Warbird Information Exchange

Took an early evening trip up to Coffeyville Kansas to check out the Army Air Corps Training Base (aka Coffeyville Municipal). At dusk it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Took pics of three old hangars and a very unique pagoda-like building that I think was a parachute packing building.

Just curious if anyone had any good links / pics of this facility in the 1940s.....

Walking around the hangars at that time of the day gave me an odd feeling....if those hangars could talk I'm sure they would have many stories to tell....

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Rauhbatz
Commemorative Air Force
CAF Ohio Wing/Airbase Georgia Member
PT-19/26, T-34 CAF Pilot


Favorite quote from Wind, Sand & Stars - A. St. Exupuery "friends are like trees...when they are gone we miss their shade"

BTW I found a pic of the pagoda-like building on another website

http://www.airforcebase.net/trips/tulsa ... 925_05.jpg

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Rauhbatz
Commemorative Air Force
CAF Ohio Wing/Airbase Georgia Member
PT-19/26, T-34 CAF Pilot


Favorite quote from Wind, Sand & Stars - A. St. Exupuery "friends are like trees...when they are gone we miss their shade"

You sure that isn't the firehouse? that layout with two big doors and the tower looks like a classic old timey firehouse/hose drying tower

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Rauhbatz,
You are correct in that this was a Parachute Shop Building. In my research of the Army Airfields of Kansas, the Parachute Shop Building at Coffeville AAF and the one on the Pratt Army Airfield at Pratt Kansas are the two remaining in the central part of the country. The Shop at Pratt is a much larger structure with the tower section some 42 feet tall and the flat part of the building is 71 feet by 28. Pratt's is in near original condition. We have able to Get the Pratt Parachute Shop Building listed on the Kansas and National Registry of Historic sites. The Pratt building received a Kansas Heritage Grant of some $52,000 plus dollars a year back to help restore the building to its original design. The original double doors are in the building that seperate the tower and packing area. It is awsome to look up at the ceiling in the tower the first ceiling is some 6 feet lower than the actual roof. An impressive structure.

If you search the National Historic Registry site the Parachute Building at Pratt Reginal Airport will be listed with photos of it.

Pratt was one of four B-29 training fields in Kansas. Others being Walker, Great Bend and Smoky Hill (Salina Municipal Airport).

I have worked the last 20 years on the History of the Kansas Army Airfields ( Walker Army Airfield at Victoria Kansas is my favorite, with my research centered on it.

Great Bend Municipal airport still uses one of their original B-29 hangars for general aviation aircraft storage. They have kept repairs up on this large hangar and it is impressive to walk around in it and think of a B-29 sitting inside it.

Great history in this area on the B-29s. The first B-29 to Bomb Japan from the Marianas was a Pratt B-29 crew (Dauntless Doty) with Robert Morgan as Pilot in the right seat. He took his B-29 training at Pratt AAF after the Memphis Belle Tour.

Drop me an email and we can talk Army Airfield History.
Phillip

My (grand) uncle trained at Pratt prior to going to Saipan with the 497th. I'd like to get there someday and see it.

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"According to the map, we've only gone 4 inches."

There is a chapter on Coffeyville in Forgotten Fields of America Vol. 1 by Lou Thole, 1996, Pictorial Histories Publishing Co.

Lots of "then" photos, not too many "now"...doesn't look like there is alot to take photos of.

I think Vol 1 is out of print, but the other 3 vols are still available at places like the Air Force Museum giftshop or from the publishers at 406 549-8488.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Thanks all...some very interesting aviation spots around north OK/South KS...

It was odd being out on that monster Coffeyville ramp and thinking about all of the activity there...now long gone...

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Rauhbatz
Commemorative Air Force
CAF Ohio Wing/Airbase Georgia Member
PT-19/26, T-34 CAF Pilot


Favorite quote from Wind, Sand & Stars - A. St. Exupuery "friends are like trees...when they are gone we miss their shade"

Brother was instructor pilot out there in WWII. Married a local gal then after war moved back to IN.
He and a fellow instructor would fly back to IN once in awhile. Both brother & wife have died. But his
wife's brother is still living in the area.

When I was a tyke Mother, Father & I went out to see him on train. Went to see a Betty Grable movie.
Doubt that I ever had been to a theater until then. I decided at age 4 or 5 I liked those 'gams' and gave
my best wolf whistle. Everyone else enjoyed my idea.

Was then I decided to get into the AF and fly. I did eventually in the mid 60 flying rescue helicopters for
the USAF.
Thanks for the memories.

