Fairfax Field
{{Short description|Former Air Force base in Kansas}}
{{About|Military use of Fairfax Field, Kansas|1921-1985 civilian aeronautical operations af Fairfax Field|Fairfax Municipal Airport|the US Army Project Nike site(s) in Kansas City MO|Kansas City Defense Area}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name= Fairfax Field
|partof =
1951-4: 12px Air Defense Command
1944-tbd: 20px AAF Technical Services Command
tbd: 20px Air Transport Command
1935-1942: US Navy
|location=Located on Goose Island, Kansas, at the state line on the Missouri River west of North Kansas City, Missouri
|image= Fairfax Field KS 1950.jpg
|image_size= 300px
|caption=Northward view of the air base in World War II after the modification center was built along the south taxiway.
|coordinates={{nowrap| {{Coord|39|09|10|N|094|36|43|W|name=Air Force Plant 02|notes={{cite news |last=Murdock |first=Scott D. |date=6 May 2003 |title=List of Air Force Plants }}}} (1941-89 B-25/GM plant) }}
|type=
|code= FUDS - WRD (WWII weather station){{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhqXe5rjQDkC&pg=PA591 |title=The Weather Observer: June 29, 1942 - United States. War Department - Google Books |date=1942-06-29 |access-date=2015-05-20|last1=War Dept |first1=United States }}
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Fairfax Field was a wartime (WWII) facility of the United States Army Air Forces and later, the United States Air Force.
The installation was north of Kansas City, Kansas. Used as a pre-war Naval Air Station,{{r|MilOrder}} the United States Army Air Forces leased the municipal airfield and built an Air Force plant and modification center for North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber production. Military use of the site continued as late as 1957 by the Strategic Air Command's 3903rd Radar Bomb Scoring Group for bombing practice.
{{Quote box |width=29em |align=right |border = |bgcolor= |style=
|title=Kansas City{{Where|reason=Where were the sites for these units, e.g., was the HQ CADF at the Bannister Federal Complex? Were they in Missouri because Fairfax didn't have office space? At least one source identifies Missouri for a Kansas site: mobileradar.org for the RBS Site.|date=August 2014}} military sites in Missouri |fontsize=70% |title_fnt= |tstyle= |title_bg= |qalign= |qstyle= |quoted=
|quote=Kansas City, Missouri, had military activities beginning as early as 1919 when the city was part of a recruiting campaign in which "seventeen flying fields, one repair depot, and five balloon stations" took part.{{r|Maurer}}{{rp|7}} In 1923 the Air Service's southern division of the Model Airway used an airfield in the city for an Army air route to Kelly Field, Texas; and by the end of 1925, the "{{sic|403th}} Pursuit Squadron" was assigned to a Kansas City facility (the Air Service leased the land for the airdrome in Kansas City, Missouri, with steel hangars for $1/year.){{Cite report |author=Maurer, Maurer |title=Aviation in the US Army, 1919-1939 |pages=151, 307 |isbn=0-912799-38-2}} In 1940, the USGS mapped the "State Boundary" as a straight north-south line demarcating a small eastern portion of "Fairfax Airport" as being in Missouri.{{Cite map |title=[USGS topographical map] |year=1940 |url=https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/KS/Airfields_KS_E.htm#fairfax |location=map depicted at Airfields-Freeman.com |access-date=2013-07-14}} By the end of 1942, Kansas City, Missouri, had a modification center--in addition to the Fairfax plant and modification center in Kansas.{{Cite report |last=Futrell |first=Robert F. |publisher=Air Historical Office |date=July 1947 |title=Development of AAF Base Facilities in the United States: 1939-1945 |url=http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090601-058.pdf |volume=ARS-69: US Air Force Historical Study No 69 (Copy No. 2) |page=141 |quote=Daggett, Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; Love Field, Dallas, Tex.; Fairfax Airport, Kansas City, Kans.; Buffalo, N. Y..; Evansville, Ind.; Niagara Falls, N. Y.; Offutt Field, Omaha, Neb.; Standiford Field, Louisville, Ky.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Vandalia, Ohio; St. Paul, Minn.; Denver, Colo.; Birmingham Ala.; Memphis, Tenn .; Tulsa, Okla.; and Kansas City, Mo. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908061635/http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090601-058.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-08 }} On 2 March 1945, Military Air Transport moved an air freight terminal to Fairfax from Kansas City, Missouri.
