about Nicholas O'Neill, the youngest victim of the Station nightclub fire
* ''41'', an Australian award-winnin ...
trained at the airfield with
Douglas A-20 Havocs in the fall of 1943 before being reassigned to the
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint D ...
in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, where they flew Martin
B-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company.
First used in t ...
s.
Following the end of its military use, Hatbox was reused as a purely civil airfield. The operator was listed as the City of Muskogee.
The city of Muskogee decided to close the field to the public following a two-fatality crash in 1998. Limited aviation use was allowed until 2000, however, by a private firm that refurbished military-surplus
Beechcraft U-21 Utes. Hatbox was closed completely in 2000, and the refurbishing company moved to nearby Muskogee
Davis Field.
Facilities
Hatbox Field covered an area of at an elevation of 627 feet (191 m) above
mean sea level
A mean is a quantity representing the "center" of a collection of numbers and is intermediate to the extreme values of the set of numbers. There are several kinds of means (or "measures of central tendency") in mathematics, especially in statist ...
. It had one
runway
In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
designated 11/29 with an
asphalt
Asphalt most often refers to:
* Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete
* Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...
surface measuring 3,800 by 50 feet (1,158 x 15 m).
See also
*
Oklahoma World War II Army Airfields
During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (AAF) established numerous airfields in Oklahoma for training pilots and aircrews of AAF fighters and bombers or as major maintenance and supply centers.
Most of these airfields were under ...
*
List of United States Army airfields
The United States Army maintains various aircraft and support facilities, including airfields, even after the creation of the United States Air Force as a separate military branch, service branch in 1947.
Active United States and territories
...
*
31st Flying Training Wing (World War II)
The 31st Flying Training Wing was a Flight training, training formation of the United States Army Air Forces, U.S. Army Air Forces (AAF) during World War II.
The wing's mission was to train personnel of the Army Air Forces Training Command, U ...
References
Other sources
*
* Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). ''Air Force Combat Units Of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
* Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), ''Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy'', Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC.
Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields
Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields is a website detailing information and first hand memories about airports in the United States which are no longer in operation, or are rarely used.
The website was started by Paul Freeman in 1999 as he had d ...
: Eastern Oklahoma
External links
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Hatbox Field
*
*
{{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II
1929 establishments in Oklahoma
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Oklahoma
Defunct airports in Oklahoma
USAAF Contract Flying School Airfields
Buildings and structures in Muskogee, Oklahoma
USAAF Central Flying Training Command
American Theater of World War II
2000 disestablishments in Oklahoma
Transportation in Muskogee County, Oklahoma