- Naval Auxiliary Air Station Charlestown
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Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Air Station 
Charlestown During World War II IATA: KALF – ICAO: ALF – FAA LID: KALF Summary Airport type Military: Naval Air Station Operator United States Navy Location Charlestown Built 1931 (Civilian), 1942 (Navy) In use 1931-1942 (Civilian) 1942-1974 (Navy) Occupants Navy Elevation AMSL 23 ft / 6 m Coordinates 41°22′5.07″N 71°40′1.67″W / 41.368075°N 71.6671306°W Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 17/35 5,244 1,598 Asphalt 12/30 4,859 1,481 Asphalt 4/22 5,818 1,773 Asphalt Runways are unusable even though they're easily discernible in aerial photos. Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Air Station is located in Charlestown, Rhode Island. It was a satellite airfield to the nearby Quonset Naval Air Station. It is located within the boundaries of the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge.
Contents
History
Atlantic Airport, as it was then known, was founded around 1931. In 1942, the site of the Atlantic Airport was reused by the Navy to construct Charlestown NAAS. It was constructed with three runways. It then became a satellite of the nearby Quonset Naval Air Station. Former US President George Herbert Walker Bush aviation trained here before going to Japan in World War II and named his airplane Barbara for his girlfriend Barbara Walker who became his wife Barbara Bush. The airport was used for the Navy Air Navigation Project, which developed & tested navigation aids & traffic control systems. It was host to a CASU (Carrier Aircraft Service Unit) and later to a NACTU (Night Aircraft Training Unit. The runways were used for drag racing between 1958 and 1959. In 1974, the base was disestablished. It probably closed in conjunction with Quonset Naval Air Station, which closed around the same time that it did.[1]
Reuse as a Park
Looking down former Runway 4/22 which is part of an ongoing native grasslands restoration project
In 1976, there was talk of using the site for the first nuclear power plant in Rhode Island. This idea was shot down by local residents and it remained unused until it was incorporated into the nearby Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. Until the 1980s, the hangars remained at the airport. In the late 1990s, the runways and taxiways were torn up and native grasses and plants were planted. Recent aerial photos show a track for bicycle racing and time trials at the northern portions of runways In 2002, a memorial was built at the site commemorating the use of the field. According to a recent New York Times article,
A parcel of 172 acres (0.70 km2) of the deactivated Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Air Station on the South County coast, complete with a freshwater pond, it was opened as a park by the town of Charlestown in 1983 and forms a gateway to the older wildlife refuge and the barrier beach beyond. The park is to be developed with bathhouses but for now it remains rugged and inviting.[2] To keep motorists from going in hopeless circles on vast runways, routes of sorts were denoted by sweeping furrows plowed into the tarmac, an almost perfect enactment of the biblical notion of beating swords into plowshares. At a certain point on the runway, most people park their cars and go walking in the company of wildlife, wind off Block Island Sound and the whisper of tall grasses.[3]
Environmental Cleanup
Being used in the time before the modern day environmental movement, the site has had its share of cleanups over the years. Removal of 830 cubic yards (630 m3) of contaminated soil, at a projected cost of $426,938 has been proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The soil would be removed from an area that used to contain five 25,000-gallon underground storage tanks reportedly used to store leaded, high-octane aviation gasoline had been previously removed. The area, known as site 8 and located some 1,500 feet (460 m) from residential areas, was formerly used for flight-line fueling operations in the early 1940s.[4]
References
- ^ Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Rhode Island
- ^ Rhode Island'S May Breakfasts Keep Sizzling - New York Times
- ^ Rhode Island'S May Breakfasts Keep Sizzling - New York Times
- ^ Plan offered to remove tainted soil | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal
External links
- http://www.airfields-freeman.com/RI/Airfields_RI.htm#charlestown
- http://www.projo.com/news/content/SC_CHTWN_NINIGRET_CONTAMINATION2_09-27-07_FT79GFB.34bbc96.html
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EFDC1438F936A25757C0A962948260&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=2
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EFDC1438F936A25757C0A962948260&sec=travel&spon=&pagewanted=3
Categories:- 1931 establishments in the United States
- United States naval air stations
- Military facilities in Rhode Island
- Charlestown, Rhode Island
- Washington County, Rhode Island
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