The USAF Central Air Defense Force (CADF) was activated with headquarters at Kansas City, Missouri, on 1 March 1951; on 24 April the Central Army Antiaircraft Command was "established with HQ at Kansas City" (organized 1 May 1951); and on 1 July the USAF 35th Air Division was activated at Kansas City (moved to Dobbins Air Force Base in September). The 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron--after being assigned to Peterson Field on 1 March 1952{{Cite report |last=Mueller |year=1982 |chapter=Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base |title=Air Force Bases as of 1982 |page=502}}--had its Flight B assigned with "Defense Force Headquarters [at] Kansas City, Missouri".{{cite web |title=4602d AISS Unit History Sampler |url=http://www.cufon.org/cufon/4602smpl1.htm |format=transcribed excerpts of Secret History of 4602D Air Intelligence Squadron |publisher=Cufon.org|access-date=2013-10-09 |quote=The 4602d Air Intelligence Service Squadron was activated and organized under authority of Air Defense Command General Order Number 20, dated 28 February 1952, at {{sic|Peterson field}} [a sub-base of] Ent Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado with an authorized strength of thirty-four (34) officers and ninety-seven (97) airmen. Under this General Order, three flights, designated as Flights A, B and C were organized to be located at the three Defense Force Headquarters at Hamilton Air Force Base, California, at Kansas City, Missouri, and at Stewart Air Force Base, new York, respectively.}} While Grandview Air Force Base was being completed, on 1 October 1952 Kansas City, Missouri, had CADF's Technical and Ground Training Division,{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8ghAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA214 |title=Official Register of the United States - United States Civil Service Commission, United States. Bureau of the Census |access-date=2015-06-04|year=1952 }} and the NSA's Special Study Group met on 1 August 1953 at "Headquarters, Central Air Defense Force, Kansas City, Missouri".{{cite web|url=https://www.governmentattic.org/4docs/NSA-SAB52-63_1965.pdf |title=National Security Agency (NSA) Historical Study: The National Security Agency Scientific Advisory Board 1952 – 1963, September 1965 |publisher=Governmentattic.org |access-date=2015-06-04}}
;Grandview Air Force Base: On 24 February 1954, HQ CADF moved to Grandview Air Force Base{{cite web |title=title tbd |url=https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/MO/Airfields_MO_NW.htm |access-date=2014-08-14 |quote=HQ, Central Air Defense Force was established [at Grandview Air Force Base] on 2/24/54}} NOTE: [http://www.neam.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=782A biographical webpage] distinguished the 2 different Missouri sites for HQ CADF. outside the city limits, but the land was owned by the Kansas City, Missouri government (from whom the USAF leased the airport on 1 January 1952--the "USAF accepted responsibility for [the base's] land and buildings" in January 1953.{{r|Mueller}}
}}
Background
The airfield was first used in 1921 for an air meet and became the 1925 Sweeney Airport and the 1928 Fairfax Airport. A naval reserve air base was established at Fairfax Field in 1935{{r|JoCoMuseum}}; a Navy squadron and a Marine squadron were established on 12 July.{{Cite journal |last=Hurt |first=R. Douglas |date=Autumn 1977|title=Naval Air Stations in Kansas During World War II |url=http://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-historical-quarterly-naval-air-stations-in-kansas-during-world-war-ii/13277 |format=Tod Roberts transcription |journal=Kansas Historical Quarterly |access-date=2013-07-15 }} (see also "U.S. Army and Air Force Wings Over Kansas," Kansas Historical Quarterly, v. 25, no. 2, (Summer, 1959), pp. 138-141) In 1937 Fairfax acted as an "army reserve base" with Douglas O-46 observation planes,{{Cite news |date=27 April 1937 |title=Air Pilots Thrill Crowd at Airport: Eleven Fliers From U. S. Army and Marine Reserve Base Put on Show |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5nZdAAAAIBAJ&pg=2971,391163&dq=fairfax-air&hl=en |location=Lawrence, Kansas |newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World |format=Google news archive |access-date=2014-08-16 }} and by 1938 the airport had four runways, including one {{Convert|2700|ft|abbr=on}} long.{{Citation |year=1938 |title=Airport Directory |publisher=Airport Directory Company}} (cited by Freeman) Fairfax's "U.S. Naval Reserve aviation base",{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uGZeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HmENAAAAIBAJ&pg=2914,5314987&dq=fairfax-air&hl=en|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201016230323/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uGZeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HmENAAAAIBAJ&pg=2914,5314987&dq=fairfax-air&hl=en|archive-date = 2020-10-16|title = Lawrence Journal-World - Google News Archive Search}} had a 30-day pre-flight training course in 1940.{{Cite book |last=Hammel |first=Eric |title=Aces at War |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IzNdAAAAIBAJ&pg=2911,493589&dq=fairfax-air&hl=en |format=Google Books |access-date=2013-07-15}}
