Dale Mabry Field
Encyclopedia
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
established in 1928 and replaced by Tallahassee Regional Airport
Tallahassee Regional Airport
Tallahassee Regional Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located four nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Tallahassee, a city in Leon County, Florida, United States.- History :...
. It was located at what is now Appleyard Drive and W. Pensacola Street at what is now the campus of Tallahassee Community College.
1920s
In 1928 the City of Tallahassee purchased a 200 acre (0.809372 km²) tract of land for $7028 for its first municipal airport. The land was previously a dairy farm operated (1910-1928) by Ervin Bostick Revell and Theodore B. Revell. Once the city purchased it, it was named Dale Mabry Field in honor of Tallahassee native Army Captain Dale MabryDale Mabry
Dale Mabry was an American World War I aviator.Mabry, a native of Florida, was the son of former Florida Supreme Court Justice Milton H. Mabry and Ella Dale Bramlett. He went on to become an airship pilot and captain in the United States Army...
, killed while commanding the Army semi-rigid airship
Semi-rigid airship
Semi-rigid airships are airships with a partial framework. These often consist of a rigid, or occasionally, flexible, keel frame along the long axis under the aerodynamic hull envelope. The partial framework can also be located inside the hull...
Roma
Roma (airship)
- References :NotesBibliography* Tampa Times, February 22, 1922. Page 1.* New York Times, February 22, 1922. Page 1....
on February 21, 1922, which crashed at Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. The airport was dedicated on November 11, 1929 with its first manager being Ivan Munroe. The airfield had one grass runway and was built with the assistance of federal WPA funds.
Munroe was part owner and eventually full owner of Tallahassee's first airplane and was a flight instructor. Munroe also formed the Tallahassee Aircraft Company with Jeff Lewis, Frank Lewis and Dick Weeks after serving as a Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
pilot in the Jacksonville area during World War II. The company offered flight training, aerial photography and charter service.
1930s
Atlantic Gulf Coast Airlines began commercial flights at the new airport during its first month. By 1934 the airport had 4 sod runways with the longest at 2600 feet (792.5 m). (Department of Commerce Airport Directory, 1934).In 1937 Dale Mabry Field had 2 paved runways with a single hangar at the northwest corner of the airfield.
In 1938 Eastern Airlines began service from Tallahassee to Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, and Montgomery
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
with 4 daily flights. National Airlines
National Airlines (NA)
National Airlines was an airline founded in 1934 and was headquartered on the grounds of Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States near Miami.- History :...
began service to Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, Pensacola
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
and New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
that same year.
Eddie Rickenbacker
Edward Vernon Rickenbacker was an American fighter ace in World War I and Medal of Honor recipient. He was also a race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation, particularly as the longtime head of Eastern Air Lines.-Early...
, Mrs. Joe Giddens, Wilet Moore, Mrs. Jewell Puckett, City manager H.P. Ford, Ralph McGill, Colonel C.L. Waller, W.B. Hartsfield, Smythe Gambrel, C.F. Palmer, Paul Brattain, Sidney L. Shannon, Captain W.S. Dawson, W.V. Crowley.
In 1938—1939, the U.S. Army's
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
3rd Air Force established a fighter pilot training school at Mabry and developed three runways to serve their needs. The field was described as having 2 paved runways. One runway was 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) running northwest to southeast and a second was 2500 feet (762 m) running north to south. Another 3400 feet (1,036.3 m) sand & sod runway ran east to west. A single hangar was depicted on the field. The manager was listed as Ivan Munroe and the operators were Ivan Monroe, Eastern Air Lines, and National Air Lines.
