Trip Report: Snowbird Express
First published in 2008. Reformatted 2025. So when the Colorado cold and snow become tiresome, whatcha gonna do? Head to Arizona, of course! Just a reminder PIN means Permanent Installation Number and ILC means Installation Location Code; I include these for Air Force properties when I know them.Saturday, 22 December 2007
Starting my day at 0300, I took an early flight from Denver to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. My weekend rental vehicle was a Pontiac Grand Prix--nice handling and great acceleration, but crappy rear visibility. My first challenge was to get south of Tucson. Pre-Christmas traffic was heavy, with slow-going on the Interstate because of all the overloaded pickups and vans headed south. Davis-Monthan AF Missile Site No. 6 (571-5) AZ, ILC FBPHAccess road Davis-Monthan AF Missile Site No. 7 (571-6) AZ, ILC FBPJ
Access road Davis-Monthan AF Missile Site No. 9 (571-8) AZ, ILC FBPL
Locked gate After catching these missile sites, I headed back through Tucson and stopped for the night in Marana. The driving portion of the day was 5.5 hours covering 293 miles.
Sunday, 23 December 2007
Starting from Marana, my first objective was to finish up the Titan II missile sites. Davis-Monthan AF Missile Site No. 18 (570-9) AZ, ILC FBPVGeneral view Davis-Monthan AF Missile Site No. 1 (570-1) AZ, ILC FBPC
Access road Davis-Monthan AF Missile Site No. 17 (570-8) AZ, ILC FBPU
Access road Davis-Monthan AF Missile Site No. 16 (570-7) AZ, ILC FBPT
Gate and access road Coolidge Army Air Field AZ, 32-56-00, 111-25-40. At this point I was getting closer to civilization, and it was time for my first airfield visit of the trip. This field is still in use as a municipal airport. One WWII vintage hangar and at least one other wartime building remain.
Hangar
Hangar
Building Gila River Field Site AZ. A few years ago the Navy transferred the Gila River Space Surveillance Site to the Air Force.
General view
General view
General view showing USAF sign
USAF sign Williams Air Force Base AZ, PIN 1194, ILC YZJU, 33-18-30, 111-40-00. Now called the Williams-Gateway Airport, this is still a busy place.
Hangar
Hangar
Hangar
Hangar
Hangar
Hangar
Hangar
Hangar
Hangar
Hangar
Hangar
Control tower
Control tower and hangar
Engine test cells
Elevated water storage tank
Dormitory
Building
Building Falcon Field AZ, 33-27-35, 111-43-35. Now a general aviation airport, this was an AAF contract flying school during WWII. Southwest Airways, Ltd., Inc. operated the British Flying Training School No. 4 here.
Hangar I stopped for the night in Goodyear. This was a 10.5-hour, 302 mile day.
Monday, 24 December 2007
Litchfield Park Naval Air Facility AZ, 33-25-30, 112-22-15. This WWII Navy airfield is now the Phoenix-Goodyear Airport. Two hangars remain from the Navy days, one of them fairly intact but the other heavily modified to accommodate larger aircraft types.Hangar
Hangar Thunderbird Field I AZ, 33-27-00, 112-10-30. This WWII AAF contract flying school called is now mostly residential, but the northwest quarter was turned into a private management school and retains two hangars and the operations building with control tower. This is private property, and I took these photographs after getting permission from the security office. The wartime field was a primary flying school operated by Southwest Airways, Inc.
Hangar
Hangar
Operations building with control tower
Operations building with control tower
General view Thunderbird Field II AZ, 33-37-20, 111-54-45. This WWII AAF contract flying school is now a mix of industrial, commercial, and residential areas. This was a primary school operated by Hayward & Connelly. Two vintage hangars remain, adapted for non-aircraft purposes.
Hangar
Hangar
Hangars I turned in the Pontiac and submitted to the air travel process for the flight home. Today's drive was 8 hours covering 242 miles. Total driving for the weekend was 837 miles. Updated April 20, 2025
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