Navy Elimination Air Base
The "Marine Air Flight Program" established by 1 September 1940{{Cite book |title=The Military Order of World Wars |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ibtADE8gMeoC&pg=PA113 |publisher=Turner Publishing Company |access-date=2013-07-15 |quote=|isbn = 9781563111846|date = 1996-06-15}} at Fairfax's "Navy Elimination Air Base" (E-base) used "a physical and mental examination…ten hours of dual instruction…check rides and a fifteen-minute solo flight" for screening candidates{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBGoTzt0xCsC&pg=PA30 |title=Aces at War - Eric Hammel - Google Books |date=2010-01-22 |access-date=2015-05-20|isbn=9781890988074 |last1=Hammel |first1=Eric |publisher=Pacifica Military History }} to become Naval Aviation Cadets.{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?pid=162463459#fbLoggedOut |title=E. LUTHER Obituary - Fairfax, VA | The Washington Post |publisher=Legacy.com |access-date=2015-05-20}} A Fairfax "naval flying cadet… crashed into the Missouri River two miles northwest of the Fairfax air base" [sic] on 16 June 1942,{{Cite news |date=17 June 1942 |title=Former Iowa Athlete Killed in Plane Crash |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0O4ZAAAAIBAJ&pg=2238,856258&dq=fairfax-air&hl=en |newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal |access-date=2013-07-14 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Fairfax's naval aviation training moved in July to the new United States Naval Aviation Reserve Base at Olathe about 20 miles away.{{Cite journal |title=Olathe Naval Air Station: Sailors on the Plains |url=http://www.jocomuseum.org/AlbumNews/Spring07.pdf |journal=Album: Johnson County History Museum |volume=XV |issue=2 |access-date=2013-07-15 |quote= |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211194303/http://www.jocomuseum.org/AlbumNews/Spring07.pdf |archive-date=11 December 2013 }} Fairfax still had "Barracks U.S. Navy" in 1946.{{r|UPRR1946}}
File:B-25 Mitchell assembly line 1944.jpg: In 1953, the facility was the Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac Assembly Plant adjacent to Fairfax Field{{Cite news |date=July 10, 1953 |title=Air Force Unveils New Jet Fighter |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g1VLAAAAIBAJ&pg=2786,767901&dq=fairfax-air&hl=en |newspaper=Press Courier |access-date=2013-07-14}} and unveiled the assembly line for F-84F Thunderflash{{clarify|Thunderflash is reconnaissance and "RF-84F" , not strictly a fighter |date=August 2014}} fighters{{r|Oxnard}} (General Motors produced 599 F-84Fs at Fairfax.)]]
WWII B-25 production, training, and modifications
Survey work for Air Force Plant NC had begun in December 1940, and the city of Kansas City, Kansas, purchased the airport in February 1941.{{Cite news |date=7 December 1940 |title=Big Bomber Plant for City |newspaper=Kansas City Times }} (cited by Freeman and Macais) The USAAF leased the Fairfax Airport from the city and the Works Projects Administration sponsored expansion of the four civilian runways. The government purchased a {{Convert|75|acre|abbr=on}} alfalfa field Macias p. 247 for the plant and for right-of-way to the airfield. B-25 production began in December 1941, and Fairfax's first B-25D was accepted in February 1942. The Fairfax Modification Center was a dual hangar built May–October 1942 along the south taxiway for altering the new B-25s (a west extension and several outbuildings were added.){{r|Freeman}} The 76th AAF Technical Training Detachment activated on 4 February 1943 (designated 5 October) and administered a 6 week hydraulics course for AAF mechanics under the direction of the Aircraft Accessories Corporation. About 300 students were admitted before the school was closed in October as a duplicate of a Chanute Field course. The 81st AAF Technical Training Detachment activated 22 February 1943 and designated, effective 30 August, to supervise apprentice crew chiefs at the Modification Center. January AAF policy was for each mechanic selected as a crew chief to be assigned an aircraft as it left the factory, review its modifications at the center, and deploy with it to the field unit. B-25 modifications only took a week until the B-25G gunship modifications for Pacific War anti-shipping missions, which took 2–3 months.{{Citation needed|reason=What did the B-25G model have to do with Fairfax? None are listed above as being built at Fairfax.|date=July 2013}} Peak enrollment was 296 mechanics on 27 June, and the apprenticeship program was abandoned (the detachment inactivated on 31 October 1943.)
