Mailman: The search for lost WW2 airfields in the desert

Another offroad opportunity, but best be armed...

Haha! You know I have worked with guys that are hobby prospectors. They take that stuff seriously! One time , just casually, I asked this guy where he prospects at , and he shot me a dirty look, like I asked if I could kiss his wife!
 
Back in the early '90s, I helped a friend and his 2 brothers develop a uniquely different kind of long-range precious metal detector. The oldest brother took it down there for testing.

One day, as he straggled over a ridgeline, he saw some prospectors down in the valley, fighting it out, one was shot and killed. Well, he scampered outta there and never went back. He's doing real estate now.

My friend and I flew down there later that year, stopped by a prospecting shop somewhere northeast of Phoenix. He had been supplying them with one of his earlier detectors, and wanted to follow-up.

I met an ol' prospector in there. He looked like something straight outta the 1800's. After a bit of chatting, he said "Here, have a look at this.", as he plopped a pinto-bean sized gold nugget into my palm.

OMG, that little nugget weighed a ton. Never handled one before.

Suddenly, I could feel gold fever surging to my head. Reason and rationality gets shoved aside as desire and greed take over.

Must be like a drug... :shrug:
 
Suddenly, I could feel gold fever surging to my head. Reason and rationality gets shoved aside as desire and greed take over.
Had a neighbor in Idaho that used to pan for gold using a sluice box. One day I asked him to teach me how to do it (pre-google day:rolleyes:)
He never spoke to me again. Guess it does weird things to your mind:cautious:
 
A longtime ago … it seems that way... I was stationed in East Africa.... prior to the US entering WWII they had a facility that serviced, repaired and rebuild airplanes, mostly combat damages related to the north African campaign. (See the book, Project 19, A Mission Most Secret). After the US entered the conflict the " civilians " opened their closets and put on their uniforms.
As the war progressed the entire facility was boxed and shipped. The only thing they couldn't box.. was the runway. This site was some distance from my duty station... I would visit it once in awhile and find myself ripping up and down the runway on my 450 Ducati do'n my best P-40 War Hawk or Hurricane imitation.
 
switchback.jpg Every corner.... had one or more little white cross..or marker…. something along the lines.. " Luigi arrivederci ". ( it was a Italian colony for many years)
 
- - - For you In the UK, find a copy of the book " Air fields of the 8th. Then and now". - - - !

Hi azman,
Back in 1942 when a squadron of B17s first landed on a certain British airfield an RAF liason officer was there in his Mosquito fighter/bomber to greet them.
" I say, old chap, what are all those huge aircraft that just landed?"
"Those are B-17s. 4 engines, crew of 11, will carry a 2,000lb bomb to Germany at 200 knots. What's the thing you're flying?"
"It's a DeHavilland Mosquito, crew of 2, will carry a 2,000lb bomb to Germany at 400 knots."
"Then get it off my runway real quick. If my pilots see it they're all gonna want one!"
 
Where I live we still have the remnants of WW2 airfields littered across the countryside; some have returned to agriculture; others are still in use but most are a distant memory unless viewed from above. Plenty of old buildings and bits of taxiway left. As a retired pilot (private not commercial) I still have a passion for the old airfields and the spirits they harbour. Plus there’s nothing better than messing about in old buildings and feeling the ghosts. It’s our joint history.
 
Auxiliary #7
I couldn’t find. It may have been covered up by construction.
Think I found it. It's always bugged me that something carved out of the desert with dozers and earth movers could up and disappear in eight short decades.
Here's your map Bob...


z.png



Notice where the Gila starts bending south. Now look at Google Maps...


z7.png



That area is about the same distance north of the bend. It's slightly east of the circle in your map... but that's only as accurate as the guy marking the circle. And his circle would put it at the top of a southerly ridgeline... an unlikely place to build an airfield. Now have a close look at that area...


z77.png



This is Hickmans Eggs. If you think about it, are you going to clear and level land for an egg farm, or are you going to buy land that's already been developed?

Have a look here... 33.366740647501665, -112.75855696071092
 
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Think I found it. It's always bugged me that something carved out of the desert with dozers and earth movers could up and disappear in eight short decades.
Here's your map Bob...


View attachment 206285


Notice where the Gila starts bending south. Now look at Google Maps...


View attachment 206286


That area is about the same distance north of the bend. It's slightly east of the circle in your map... but that's only as accurate as the guy marking the circle. And his circle would put it at the top of a southerly ridgeline... an unlikely place to build an airfield. Now have a close look at that area...


View attachment 206287


This is Hickmans Eggs. If you think about it, are you going to clear and level land for an egg farm, or are you going to buy land that's already been developed?

Have a look here... 33.366740647501665, -112.75855696071092

Ha! That looks right! Well in that case, I’ve already been there! That Hickman egg farm sits way out by itself and it’s a good thing too, the air from all that chicken crap is so thick with ammonia, it’s almost unbreathable. I rode that Salome highway about five years ago when I was looking to explore some areas I had never been to. I smelled that chicken farm long before I could see it.
 
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