Albuquerque, NM Airfield, Ca 1931 (Source: Webmaster)
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In so many words, Albuquerque had two airports during the Golden Age. This is reflected, at right, in the 1931 descriptions of the facilities from this REFERENCE, page 11. Number (1) was developed as a civil airfield in the mid-1920s. It was also called Oxnard Field.
Number (2) followed when Western Air Express developed their own field, ca. late-1920s. Both fields persist to this day, with (1) being the approximate site of the present Kirtland AFB, and (2) becaming the Albuquerque International Sunport.
The Davis-Monthan Airfield Register didn't see many pilots from Albuquerque (right sidebar). All but one were civilian pilots. The best low altitude route to or from Albuquerque is sort of a southeast semi-circle from Tucson, AZ to Lordsburg, Truth Or Consequences, Silver City, Socorro and on up to Albuquerque, NM. It was probably not a favorite route of Golden Age pilots. Your Webmaster has flown that route and there are still some serious "hills" to watch out for.
The other route, from Albuquerque direct to Phoenix and then south to Tucson gets into high mountains (flight required above 12,000') between Albuquerque and Phoenix.
Below, from this REFERENCE, page 152, is a view of Oxnard Field described in section (1), above. Services and amenities were exemplary for the time. Note the change in managment. In 1931 the airport was owned and operated by Albuquerque Airport, Inc. In 1933 it was operated by Aircraft Holdings, Inc. Interestingly, airport manager Frank Speakman wrote a book entitled, "History of the Albuquerque Airport, 1928 to 1942" with the editorial assistance of Frederic C. Alexander, Jr. It was published at Albuquerque in 1965. There is no machine-readable version available. Speakman has a modest Web presence.
Albuquerque, NM Airfield, Ca 1933 (Source: Webmaster)
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Pilots whose home base was Albuquerque included in 1935 one Arthur Pack and his wife flying Fairchild NC14321. The Arthur Pack Municipal Golf Course in Tucson is named after him. Below, courtesy of the San Diego Aerospace Museum Flickr Stream (SDAM), is a low aerial photograph of what is probably the TWA field after it was developed. The SDAM information offered for this photograph states, "From an album (AL-70) donated to the museum by Albert Hobart, who flew for Western Air Express and worked at Burdett Airport." Hobart is a Register pilot who signed our Peterson Field Register October 10, 1931. Note the trimotor liner being fueled at lower left.
Albuquerque, NM TWA Field, Date Unknown (Source: SDAM)
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Another photo from the SDAM Hobart album is below. This one is closer to the action, but shows the trimotor, the fuel truck driving away and a Fokker Super Universal at left. Note that Hobart identified the the photo as "W.A.E. Airport," referring to Western Air Express. WAS was merged into TWA. The people on the ground appear to watch as the photo plane flys past at low altitude.
Albuquerque, NM TWA Field, Date Unknown (Source: SDAM)
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Below, from this REFERENCE, page 127 is the description of the two landing sites for 1937. Note, for (1) the addition of a Department of Commerce radio station and a radio range station.
Albuquerque, NM Airfield, Ca 1937 (Source: Webmaster)
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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 12/15/10 REVISED: 12/08/14, 04/24/18
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