WWII ferrying
Air Transport Command moved the 2d Ferrying Squadron of the 5th Ferrying Group from Dallas Love Field to Fairfax on 15 April 1943, and the squadron ferried out 157 B-25s during May{{cite web|url=http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/182/132.xml |title=Air Force History Index |publisher=Airforcehistory.org |access-date=2015-05-20}} Of 1,881 deliveries in 1943 by the Ground Ferrying Squadron all but 129 were B-25s, but at the end of that year Fairfax pilots began ferrying Martin B-26 Marauders from the Omaha modification center and Consolidated B-24 Liberators from a St. Paul facility. From May-Sep 1944 a detachment of Women Airforce Service Pilots was at Fairfax.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sP3aAnaM38YC&pg=PA116 |title=Kansas Forts and Bases: Sentinels on the Prairie - Debra Goodrich Bisel, Michelle M. Martin - Google Books |access-date=2015-05-20|isbn=9781609498269 |last1=Bisel |first1=Debra Goodrich |last2=Martin |first2=Michelle M. |year=2013 |publisher=History Press }} The 33d Ferrying Group was designated on 1 April 1944 from the 2d Ferrying Squadron, which had been separated from the 5th Group on 1 January 1944 (393 officers and 578 enlisted men at the end of 1944).{{Cite book |chapter=Fairfax Field |title=Wings Over Kansas |publisher=Topeka, Kansas State Historical Society |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/kansashistorical25kansrich/kansashistorical25kansrich_djvu.txt |access-date=2013-07-15}} Womens Air Service Pilots were organized at Fairfax on 1 May 1944,{{cite news |date=1959|title=U. S. Army and Air Force Wings Over Kansas: Part II |url=https://archive.org/stream/kansashistorical25kansrich/kansashistorical25kansrich_djvu.txt |journal=Kansas Historical Quarterly |volume=25 |quote=}} and from Fairfax the 33d delivered 6,202 aircraft to CONUS bases and 251 abroad. On 22 September 1944 the 33d Ferrying Group began daily scheduled Military Air Transport (MAT) flights with military cargo/passengers to Minneapolis and Omaha (2 more daily flights were later added.) In October 1944, the modification center became an adjunct{{Clarify|reason=What did the modification center do after it stopped modifications and was an adjunct?|date=July 2013}} to the final assembly line. On 9 November 1944 the 33d Group furnished plane and crew to fly Senator Harry S. Truman from Fairfax to Washington for ceremonies following his election as Vice-President, and in early 1945 the 33d controlled ten operating locations.{{Where|date=July 2013}}. During the Fairfax transition to P-80 production, the 33d Ferrying Group was discontinued.{{When|date=July 2013}}
WWII air freight
On 2 March 1945, Military Air Transport moved an air freight terminal to Fairfax from Kansas City, Missouri, and had 362 personnel in June, the largest operating location in the division. For ferrying, Fairfax became an operating location of Rosecrans Army Airfield on 15 April 1945 with its pilots traveling to Fairfax for sorties. In 1945, 1,044 military transports used the field in July (e.g., President Truman for visits to Independence, Missouri). Plans for B-29 and F-80 aircraft production at Fairfax were never implemented, and B-25J production was terminated on 15 August 1945, after a total of 2,290 B-25Ds (152 Navy PBJ-1D variants) and 4,318 B-25Js had been built by the plant. The federal Reconstruction Finance Corporation set up a depot in the Fairfax district to liquidate war surplus not sent to depots or elsewhere for government use (reusable materials like aluminum and steel were reclaimed.) Seventy-two incomplete but flyable B-25Js were sold to the public. A USAAF C-47 crashed on 15 September 1945 on take off into the north bank of the Missouri River's curve, killing all 24 aboard.{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19450915-1 |title=ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-47B-45-DK (DC-3) 45-1011 Kansas City-Fairfax Field, KS (KCK) |publisher=Aviation-safety.net |date=1945-09-15 |access-date=2015-05-20}}{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/airport/airport.php?id=KCK |title=Kansas City-Fairfax Field, KS profile - Aviation Safety Network |publisher=Aviation-safety.net |date=2013-11-05 |access-date=2015-05-20}} The Air Transport Command operating location at Fairfax was discontinued by 6 December 1945 (9 C-47s and 80 pilots/co-pilots transferred west to Topeka Army Airfield which had been chosen for a central MAT flight facility by November 1945.) The 4101st Army Air Force Base Unit (Reserve Training) was activated at Fairfax on 12 July 1946 (redesignated 2472d AF Reserve Training Center on 28 August 1948){{Cite report |url=http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/179/924.xml |publisher=AFHRA |title=Document Detail for IRISNUM= 00179924 (History of the 4101st Army Air Forces Base Unit)}} and at the beginning of USAF planning, Fairfax activated the Reserve's 564th Bombardment Squadron{{Specify|reason=In what command was this unit?|date=August 2014}} on 6 January 1947 which sent 127 pilots to 1948 summer camp.