1940s
In 1941 U.S. Senator Claude Pepper
Claude Pepper
Claude Denson Pepper was an American politician of the Democratic Party, and a spokesman for left-liberalism and the elderly. In foreign policy he shifted from pro-Soviet in the 1940s to anti-Communist in the 1950s...
and Florida Governor Spessard Holland
Spessard Holland
Spessard Lindsey Holland was an American lawyer, politician and elected officeholder. He was the 28th Governor of Florida from 1941 until 1945, during World War II. After finishing his term as governor, he was a United States Senator from Florida from 1946 until 1971...
influenced the Army to make Dale Mabry Field a United States Army Air Force airfield. Aircraft and trainees arrived in May 1941. Mabry also had satellite fields at Thomasville
Thomasville, Georgia
Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The city is the second largest in Southwest Georgia after Albany.The city deems itself the City of Roses and holds an annual Rose Festival. The town features plantations open to the public, a historic downtown, a large...
and Harris Neck near Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. The Third Air Force
Third Air Force
The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe . It is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....
also Dale Mabry Field for training pilots and for antisubmarine patrols. On May 8, 1941, the 53rd Pursuit Group
53d Wing
The 53d Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.-Mission:The 53d Wing serves as the focal point for the Combat Air Forces in electronic warfare, armament and avionics, chemical defense, reconnaissance, and aircrew training devices...
from Tampa was transferred from MacDill Field in Tampa to Dale Mabry to perform the pilot training mission. On 22 July 1942, the III Fighter Command 338th Fighter Group
338th Bombardment Group
The 338th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active with Continental Air Command, being based at O'Hare International Airport, Illinois. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949.-History:...
was activated at the airfield to assume the training mission. The 338th was assigned the 305th, 306th, 312th and 441st Fighter Squadrons for training. The group was inactivated on 4 May 1944.
In 1946 U.S. Army Air Force barracks on the field were used by male students attending the Florida State College for Women under a program called the "Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida" (TBUF). By 1947 the Florida State College for Women returned to being coeducational and was renamed the Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
. The TBUF program was then discontinued. The areas of Dale Mabry Field used by these students were called "West Campus".
Aircraft Assigned to Dale Mabry
During the early part of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, P-39 Airacobras, P-40 Warhawks, and P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
s were used with training on the P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
fighter occurring later in the war.
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In 1942, the 99th Fighter Squadron under the command of Lt. Col. Benjamin Davis received advanced training at Mabry Field. In 1942 and 1944 Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
& French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
s trained at Dale Mabry Field. Students at Dale Mabry used a gunnery base at Alligator Point
Alligator Point, Florida
Alligator Point is an unincorporated community in Franklin County, Florida, United States. It is located along US 98, south of Bald Point State Park. , on the Gulf of Mexico. Alligator Point is a small beach community made up of mostly beach homes and the...
and a bombing range
Bombing range
A bombing range is an area used for testing explosive ordnance and practicing to accurately direct them to the target. Bombing ranges are used for munitions that either explode or produce too much destruction to use at a shooting range, such as kinetic energy penetrators or very large caliber...
at Sopchoppy
Sopchoppy, Florida
Sopchoppy is a city in Wakulla County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Tallahassee, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 426 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S...
on the Gulf for their training needs.
Photo Gallery of Dale Mabry Events
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Eastern Airlines and National Airlines
National Airlines (NA)
National Airlines was an airline founded in 1934 and was headquartered on the grounds of Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States near Miami.- History :...
continued to use Mabry despite being closed to general aviation during World War II. Originally 530 acres (214 ha), the airfield grew to 1720 acres (696 ha) and 133 buildings during the course of the war. Training activity peaked in mid-1944 with base complement averaging 1,300 officers, 3,000 enlisted men & women, and 800 civilian employees.
A branch Prisoner of War compound at Mabry held 150 POWs who worked on the base.
In 1945, Mabry was placed on inactive status and eventually resumed its role as a civilian airport after World War II.
1960s
In 1961, Dale Mabry Field was abandoned when a new Tallahassee AirportTallahassee Regional Airport
Tallahassee Regional Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located four nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Tallahassee, a city in Leon County, Florida, United States.- History :...
was built several miles to the southwest.
See also
- Florida World War II Army Airfields