FANCON 2014 Host City Nominations!

[KSATRoadWarrior 91]

San Antonio, Texas!!!!

 

http://www.militarycityusa.com/history.htm

 

 

Brooks Field began in 1917 as Gosport Field, a 1300 acre Army flight training site. It quickly became Signal Corps Aviation School, Kelly Field No. 5 and in 1918 was renamed Brooks Field to honor Sidney Johnson Brooks, Jr. From 1919 until 1922 it served as a training school for pilots of balloons and airships, and served from 1923 until 1931 as the primary training school for Army aviators. The School of Aviation Medicine was moved to Brooks in 1928 and moved to Randolph Field in 1931. It was used to train paratroopers, bomber pilots, and aerial observers for the Army Air Corps until the Air Force separated from the Army in 1948, when it was renamed Brooks Air Force Base. In 1959, Brooks transitioned from a flight training base to a center for medical research and education. The School of Aviation Medicine returned to Brooks in 1959 and all flying ceased in 1960. Brooks became part of the Aerospace Medical Division, which became the Human Systems Division in 1987. In 1995, military planners approved the transition of Brooks to ownership by the City of San Antonio. This was accomplished in 2002 with the creation of Brooks City-Base, owned and maintained by the City of San Antonio and home to the Air Force Human Resources Lab, the Air Force Drug Testing Lab, the Harry G. Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, the Air Force Occupational and Environmental Health Laboratory, and the laboratory functions of the School of Aerospace Medicine.

 

 

Kelly Field was created by act of Congress in December 1916m when the lease of 700 acres of land was authorized. It became the home of the 3^rd Aero Squadron and on June 11, 1917 was named for Lt. George E.M., Kelly. Later that year it was expanded with the addition known as Kelly Field Number 2, home to the flying training center.

The General Supply Depot moved to Kelly from downtown San Antonio, where it was joined by the aviation repair depot from Dallas in 1921, forming the Intermediate Air Depot. The Advanced Flying School moved to Kelly Field Number 2 in 1922, training pilots in advanced skills such as pursuit and bombardment.

In 1925, Kelly Field Number 1 was renamed Duncan Field in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Duncan and Kelly Field Number 2 became simply Kelly Field. In 1943, with the rapid expansion of programs to train pilots needed in Europe and the Pacific, congestion became a real threat, so Kelly and Duncan were reunited as Kelly Field. When the training mission was separated and moved to the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center, which was to become Lackland, the primary mission of Kelly Field became maintenance and supply.

Because of the need for space, the Normoyle Ordnance Depot (“East Kelly”) was annexed in 1945. In 1948, with the creation of the United States Air Force, Kelly Field became Kelly Air Force base. In 1974 the San Antonio Air Material Area became the San Antonio Air Logistics Center while the mission remained the same.

In 1992 the Defense Logistics Agency took over all warehouse space on the base. 1993 saw the creation of a Defense Megacenter, one of 19 nationally and the only one in Texas. In 1995 the Base Realignment and Closure commission voted to relocate the activity of the San Antonio Air logistics Center and on July 13, 2001 the runway, tenants, and base operations became part of Lackland Air Force Base. The rest of the base became a business park called Port San Antonio.

 

 

Dating from the latter part of 1915, Stinson Field was the City of San Antonio’s first municipal airport. It was created when Marjorie Stinson, who had been teaching flying from the parade grounds at Ft. Sam Houston, petitioned the City Council to create an airport. When approved, she leased 500 acres of farmland and established Stinson Field where she trained pilots during World War I. It became the city’s civil airport when the war ended but again became an Army Air Corps training facility during World War II. It is still in use as a commercial and recreational air center, although San Antonio International is today the primary commercial aviation center.

 

Lackland AFB

 

In 1942, the western part of Kelly Field was separated from that installation and designated as the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center in order to separate basic flight training from the need for training bomber pilots, which was a primary mission at Kelly Field. On July 1, 1945 the mission and name were changed as it became the San Antonio District, Army Air Force Personnel Distribution Command for the purpose of receiving and processing combat veterans. On Feb. 1, 1946 it was designated as the Army Air Forces Military Training Center. On July 11, 1947 it was named for Brigadier General Frank D. Lackland. It has had a training mission continuosly since 1946. It was home to the Officer Candidate School from 1946 until 1993. In 1956 the Technical Training Group was assigned to Lackland, bringing with it air police training and in 1957 the cryptographic equipment maintenance training was moved here. Several other training programs, language training, and programs for flight training foreign nationals are located at Lackland with the newest being the Force Protection Battle Lab (1997).

In 2001 the circle was closed when Lackland took over airfield operations at Kelly Field, changing the home of the 67^th Network Warfare Wing to Kelly Field Annex, Lackland AFB.

 

 

Randolph, original home of the Air Corps Training Center, was created when the facilities at Kelly and Brooks Fields were determined to be inadequate. It was named for Captain William Millican Randolph. Basic flight training continued until 1943, when the mission was changed to one of training flight instructors. It was renamed Randolph Air Force Base in 1948, and has always been a flight training base and is currently home to the Air Training Command. Many agencies are headquartered there and over twenty tenant organizations are also hosted.

 

Civilian Aviation in San Antonio

 

http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/history-aviation.php

[CaptKornDog 281]

 

 

Only one nomination per city please - check nominations before you submit yours. Multiple nominations will be discarded.

[superglide17 11]

Orlando, FL

[tkyler 88]

Fredricksburg Texas:

 

Hangar Hotel, 1940s style conference center and hotel on the flight line of Gillespie County Airport.  1 hour west of San Antonio in the hill country so centrally located from the coasts. Nearby drives to several state parks for hiking etc and historic Fredricksburg shopping (for the ladies) or tour of the Nimitz museum in downtown Fredricksburg.  Popular fly-in spot too.

 

http://www.hangarhotel.com/

[jetsflier 87]

Phoenix, AZ

 

Ryan from PMDG lives just a few miles away! We've got one of the busiest airports in the U.S. here and amazing municipal airports like my local airport, which I've flown into in a little prop, KFFZ - Falcon Field!

 

Falcon Field is a medium-large GA airport, with business aircraft traffic common. We also have a B17 and various other military aircraft that fly right above me every day.

 

PM me if any more information is needed (:

[mikea76 184]

Boston Ma.

 

Because it's close to me.  

[Mean Aerodynamic Chord 269]

Houston, TX

[StarBlue 27]

KSLC

 

KHIF has a museum that has a one of a kind SR-71, beautiful mountains, fairly in-expensive food/lodging, lots and lots of Jell-O deserts.  And for the adventurious law breakers, there is always Dugway Proving Grounds you could try to find the hidden UFO's.

[meshman 109]

Portland, Oregon

 

Not too big, not too small. And it doesn't get too hot in the summer time, generally.