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Eglin Air Force Base, a United States Air Force base located southwest of Valparaiso, Florida was established in 1935 as the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base. It is named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick I. Eglin (1891–1937), who was killed in a crash of his Northrop A-17 pursuit aircraft on a flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Alabama. Eglin is the home of the Air Armament Center (AAC) and is one of three product centers in the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC). ==Creation== Valparaiso Airport was created in 1933, when an arrowhead-shaped parcel of was cleared for use as an airdrome.〔Angell, p. 46D.〕 In 1931, the Air Corps Tactical School, newly relocated to Maxwell Field, Alabama, sought a location for a bombing and gunnery range. Valparaiso and the vast expanse of the adjacent Gulf of Mexico were suitable. James E. Plew thought a military payroll would boost the economy. He leased from the City of Valparaiso the airport land, and in 1934, Plew offered the U.S. government contiguous land for a bombing and gunnery base. This leasehold became the headquarters for the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base activated on 14 June 1935, under the command of Captain Arnold H. Rich. Two unpaved runways, with a supply house at their intersection, were in use by 1935. "On 1 March 1935, application was made for a FERA grant to pave the runways and to build an office, a barracks 30 by 120, a mess hall and kitchen, and an oil storage building..."〔Angell, p. 47.〕 On 4 August 1937, it was named Eglin Field in honor of Lt. Col. Frederick I. Eglin (1891–1937).〔Angell, p. 7.〕 A ceremony was held in June 1939 for the dedication and unveiling of a plaque honoring Valparaiso, Florida banker and businessman James E. Plew, as founder of Eglin Field. Embedded in the stone gate to the airfield, the plaque read "In memory of James E. Plew, 1862–1938, whose patriotism and generosity made this field possible."〔Crestview, Florida, "James E. Plew Called Founder Of Eglin Proving Grounds", Okaloosa News-Journal, 31 October 1941, Vol. 27, No. 42, p. 8.〕 Captains Delmar T. Spivey and George W. Mundy, 23d Composite Group, Maxwell Field, Alabama, flew two Curtiss YP-37s to Eglin Field for engine testing in December 1939, the first of thousands of service tests.〔(History of Eglin Air Force Base ). Air Armament Center Office of History〕 The Army Air Corps sought to increase gun capacity on existing planes, and contracted on 23 August 1939 for two P-36A Hawk conversions: an XP-36D, ''38–174'', with two .50-caliber guns in the nose and four .30-caliber wing guns, along with the XP-36E, ''38–147'', which had eight .30-caliber guns in the wings, like British fighters. Both were at Wright Field by October, and after tests at the Eglin proving ground, the XP-36D’s armament was chosen for the future Curtiss XP-46 and P-40B Warhawk types.〔(P-35 to P-42 by Ray Wagner – p. 2 ). Americancombatplanes.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-31.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Eglin Air Force Base」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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