Carlstrom Field
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Carlstrom Field
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| Located near Arcadia, Florida. | |
 Carlstrom Field, 6 January 1999 |
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| Type | Army Airfield |
| Coordinates | |
| Built | 1917 |
| In use | 1917-1945 |
| Controlled by | United States Army Air Service (1917-1923) United States Army Air Forces (1941-1945) (Contract Facility) |
| Garrison | Army Air Force Training Command |
Carlstrom Field was named for Lt. Victor Carlstrom, (1890-1917) who was killed in an aircraft accident in Newport News, Virginia. At the outbreak of World War I, he was one of the foremost aviators of his time. He made many first flights and set many altitude and distance records. On May 9, 1917, Victor Carlstrom and a student pilot would meet an untimely death when the wing of the aircraft he was piloting would fall off resulting in the downing of his plane.
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[edit] World War I
Opened in 1917, the airfield was used as a World War I pilot training facility. The airfield facilities consisted of a total of 90 buildings & structures, Including a row of hangars located along a square mile grass field. This site consisted of a total of 696 acres.
After the Armistice, Carlstrom Field served as a testing area for various aircraft, dirgibles, and other aeronautical weapons. In October of 1919, final testing of an experimental unmanned aircraft called the "Kettering Bug" was successfully tested & launched at Carlstrom Field. The airfield also served as the United States Army Air Service's principal flying school until 1923 when it was closed. All of the buildings were sold to private individuals & removed by 1926.
[edit] World War II
With the need for primary pilot training brought on by World War II, Carlstrom re-opened in March 1941 under the operation of Riddle Aeronautical Institute. A new facility was built adjacent to the remains of the WW1-era facilities and Riddle contracted to train Royal Air Force aviators and graduated the first class in August 1941.
Carlstrom Field had a very unusual layout, with a compact group of buildings located inside a circular road, with five hangars located around the southern periphery of the road. No paved runway was ever built with the flying conducted from the 1 square mile grass field.
[edit] Postwar Use
Closed after the war, Carlstrom Field became the site of the G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital. Many of the WWII era buildings remain in use by the hospital, with former six-plane hangers serving as maintenance buildings. The band shell, site of dances and other entertainment during the war, remains on the site.
The Oak Ridge Cemetery in Arcadia is the final resting-place of twenty-three RAF cadets who died while in the United States for training. A special marker at the cemetery recognizes their service and a ceremony is held in their memory each year on Memorial Day.
