Fairmont State Airfield

      Fairmont State Airfield
      (former Fairmont Army Airfield)
      Fairmont State Airfield - Nebraska.jpg
      USGS 2006 orthophoto
      IATA: none – ICAO: KFMZ – FAA LID: FMZ
      Summary
      Airport type Public
      Owner Nebraska Department of Aeronautics
      Serves Fairmont, Nebraska
      Location Madison Township, Fillmore County
      Elevation AMSL 1,636 ft / 499 m
      Coordinates 40°35′10″N 097°34′23″W / 40.58611°N 97.57306°W / 40.58611; -97.57306Coordinates: 40°35′10″N 097°34′23″W / 40.58611°N 97.57306°W / 40.58611; -97.57306
      Map
      FMZ is located in Nebraska
      FMZ
      Location of airport in Nebraska
      Runways
      Direction Length Surface
      ft m
      17/35 4,317 1,316 Concrete
      12/30 3,021 921 Concrete
      Statistics (2012)
      Aircraft operations 1,625
      Based aircraft 21
      Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]
      Fairmont Army Airfield
      Nearest city: Fairmont, Nebraska
      Area: 1,827 acres (739 ha)
      Built: 1942
      Architectural style: Other, Aircraft hangers
      Governing body: State
      NRHP Reference#: 03000105[2]
      Added to NRHP: March 11, 2003

      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] This is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.[3] It has 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.[4][5]

      History

      Construction of Fairmont State Airfield began on September 17, 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:

      828th, 829th, 830th and 831st Bombardment Squadrons
      Deployed to: Fifteenth Air Force, in Italy (B-24 Liberator)
      724th, 725th, 726th and 727th Bombardment Squadrons
      Deployed to: Fifteenth Air Force, in Italy (B-24 Liberator)
      393rd, 398th, 421st and 507th Bombardment Squadrons
      Deployed to: Twentieth Air Force in Tinian (B-29 Superfortress)
      15th, 16th and 17th Bombardment Squadrons
      Deployed to: Twentieth Air Force in Guam (B-29 Superfortress)
      343rd, 344th, 345th, and 415th Bombardment Squadrons
      Trained on B-29 Superfortresses but inactivated in November 1945
      788th, 789th, 790th and 791st Bombardment Squadrons
      Trained on B-29 Superfortresses but inactivated in August 1946
      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 December 31, 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.

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      Facilities and aircraft

      Fairmont State Airfield 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 4,317 by 75 feet (1,316 x 23 m) and 12/30 is 3,021 by 60 feet (921 x 18 m).[1]

      For the 12-month period ending June 12, 2012, the airport had 1,625 aircraft operations, an average of 135 per month: 99.7% general aviation and 0.3% military. At that time there were 21 aircraft based at this airport: 95% single-engine and 5% multi-engine.[1]

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      See also

      Portal icon United States Air Force portal
      Portal icon Military of the United States portal
      Portal icon World War II portal
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      References

      1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Master Record for FMZ (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective November 15, 2012.
      2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09. 
      3. ^ "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF, 2.03 MB). National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. 
      4. ^ "Fairmont State Airfield (ICAO: KFMZ, FAA: FMZ, IATA: none)". Great Circle Mapper. Retrieved December 22, 2012. 
      5. ^ "IATA Airport Code Search". International Air Transport Association. Retrieved December 22, 2012. 
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      Last modified on 16 March 2013, at 13:55