Hatbox Field Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Hatbox Field Airport
(Closed)
nativename =
nativename-a =
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IATA = HAX
ICAO = KHAX
FAA =
type = Closed
owner =
operator =
city-served =
location = 627
elevation-f = 191.1
elevation-m =
coordinates = Coord|35|44|45.37|N|95|24|45.89|W|type:airport_region:US
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 11/29
r1-length-f = 3,800
r1-length-m = 1,158
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 17/35
r2-length-f = 2,800
r2-length-m =
r2-surface = Asphalt
stat-year =
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Hatbox Field Airport Airport codes|HAX|KHAX is a closed airfield located 2 miles west of Muskogee, Oklahoma. It was opened sometime in the early 1920s and was closed in 2000. It is presently the location of the Love-Hatbox Sports Complex, a large recreation center and waterpark.

The former airfield site includes 10 lighted baseball fields‚ eight lighted softball diamonds‚ two full-size football fields and a 30-acre‚ 19-field soccer area called the Georgia Pacific Soccer Complex.

In addition‚ a 3.1-mile (5K) asphalt Centennial Trail walking/biking exercise pathway loops around the 120 acres‚ and a former airplane hangar houses three indoor batting cages. A local model airplane club hosts two annual events at Love-Hatbox that attract flying enthusiasts from around the country.

History

Hatbox Field was depicted on the 1929 Rand McNally "Standard Indexed Map with Air Trails of OK" as a public airport with a radio station. The airfield was Muskogee's original municipal airport, and is a very historic airfield. It is one of the airports that the Douglas aircraft of the Army's 1924 Around the World Flight stopped, and was a stop on the Army's mail route.

In 1929, the airfield was described as a municipal airport, operated by the Army Air Corps, and having a beacon light. Charles Lindbergh was on hand for the dedication.

The Spartan Aviation School opened at the field in 1940. They used the 2 large arch-roofed hangars at Hatbox. Renamed Muskogee Army Airfield during World War II, Spartan provided primary flight training to Second Air Force cadets as an Army Air Forces contract flying school until 1944. The USAAF 410th Bombardment Group trained at the airfield with Douglas A-20 Havocs in the fall of 1943 before being reassigned to the Ninth Air Force in England, where they flew Martin B-26 Marauders.

Following the end of its military use, Hatbox was reused as a purely civil airfield. The operator was listed as the City of Muskogee.

The city of Muskogee decided to close the field to the public following a two-fatality crash in 1998, however limited aviation use was allowed until 2000 by a private firm which refurbished military-surplus Beechcraft U-21 Utes. Hatbox was completely closed in 2000, and the refurbishing company moved to nearby Muskogee Davis Field.

See also

* Oklahoma World War II Army Airfields

References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
* [http://www.airfields-freeman.com/OK/Airfields_OK_E.htm#hatbox Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Eastern Oklahoma]

External links