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 Post subject: Mercer Field
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:55 pm 
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I just got back from Georgia, and will post pics soon from some of the warbird stuff I took in, but can anyone tell me about Mercer Field, as We stopped there to take pics of a Convair, T-33, and F-84. Also the Air Acres air museum? Thanks.

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PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 5:48 pm 
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Mercer field is a private field near Calhoun, GA. It is about 3,500' long and is very smooth for a grass strip. It lies right alongside I-75 and when I was a kid, there was nothing but a fence between the interstate and the runway which paralleled it. It was neat driving down the interstate and seeing a collection of 10 or so warbirds right by the road. It is/was owned by the Mercer family, who also owns (or owned) Mercer Marine Transit - a company that moves yachts overland.

In its heydey (probably through the mid 80's) the field was very active, with a couple of DC-3's, a Convair, and a couple of Cessna 310's (the military version) flying out of there. There were also a number of military aircraft on static display - A swept wing F-84, a T-33, F-8, F-86D, a Matador missile, and a couple of helicopters. In the late 80's things started going downhill with the DC-3's being sold off.

Until recently, Mercers welcomed local traffic (and they may still welcome it). I stopped in by auto 10 years or so ago and asked if I could land there. I was told to fly in whenever I wanted. It has probably been a couple of years since I've flown in there.

Over the past 5 years or so, the F-8, F-86, and Matador have gone away. The F-84, T-33, and Convair are still there, rotting away.

More recently, the state of Georgia has decided to put an interstate ramp right through the airfield, and someone has leased space to a billboard company which installed a billboard that interferes with the runway.

I drive by the place several times a month, but have not stopped in some time. I also fly over it from time to time, and even though the field still appears to be maintained, the encroaching billboard and unconfirmed rumors of survey stakes on the runway have kept me from landing there recently.

Air Acres is a fly-in community in Woodstock GA. It has a short runway ~2500', that sits in a bit of a bowl. Every few summers someone fails to outclimb the terrain and breaks an airplane there. There is a good group of warbird, classic, and experimental airplane folks there. Anything from a B-25 (Wild Cargo) to a Cub has lived there from time to time. On the field, there is also the Air Acres museum, which is a private collection of antiques and classics that relocated from the Cartersville airport 10 years or so ago.

Anything else you're looking for?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:19 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:09 pm
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Location: Knoxville
here's a few posts about it over the years here:

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... ght=mercer

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... ght=mercer

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... ght=mercer

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... ght=mercer


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