Bruce Field
Encyclopedia
Bruce Field is a public airport providing a general aviation
service, located approximately 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Ballinger, Texas
.
flying cadets under contract to Harmon Flying School. The airfield had three 2,100' active hard-surfaced runways and five local axillary airfields for emergency and overflow landings.
It was assigned to the United States Army Air Forces Gulf Coast Training Center (later Central Flying Training Command), as a primary (level 1) pilot training airfield. Fred Harmon Flying School was the flying training instruction contractor. Flying training was performed with Fairchild PT-19
s as the primary trainer. It also had several PT-17 Stearmans assigned.
It was inactivated on 16 October 1944, with the drawdown of the AAFTC's pilot training program. The facility was declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on 30 September 1945. It was eventually discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport.
In aerial photography, the remains of both wartime runways can clearly be seen in the agricultural field to the east of the airport's runway. Although both were removed, their outlines remain. The former military aircraft parking ramp, reduced in size, is also evident aerial photography as a much larger area. Two wartime hangars remain, and the concrete floors of six other hangars remain, the structures along with the control tower having been removed. No evidence remains of structures or streets of the station area, presumably located to the north and east of the aircraft parking ramp, although there may be the remains of some in a wooded area just to the north of the current Country Road 240 just to the north of the parking ramp.
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
service, located approximately 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Ballinger, Texas
Ballinger, Texas
Ballinger is a small town in the heart of Texas. Ballinger holds itself as county seat of Runnels County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,243 at the 2000 census...
.
History
Opened on 4 October 1941, it began training United States Army Air CorpsUnited States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
flying cadets under contract to Harmon Flying School. The airfield had three 2,100' active hard-surfaced runways and five local axillary airfields for emergency and overflow landings.
It was assigned to the United States Army Air Forces Gulf Coast Training Center (later Central Flying Training Command), as a primary (level 1) pilot training airfield. Fred Harmon Flying School was the flying training instruction contractor. Flying training was performed with Fairchild PT-19
Fairchild PT-19
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Mondey, David. American Aircraft of World War II . London: Bounty Books, 2006. ISBN 978-0-7537-1461-4....
s as the primary trainer. It also had several PT-17 Stearmans assigned.
It was inactivated on 16 October 1944, with the drawdown of the AAFTC's pilot training program. The facility was declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on 30 September 1945. It was eventually discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport.
In aerial photography, the remains of both wartime runways can clearly be seen in the agricultural field to the east of the airport's runway. Although both were removed, their outlines remain. The former military aircraft parking ramp, reduced in size, is also evident aerial photography as a much larger area. Two wartime hangars remain, and the concrete floors of six other hangars remain, the structures along with the control tower having been removed. No evidence remains of structures or streets of the station area, presumably located to the north and east of the aircraft parking ramp, although there may be the remains of some in a wooded area just to the north of the current Country Road 240 just to the north of the parking ramp.
See also
- Texas World War II Army AirfieldsTexas World War II Army AirfieldsIn today's United States Air Force, many personnel have spent some of their military service being trained in Texas during World War II. Be it basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, technical training, officer training, or flight training at other facilities across the state...