;Kansas City Bomb Plot
Fairfax{{r|KCT1957}} in 1945 had an early 2AF Radar Bomb Scoring (RBS) sitecompare with New Orleans Radar Bomb Scoring Site and Dallas Bomb Plots which used an SCR-584 radar for evaluating bomber training The Kansas City RBS unit became a detachment of Colorado Springs's 206 AAFBU in July 1945,{{Cite report |editor=Hellickson, Gene |date=9 November 1983 |title=Historical Summary: Radar Bomb Scoring, 1945–1983 |url=http://www.mobileradar.org/Documents/hist_sum_rad_bom_scrg.pdf |format=pdf |publisher=Office of History, 1st Combat Evaluation Group |access-date=2012-10-01 |quote=}} and in 1954 was Det 5 of the 10th RBSS.{{cite web |url=http://staugustine.com/stories/110707/obits_stories_012.shtml |title=Arod L. Deas |publisher=StAugustine.com |date=2007-11-07 |access-date=2015-05-20 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714170508/http://staugustine.com/stories/110707/obits_stories_012.shtml |url-status=dead }} The detachment scored Convair B-36 Peacemaker runs during 1953,{{Cite news |date=26 May 1963 |title=Biggest Bomber Has Terrifying Power |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1873&dat=19530526&id=HIQ0AAAAIBAJ&pg=4483,2849749 |format=Google News archive |newspaper=Miami Beach Morning Journal |access-date=2014-08-20 |quote=}} the 1955 SAC Bombing and Navigation Competition,{{cite web|url=http://www.7bwb-36assn.org/b36genhistpg4.html |access-date=27 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006083920/http://www.7bwb-36assn.org/b36genhistpg4.html |archive-date=6 October 2012 |title=7th WING OPERATIONS HISTORY, 1955-1958 }} and the 1957 "Operation Longshot".{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1957/1957%20-%201525.html |title=bomber command | operation longshot | kansas city | 1957 | 1525 | Flight Archive |publisher=Flightglobal.com |date=1957-10-18 |access-date=2015-05-20}}{{cite web |date=Oct 31, 1957 |title=90 SAC Planes to H-Bomb 3 Targets |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zF9QAAAAIBAJ&pg=7362,5208977&dq=bomb-scoring&hl=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124201649/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zF9QAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_w8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7362,5208977&dq=bomb-scoring&hl=en |archive-date=24 January 2013 |access-date=20 August 2014 |website=The Milwaukee Sentinel |via=Google News}}{{Cite news |date=30 October 1957 |title=Jet Armada To 'Bomb' Three Major U.S. Cities |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19571030&id=E5QzAAAAIBAJ&pg=3831,5698977 |newspaper=Miami News |access-date=2014-08-20 |quote= }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ([https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EpQzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=neoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3199%2C5682248 page 1 section of article)]{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Kansas City aiming point for the 1957 operation was "the base of the northeast corner of the Columbian Steel Tank Company"{{cite web |title=Chapter XIX - The Tanker Role |url=http://www.flora.org/rosaleen/ATS214%20folder/Chapter%2030 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821073432/http://www.flora.org/rosaleen/ATS214%20folder/Chapter%2030 |archive-date=21 August 2014 |access-date=20 August 2014 |format=DOC}}{{r|MN1957}}{{rp|1}} at the corner of 12th/Liberty streets.{{Cite news |date=31 October 1957 |title=H-Bomb Dropped on 12th and Liberty |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/58440094/ |publisher=NewsPaperArchive.com |newspaper=The Kansas City Times |access-date=2014-08-20 |quote=}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/58439922/ |title=The Kansas City Times from Kansas City, Missouri · Page 3 |publisher=Newspapers.com |date=1957-10-31 |access-date=2015-06-04}} in the West Bottoms.{{cite web |url=http://www.kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/1951&CISOPTR=39&CISOBOX=1&REC=1 |title=Missouri Valley Special Collections : Item Viewer |publisher=Kchistory.org |access-date=2015-05-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821095228/http://www.kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2F1951&CISOPTR=39&CISOBOX=1&REC=1 |archive-date=2014-08-21 |url-status=dead }} In 1959, SAC's simulated bomb runs on Kansas City were scored using a longer range radar at Missouri's Joplin Radar Bomb Scoring Site (10RBSS Det 2) to the south which had moved from Oklahoma's Hollis Radar Bomb Scoring Site in July.
