A generous number of large American military airfields feature nearby satellite runways often dating back to World War Two, generally abandoned or used for army combat training. Guam Northwest Field is a notable example, and others can be found in our recent article examining 10 Abandoned Military & General Aviation Airfields of the United States.
Among them is Kingsville Naval Air Station South Field in Texas, a weed-strewn auxiliary landing ground to the south of the main air base. The airfield was used as a training base during the Second World War and was later reactivated briefly during the 1950s as the Cold War gathered pace.
(Image: Bing Maps; abandoned runways of Kingsville Naval Air Station South Field)
Over the past few decades, however, it’s been left to decay, a de facto boneyard for withdrawn military vehicles parked on its abandoned runways. Its most notable resident, however, was arguably the retired Douglas A-4 Skyhawk (top), which was for some years parked in long grass to the east of the field.
The aircraft, sporting the tail code ‘B’, is clearly evident on Google Earth but strangely absent from Bing Maps. A bit of digging revealed that the A-4C model Skyhawk may be the same one now mounted in pride of place on a plinth at the nearby Dick Kleberg Park, a mile or two to to the west. A Grumman Panther, similarly marked, that had been displayed there is now understood to have moved to the USS Midway in San Diego.
(Image: Google Street View)
Jump on Google Street View and check out the ageing attack jet, serial number 145113, alongside Highway 77. Displayed beneath the Stars and Stripes, the Skyhawk makes for a curiously lonely monument amid the vastness of Texas. But it’s a fate far preferable to rusting away on the perimeter of an abandoned airfield – assuming it’s the same A-4, of course.
(Image: Google Street View)
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