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Hicks Airfield

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"Hicks Field" redirects here. For the baseball stadium in Edenton, North Carolina, see Historic Hicks Field.
Hicks Airfield

Taliaferro Field
USGS aerial image, 31 January 1995
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerHicks Airfield Pilots Assn.
ServesFort Worth, Texas
LocationTarrant County
Elevation AMSL855 ft / 261 m
Coordinates32°55′52″N 097°24′42″W / 32.93111°N 97.41167°W / 32.93111; -97.41167
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
14/32 3,740 1,140 Asphalt
Statistics (2009)
Aircraft operations31,000
Based aircraft327

Hicks Airfield (FAA LID: T67) is a public use airport located 14 nautical miles (26 km) northwest of the central business district of Fort Worth, in Tarrant County, Texas, United States.[1] The airport is used solely for general aviation purposes.

History

A 2001 USGS image of the Hicks Airfield

The airfield was established by the Canadian Flying Corps in 1916 as one of three airfields (also Benbrook Field and Baron Field) to train American pilots who entered the Canadian military before the United States entry into World War I. Canadians named the facility Taliaferro Field after Walter Taliaferro, a US aviator who had been killed in an accident.

The first trainees arrived in November 1916 to a very crude facility. Most structures were unfinished and personnel lived and worked in canvas tents. The Flu Epidemic killed many assigned personnel. After US Entry into World War I in April 1917, the airfield was taken over by United States Army and renamed Hicks Field. The Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" became the primary aircraft used for flight training after the Army takeover. The 22d, 27th, 28th, 139th, 147th, and 148th US Aero Squadrons trained at the facility. Military use ended in early 1919 after the end of World War I.

In 1923, the field became the location of the world's first helium plant, operated by United States Navy. It became a Navy blimp facility until 1929 when shortages closed facility.

Taken over by United States Army Air Corps in 1940, facilities improved and it was used as a contract primary flight training facility by the USAAF Gulf Coast Training Center (later Central Flying Command). Texas Aviation School & W. F. Long Flying School provided flying training to aviation cadets. Initially under supervision of 307th Army Air Forces Flying Training Detachment, later redesignated as 2555th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Contract Pilot School, Primary) on 1 May 1944. A ten-week course of primary training continued at Hicks, and a total of 2,403 cadets were processed, and about 70% made it to the next level of training at Randolph Field.

Flying training was performed with Fairchild PT-19s as the primary trainer. Also had several PT-17 Stearmans and a few P-40 Warhawks were assigned. The field was inactivated 20 July 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program, declared surplus, and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers. It was eventually discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and returned to civil control.

Postwar use included storage and sale of surplus military aircraft, and it was also used by Bell Helicopter as flight test airfield during 1950s. Bell activities ended in late 1950s and the facility became a general aviation airfield, eventually falling into disuse and then closed.

The airport reopened in 1985 with a new facility being built about a mile north-northwest of original airfield. By the 1990s the entire facility was being redeveloped into an industrial area, although most of original facility is still in a state of disuse with deteriorating buildings.

Facilities and aircraft

The 1955 USGS map of the Hicks Airfield

Hicks Airfield covers an area of 77 acres (31 ha) at an elevation of 855 feet (261 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 14/32 with an asphalt surface measuring 3,740 by 60 feet (1,140 x 18 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending March 7, 2009, the airport had 31,000 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 84 per day. At that time there were 327 aircraft based at this airport: 92% single-engine, 6% multi-engine, 1% helicopter and 1% ultralight.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Form 5010 for T67 PDF. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 8 April 2010.

Other sources

  • Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
  • Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
  • Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas ASIN: B000NYX3PC


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