Leadville Municipal Airport

Leadville Army Airfield
Part of Army Air Force Training Command
Lake County, near Leadville, Colorado

1999 image of mobile home park (lower right) on the southeast of the airfield built on the end of an old runway (faintly discernible).
Coordinates 39°16′59.98″N 106°19′59.98″W / 39.2833278°N 106.3333278°W / 39.2833278; -106.3333278
Type Army Airfield
Site information
Controlled by United States Army Air Forces
(Third & Second Air Forces)
Site history
Built 1942
In use 1943-1944
Not to be confused with Lake County Airport (Colorado).

Leadville Municipal Airport (Leadville Army Airfield c. Aug 1943-5)[1] was a Colorado World War II Army Airfield "adjacent to Highway No. 24"[2] and named for Leadville, Colorado, 2 mi (3.2 km) southeast.

Leadville Flight Strip

On September 10, 1943, the existing Leadville Flight Strip of ~49 acres (20 ha) included a 300 ft × 1,450 ft (91 m × 442 m) landing strip, and the "buildings area" was ~8 acres (3.2 ha).[2]

Leadville Army Airfield

The Leadville landing field became* a United States Army Air Forces Third Air Force auxiliary field of Colorado Springs' Peterson Field which was a photo reconnaissance training facility and base of the 35th Altitude Training Unit.[3]

Municipal airport

After being used as a post-war municipal airport, the Leadville facility closed and was dismantled by 1949.

References

*Peterson AAF gliders were used for Camp Hale's[4] Mountain Training Center (October 10, 1942-October 23, 1943), which operated for a few months at the beginning of Leadville Army Airfield.[5] Camp Hale also had a Military Munitions Site[6] where unexploded ordnance was found in 2002.[7]

  1. ↑ http://forum.armyairforces.com/m_153039/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#153098 ArmyAirForces.com Forum: AAF Ground Commands, Stations, & Bases
  2. 1 2 Meager, Ralph C., PLAN OF EROSION CONTROL: Leadvillle Flight Strip (letter), Camp Hale: Office of the Post Engineer
  3. ↑ Shaw, Frederick J., ed. (2004). Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy (PDF) (Report). Washington DC: Air Force History and Museums Program. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  4. ↑ http://www.petemuseum.org/Pete_CG4A_Gliders.htm
  5. ↑ http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/337.html#337.7.3
  6. ↑ http://www.camphale.org/Assets/Camp%20Hale%20IRMP%20_Final_abbrev.pdf
  7. ↑ http://www.google.com/search?q=%22leadville+army%22&tbs=nws:1,ar:1&source=newspapers#hl=en&tbs=ar:1&tbm=nws&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22leadville%22+unexploded&oq=%22leadville%22+unexploded
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