Stout Army Air Field

Mars Hill Airport
Summary
Airport typeMilitary: Army Air Field
OperatorUnited States Army
LocationIndianapolis, Indiana
Built1927
In use1927-1960
OccupantsArmy
Elevation AMSL256 ft / 78 m
Coordinates39°44′15.93″N 86°13′47.95″W / 39.7377583°N 86.2299861°W / 39.7377583; -86.2299861
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
14/32 4,642 1,415 Asphalt
2/20 2,971 905 Asphalt
9/27 2,691 819 Asphalt
13/31 150 46 Asphalt
0/18 150 46 Asphalt
Closed

Stout Army Air Field is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. It serves as the Joint Forces Headquarters of the Indiana National Guard.[1]

History

Stout Field is located west of Holt Road, north and south of Minnesota Street in west Indianapolis. Established in 1926, the airport was a stop along a transcontinental air route from New York City to Los Angeles. The airport was officially named for Lt. Richard Harding Stout, a decorated veteran of World War I who had died in an airplane crash at Fort Benjamin Harrison.[2]

Curtiss Flying Service operated an air passenger service and flying school at Stout Field.[3] Curtiss' manager was Captain Harvey Weir Cook.[4] By 1928, the city realized expansion possibilities were limited and began plans for what is now Indianapolis International Airport two miles (3.2 km) to the west.[5] Captain Cook was among those who pushed for a larger municipal airport, which opened in 1931 as Indianapolis Municipal Airport. Curtiss and Transcontinental Air Transport moved their passenger service and school to the new airport.[2]

The United States Army Air Corps leased Stout Field from Indiana for $1 per year during World War II[2] to use as a training base, and to conduct air transport operations.[3] Elements of the Central (later Eastern) Technical Training Command were located there.

The Indiana State Police used the airfield following the war and purchased more land in order to build extensions to the runways.[4] The site proved inadequate for landing the new class of military jets and much of the land was sold in 1953.[3]

The site of the airport has now been mostly filled out by commercial and industrial development, though you can still see the unmistakable outline of an airfield from satellite pictures.

Units hosted

Aircraft Hosted

See also

References

  1. ^ "About the Indiana National Guard". Indiana National Guard. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Bodenhamer, David J.; Barrows, Robert Graham (1994). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 1301. ISBN 0-253-31222-1. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  3. ^ a b c "W. C. Moyer Aircraft photographs, 1929–1959 Collection Guide". Indiana Historical Society. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  4. ^ a b Hamlett, Ryan (2013). "Stout Army Air Field". Historic Indianapolis. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Indiana: Western Indianapolis area". Retrieved 10 August 2009.
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