NEIL MAC,JOHN B, PBYCAT-GUY,RAUHBATZ,
Great info from all of you about the Coffeyville AAF. PBYCAT-GUY I have the "Long Haul" story of the 497th. If would you email your Great Uncle's name, he might be in the book. This was published just after the war and has some great info in it.
The Coffeyville Parachute Building was probably used as a fire station or storage for tractors and mowers.
The Parachute Shop at Pratt had a couple of large doors added to enable vehicles to use the building and crack the floors. There were only a couple of double walk in doors in the building during the war. Foot traffic and no vehicles.
Shure would like to find original plans for these parachue shop buildings that could be copied.
Most Army Airfield Structures were built with some variations built into them. These airfields has some 5,000 people on them so there were many structures, a small city built within a years time. Walker AAF papers show a constuction cost of $8,600,000. You couldn't even get the fed permits to build it for that amount today. These airfields were a great tribute to the American Spirit of getting things done in short time with very limited construction equipment. The ramp at Walker AAF is some 5,500 long and 550 feet wide and in excellent shape after some 69years of weather.

Phillip
walkerarmyairfield@gmail.com

My grand uncles name was 1LT Robert C Frazier, a navigator assigned to the 870th Bomb Squadron on "WereWolf", lost 27 January 1945.

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"According to the map, we've only gone 4 inches."

Pbycat-Guy
In looking thru "The Long Haul" I found a photo of Captain Hahn"s crew standing in front of "Were Wolf." Bob Mann's geat book "The B-29 Superfortress" lists Were Wolf as Serial Number 42-63423 Delivered to the 497th at Pratt AAF 8-25-1944. Lost on 1-27-45 due to Bombs exploding in Bomb Bay - Fighter attack.
If Captain Hahn was your Great Uncle's Aircraft Commander I can scan the photo in The Long Haul and email it to you if you don't have one. If you have one maybe you can identify the others in the photo.

Your Great Uncle and others lost is Listed In the "DEDICATION" pages with the following caption.
"TO THE MEN OF THE 497TH WHO SO GALLANTLY FOUGHT AND DIED IN ORDER THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE-----WE RESPECTFULLY AND REVERENTLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK"

The dedication on in on the 4th page after the Foreward by Arnold T. Johnson, Col.A.C.
Group Commander
January 1947.

" The Long Haul" book is dedicated to the story of the 497th Bomb Group Very Heavy.

Phillip

Pbycat-Guy
Also Bob's book lists WereWolf with a tail Number of A Square 28. But sometimes the tail number was used on more than one B-29. The A Square prefix was used for the B-29s of the 497th Bg of the 73rd Wing.
Phillip

Please email the photos, I'd appreciate it. I have some photos, and can possibly ID 3 of them. spitpilot40@hotmail.com. I'm doing research still and would like to write a book for my family, and any other crew members I can get in contact with. My uncle is the taller of the guys in the photos, just like everyone else in my family, all 6 ft tall and up!

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"According to the map, we've only gone 4 inches."

Hi Wixer's and especially Scott..

After the storms blew thru last night, I thought it a good evening to head up to the old USAAC Independence KS base. It was not a pure pleasure trip since there are no Bank Of America branches in Ohio and there is one in Carney KS where I needed to deposit a paper check...

I arrived there at dusk to an idyllic sunset where I took a few pics of the 1940s hangar there...and listened in the breezes for any distant voices in time...like Coffeyville it had a pretty big ramp that Im sure held a lot of a/c.

Scott: I did notice the horizontal slabs of concrete SE of the old hangar that appeared to me to be hangar foundations. I also drove south just a bit further to find a low rise pile of rubble with some old tin roofing and some odd sized blocks of concrete...is that the old hospital?

A little further south is a low rise pile of dirt overgrown with trees and brush. This appeared to be either a small arms range or aircraft machine gun harmonizing firing butts...didn't appear to be a hospital unless that's the rubble pile..

A bit chilly but I was warmed by the thought when leaving of the thousands of aircrew flying in drafty machines when it was much colder...

Any good Independence stories to tell?

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Rauhbatz
Commemorative Air Force
CAF Ohio Wing/Airbase Georgia Member
PT-19/26, T-34 CAF Pilot


Favorite quote from Wind, Sand & Stars - A. St. Exupuery "friends are like trees...when they are gone we miss their shade"

My Uncle Chester C Cyran was the tail gunner on Werewolf. he was buried along with several other crew members in Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville KY. Best Regards, Peter McGurk