: ''See Also: Walnut Ridge Air Force Station'' Walnut Ridge Army Airfield - Flight Instructor and Cadets

Consolidated B-32 Dominators at RFC Walnut Ridge

Marine Corps Air Facility Walnut Ridge is a former

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

airfield in

Walnut Ridge, Arkansas Walnut Ridge is a city in and the county seat of Lawrence County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 5,098 at the United States Census's 2019 estimate. Walnut Ridge lies immediately north of Hoxie. The two towns form a contiguous urban ...

. After it was closed, it was turned into Walnut Ridge Regional Airport.

History

Walnut Ridge Army Air Field

In 1942, the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

picked Walnut Ridge as the location of one of the new basic flying schools being built to train tens of thousands of military pilots. It was built in the late spring and summer, and opened on 15 August 1942 as Walnut Ridge Army Air Field (AAF).AFHRA Document 00179459. Walnut Ridge Army Air Field
/ref> It consisted of a main 6,000 ft runway aligned 04/22 and two 5,000 ft secondary runways aligned 01/19 and 13/31; all were concrete.
Several auxiliary airfields were constructed to support training: * Pocahontas Field AF Auxiliary #1 (Naval OLF) * Biggers Field AF Auxiliary #2 (Naval OLF) * Walcott Field AF Auxiliary #3 (Naval OLF) * Bono Field AF Auxiliary #4 (Naval OLF) * Beech Grove AF Auxiliary #5 (Naval OLF) Walnut Ridge AAF was placed under the jurisdiction of the Southeast Training Command, Army Air Forces Training Command. Training at the Army Air Forces Flying School (Basic) began in October 1943. It put new pilots through the third stage of their flight training, largely with

Vultee BT-13 Valiant The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of th ...

single-engine monoplane trainers.Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas Graduates from the basic flight school were transferred to one of Training Command's advanced flying schools, like nearby Blytheville Army Airfield. Upon competition of the training program, the cadets were awarded their pilot's wings and commissioned as second lieutenants. The training unit at the base became the 11th Basic Flying Training Group, 27th Flying Training Wing (U.S. Army Air Forces). Trainees flew a total of 160,646 hours from 1 November 1942 to 30 September 1943, well above the average of 129,474 for a Basic Flying School in the Southeast Training Command. Walnut Ridge had .49 accidents per 1,000 hours, lower than the .57 accidents-per-1000-hours average for all schools. But the fatal accident rate at Walnut Ridge was higher: .087 per 1000 hours versus a .052 average. The hours flown at Walnut Ridge through 30 June 1944, totaled 414,429. Walnut Ridge graduated more than 4,600 pilots. Forty-two students and instructors died in training. Walnut Ridge also hosted a major

Air Technical Service Command An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

(ATSC) maintenance facility. It performed phase maintenance and other updates on training aircraft from bases around the United States, including

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

es and later in the war,

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

es. Walnut Ridge's Basic school graduated its last class on 27 June 1944, and closed at the end of the month. The facility was transferred to the Department of the Navy.

Marine Corps Air Facility

Under Navy control, the facility was used by the

as a pilot training school. VMF-513 was transferred to the base on 14 September 1944 and operated SBD-5s and FG-1D Corsairs. Apparently the school only operated until 4 December 1944, when the school was moved to MCAS Mojave, California. The Navy decommissioned the base on 15 March 1945.

RFC Walnut Ridge

With the end of World War II, the

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States federal government that served as a lender of last resort to US banks and businesses. Established in ...

(RFC) established a disposal and reclamation facility at Walnut Ridge for aircraft unneeded by the United States military. RFC Walnut Ridge became one of the largest disposal sites for aircraft in the United States. It is estimated that about 10,000 warbirds were flown to Walnut Ridge in 1945 and 1946 for storage and sale. Some sources report the number to be over 11,000. Fighters, bombers, trainers, and all other manner of aircraft were offered for sale to the public, some of the planes being newly manufactured and flown to Walnut Ridge directly from the assembly line. Some were sold to various civilian entities and to the general public (stripped of their armament and classified military components). However, most aircraft sent to Walnut Ridge were dismantled and their airframes shredded, their hulks finding their way to two large aluminum smelters built on the flight line ramp. The smelters turned the aluminum of the aircraft into ingots, which were recycled and sold to industry for use in manufacturing a wide variety of items, from toasters to mobile homes. RFC Walnut Ridge disposed of aircraft until 1951, when it was closed. The smelters themselves were dismantled the next year and used as bricks for a civil administration/terminal building on the civil airport established by the City of Walnut Ridge.

Major Units Assigned

* 11th Basic Flying Training Group ** 683rd Flying Training Squadron ** 684th Flying Training Squadron ** 685th Flying Training Squadron ** 686th Flying Training Squadron ** 687th Flying Training Squadron ** 688th Flying Training Squadron ** 689th Flying Training Squadron ** 690th Flying Training Squadron * 2145th Army Air Forces Base Unit

Major Aircraft Assigned

Vultee BT-13A Valiant The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of the ...

Vultee BT-15 Valiant

References

{{authority control 1942 establishments in Arkansas Airports established in 1942 Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Arkansas Walnut Ridge Transportation in Lawrence County, Arkansas Buildings and structures in Lawrence County, Arkansas W 1945 disestablishments in Arkansas Military installations closed in 1945