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Independence Army Airfield was a World War II training base of the United States Army Air Forces Central Flying Training Command (CFTC). It is currently the city-owned Independence Municipal Airport. ==History== In January 1941 the Independence Chamber of Commerce, resolved to sell the citizens of the Kansas community the idea of a municipal airport. On 26 June 1941, after six months of effective "selling", the city commission decided to ask the voters to approve a $100,000 bond issue for financing work on the airport. The citizens approved by a vote of 1,219 to 173 on 1 August 1941. A short time later the city commission entered into contract with Paulette and White, consulting engineers from Topeka, to survey potential sites for the field. Several locations were considered before any selection was made. The site chosen was in Montgomery county, six miles southwest of Independence. Early in 1942 the government indicated it was interested in acquiring the site for an Army Air Corps airfield. During April and May civic leaders met with government officials in a series of conferences. Army Engineers made surveys from 8 to 11 April. About six weeks later, on 23 May 1942, the Army officially notified Independence City Government that it would purchase approximately 1,433 acres. The contract for planning and supervising the construction of the airfield was awarded to Black and Veatch, architectural engineers from Kansas City, Missouri. Work began on 6 June 1942, when Ottinger Brothers of Oklahoma City moved in with a labor crew and began grading operations. Shortly thereafter, work began on the drainage and sewerage systems. During the summer the Missouri Pacific Railroad constructed a spur to the site. In August work began on runways and buildings. Three concrete runways were constructed, aligned 5500x150(N/S), 5500x150(NE/SW), 5500x150(NW/SW). Each runway had a ten-inch gravel base placed in layers on a six-inch compacted earth subbase, and surfaced with one and one-half-inch asphalt cement; the service strip (80 feet wide) was a six-inch concrete slab, thickened to nine inches at the expansion and construction joints. three taxiways, 50 feet wide, completed the runway system. Fronting on the field, three squadron hangars, 120 by 80 feet, were built with a parking apron a mile long and 450 feet wide. ' During the fall of 1942 clearing and grading operations began at four locations that had been selected for auxiliary fields. The four sites were located 8 to 20 miles from the main field. The auxiliaries were located at: * Mound City Army Air Force Auxiliary Field #3 * Elk City Army Air Force Auxiliary Field #4 * Independence Army Air Force Auxiliary Field #7 * Cherryvale Army Air Force Auxiliary Field #9 Work progressed satisfactorily throughout the winter despite interruptions caused by heavy rains and sub-zero temperatures. By January 1943 three concrete runways 5,000 feet in length had been constructed. Electric, gas and water lines also had been completed and sufficient troop housing was available. Most of the buildings were Theater of Operations construction while some were of the Mobilization type. The Mobilization type buildings included the station hospital, theater, chapel, and Link training buildings. Where before there had been only open farm land, this new city now contained about 200 buildings, with pot-bellied coal stoves for heating. The major construction work, which cost more than $8,000,000, ended in May 1943. 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「Independence Army Airfield」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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