Fairmont State Airfield
| Fairmont State Airfield | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| USGS aerial photo - 30 March 1999 | |||
| IATA: none – ICAO: KFMZ – FAA LID: FMZ | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Nebraska Department of Aeronautics | ||
| Serves | Fairmont, Nebraska | ||
| Location | Madison Township, Fillmore County, near Fairmont, Nebraska | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,636 ft / 499 m | ||
| Coordinates | 40°35′10″N 097°34′23″W / 40.58611°N 97.57306°W | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 17/35 | 4,316 | 1,316 | Concrete |
| 12/30 | 3,021 | 921 | Concrete |
| Statistics (2005) | |||
| Aircraft operations | 1,665 | ||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||
Fairmont State Airfield (ICAO: KFMZ, FAA LID: FMZ) is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) south of the central business district of Fairmont, in Fillmore County, Nebraska, United States. It is owned by the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics.[1] The airport serves the general aviation community, with no scheduled commercial airline service.
Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, this airport is assigned FMZ by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA.[2]
Contents |
[edit] History
Construction of Fairmont State Airfield began on 17 September 1942. The airfield was built by the United States Army Air Forces as a military airfield.
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 base site to haul materials for the construction. Approximately 1,000 laborers were hired to construct 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:
- 485th Bombardment Group (20 September 1943 - 11 March 1944)
- 828th, 829th, 830th and 831st Bombardment Squadrons
- Deployed to: Fifteenth Air Force, in Italy (B-24 Liberator)
- 451st Bombardment Group (9 September - 16 November 1943)
- 724th, 725th, 726th and 727th Bombardment Squadrons
- Deployed to: Fifteenth Air Force, in Italy (B-24 Liberator)
- 504th Bombardment Group (12 March - 5 November 1945)
- 393rd, 398th, 421st and 507th Bombardment Squadrons
- Deployed to: Twentieth Air Force in Tinian (B-29 Superfortress)
- 16th Bombardment Group (15 August 1944 - 7 March 1945)
- 15th, 16th and 17th Bombardment Squadrons
- Deployed to: Twentieth Air Force in Guam (B-29 Superfortress)
- 98th Bombardment Group (6 May - 25 June 1945)
- 343rd, 344th, 345th, and 415th Bombardment Squadrons
- Trained on B-29 Superfortresses but inactivated in November 1945
- 467th Bombardment Group 25 July - 25 August 1945
- 788th, 789th, 790th and 791st Bombardment Squadrons
- Trained on B-29 Superfortresses but inactivated in August 1946
- 489th Bombardment Group (3 July - 25 August 1945)
- 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 31 December 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 high level of physical integrity 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 extant buildings exist. This encompasses historic landscape features such as roads and World War II-era planted trees.
[edit] Facilities and aircraft
Fairmont State Airfield Airport covers an area of 687 acres (278 ha) at an elevation of 1,636 feet (499 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways with concrete surfaces: 17/35 is 4,316 by 75 feet (1,316 x 23 m) and 12/30 is 3,021 by 60 feet (921 x 18 m). For the 12-month period ending May 10, 2005, the airport had 1,665 aircraft operations, an average of 138 per month: 99.7% general aviation and 0.3% military.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- ^ a b c FAA Airport Master Record for FMZ (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2009-05-07.
- ^ Great Circle Mapper: KFMZ - Fairmont, Nebraska (Fairmont State Airfield)
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
[edit] External links
- Nebraska Historical Marker - Fairmont State Airfield
- Fairmont Army Airfield website
- Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
- FAA Terminal Procedures for FMZ, effective 12 January 2012
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for FMZ
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for FMZ
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