In October 1948, 37 Air Force Reserve planes at Fairfax flew 1,844 hours and in 1949, the 564th was replaced by the 442d Troop Carrier Wing (activated 27 June).{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} Despite a 1948 plan for Fairfax to "be withdrawn from surplus",{{Cite news |date=24 November 1948 |title=Air Force to Reopen Bases |newspaper=The New York Times |quote= }} in "October 1949 the U.S. Air Force terminated its lease on Fairfax Airport, and the city of Kansas City, Kansas, regained control of the facility".{{r|Macias}}{{rp|260}} On 22 May 1950, Fairfax's 2472d AF Reserve Training Center and 442d Troop Carrier Wing moved to Naval Air Technical Training Center Olathe.
Fairfax Municipal Airport
Fairfax's 4610th Air Base Squadron temporarily evacuated Fairfax Municipal Airport due to a fire during the Great Flood of 1951{{Cite news |date=14 July 1951 |title=River Cracks Dike, Swamps Industrial Area |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tWIbAAAAIBAJ&pg=2303,4518399&dq=fairfax-air&hl=en |via=Google News Archive |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |page=1 |access-date=2013-07-15}} and on 1 October 1952, the squadron "opened" the nearby Grandview Air Force Base in Missouri (Grandview's beneficial occupancy began 2 years later.){{r|Johnson}}{{rp|88}} In 1952 the squadron was renamed the 4676th Air Defense Group{{Cite report |title=Duke University Alumni Register |url=https://archive.org/stream/dukealumniregist381952/dukealumniregist381952_djvu.txt |access-date=2013-07-14}} which began flying F-86 Sabres from Fairfax at the end of 1953.
In 1953, an F-94 crashed on attempting a return, killing the pilot and radar operator. From 18 December 1953 – 1 March 1954, the 326th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was assigned to Fairfax, and an F-84 crashed near the city's business district killing the pilot and three residents.{{Cite news |date=8 July 1954 |title=Brand New Jet Crashes Homes |url=https://www.gendisasters.com/kansas/11574/kansas-city-ks-jet-fighter-crash-july-1954 |format= |newspaper=Record Eagle |location=Traverse City, Michigan |access-date=2013-07-12 |quote= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212135806/http://www3.gendisasters.com/kansas/11574/kansas-city-ks-jet-fighter-crash-july-1954 |archive-date=12 December 2013 |url-status=live }}
On 1 September 1954, Air Defense Command (ADC) was placed under Continental Air Defense Command and all Fairfax ADC units moved nearby to the new Grandview Air Force Base near Kansas City, Missouri.{{r|Johnson}}
References
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em |refs=
compiled by {{Cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Mildred W |date=31 December 1980 |orig-year=February 1973 original by Cornett, Lloyd H. Jr |title=A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980 |url=http://www.usafpatches.com/pubs/handbookofadcorg.pdf |publisher=Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center |location=Peterson Air Force Base |access-date=2012-03-26 |archive-date=2016-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213173347/http://www.usafpatches.com/pubs/handbookofadcorg.pdf |url-status=dead }}
}}
- {{Cite book |title=History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense: Volume I: 1945-1955 |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/bmd/BMDV1.pdf |publisher=US Army Center of Military History |access-date=2011-09-13 |quote= |archive-date=2013-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110121813/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/bmd/BMDV1.pdf |url-status=dead }}
Category:Installations of the United States Air Force in Kansas
Category:1948 establishments in Kansas
Category:1950 disestablishments in Kansas
Category:Military installations closed in 1950
Category:Formerly Used Defense Sites in Kansas
Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command