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Pratt Army Air Field AI simulator
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Hub AI
Pratt Army Air Field AI simulator
(@Pratt Army Air Field_simulator)
Pratt Army Air Field
Pratt Army Air Field is a closed United States Army Air Forces base. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) north-northwest of Pratt, Kansas, and was closed in 1946. Today it is used as Pratt Regional Airport.
Pratt Army Air Field (AAF) is significantly historic as it was the first United States Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress station, receiving the prototype YB-29 bomber in the summer of 1943. Along with Walker Army Air Field near Victoria, Great Bend Army Air Field near Great Bend and Smoky Hill Army Air Field near Salina, the initial cadre of the 58th Bombardment Wing was formed. The 58th Bomb Wing was the first B-29 combat wing of World War II and engaged in the first long-range strategic bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands beginning in March 1944 from bases in India.
Construction of Pratt Army Air Field was begun in September 1942. The field is located about three miles north of the city of Pratt, a community of about 7,000, which was the only urban area readily accessible to personnel of the field. The area of the field sloped slightly from west to east, with an elevation varying from 1,969 feet to 1,930 feet.
Eventually, Pratt AAF would have three 8,000-foot-long main runways and five hangars. Station construction was of the theater of operations type. By the time of the official dedication of the field in May 1943, some 60 barracks had been completed, giving accommodations to 2,460 enlisted men. Total authorized construction called for 72 barracks with a capacity of 3,060 enlisted men and eight officers' quarters with a housing capacity of 522.
A few personnel began to arrive well before completion of the field. The first group, a 12-man Engineer cadre on detached service, stayed for a time at the Calbeck Hotel in Pratt until facilities at the field had been completed sufficiently for them to move in. The first building on the airfield was the engineer's building, and from there, the construction of the base would be directed. Site preparation grading started in October, and during the time the airfield was under construction, the announcement was made that the original design would be expanded to accommodate B-29 training.
In January 1943, the 502d Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron was activated to function as the administrative and training squadron for the other organizations which would be assigned to the base. On 10 February 1943, Lt. Col. J.F. Nelson assumed command of the field, and by March the installation began to function as a military post with the barest of essentials in housing, messing, and administrative equipment. Construction and personnel manning had progressed so far by May that on the second of the month the field was officially dedicated.
Originally, Pratt Army Air Field had been scheduled to function as one of several bases under the control of the 21st Bombardment Wing. It was the task of this latter organization to process for overseas duty, especially as to equipment, the bombardment wings formed and trained under the Second Air Force. However, to the disappointment of the 21st Wing, which, incidentally, was continually plagued by lack of facilities with which to operate, Pratt never really came under its program. The enormous effort[clarification needed] necessary to form and train the B-29 groups diverted Pratt from its original mission with the 21st to one of the several fields dedicated to the special B-29 combat training program.
The training of the B-29 groups at the airfield and the other initial B-29 bases in Kansas was challenging and filled with problems, with the major cause being the B-29 itself. The Superfortress was a revolutionary new aircraft, the most sophisticated ever produced, and it was rushed into production due to the urgent need to get the aircraft into combat as quickly as possible. As a result, everything connected with the B-29 and the crews that would fly it was done at breakneck speed. The first aircraft arriving from Boeing were simply not fit for combat. The engines tended to overheat and catch fire. There was a lack of trained personnel to teach the newly organized airmen and no training aids available.
Pratt Army Air Field
Pratt Army Air Field is a closed United States Army Air Forces base. It is located 4 miles (6.4 km) north-northwest of Pratt, Kansas, and was closed in 1946. Today it is used as Pratt Regional Airport.
Pratt Army Air Field (AAF) is significantly historic as it was the first United States Army Air Forces B-29 Superfortress station, receiving the prototype YB-29 bomber in the summer of 1943. Along with Walker Army Air Field near Victoria, Great Bend Army Air Field near Great Bend and Smoky Hill Army Air Field near Salina, the initial cadre of the 58th Bombardment Wing was formed. The 58th Bomb Wing was the first B-29 combat wing of World War II and engaged in the first long-range strategic bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands beginning in March 1944 from bases in India.
Construction of Pratt Army Air Field was begun in September 1942. The field is located about three miles north of the city of Pratt, a community of about 7,000, which was the only urban area readily accessible to personnel of the field. The area of the field sloped slightly from west to east, with an elevation varying from 1,969 feet to 1,930 feet.
Eventually, Pratt AAF would have three 8,000-foot-long main runways and five hangars. Station construction was of the theater of operations type. By the time of the official dedication of the field in May 1943, some 60 barracks had been completed, giving accommodations to 2,460 enlisted men. Total authorized construction called for 72 barracks with a capacity of 3,060 enlisted men and eight officers' quarters with a housing capacity of 522.
A few personnel began to arrive well before completion of the field. The first group, a 12-man Engineer cadre on detached service, stayed for a time at the Calbeck Hotel in Pratt until facilities at the field had been completed sufficiently for them to move in. The first building on the airfield was the engineer's building, and from there, the construction of the base would be directed. Site preparation grading started in October, and during the time the airfield was under construction, the announcement was made that the original design would be expanded to accommodate B-29 training.
In January 1943, the 502d Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron was activated to function as the administrative and training squadron for the other organizations which would be assigned to the base. On 10 February 1943, Lt. Col. J.F. Nelson assumed command of the field, and by March the installation began to function as a military post with the barest of essentials in housing, messing, and administrative equipment. Construction and personnel manning had progressed so far by May that on the second of the month the field was officially dedicated.
Originally, Pratt Army Air Field had been scheduled to function as one of several bases under the control of the 21st Bombardment Wing. It was the task of this latter organization to process for overseas duty, especially as to equipment, the bombardment wings formed and trained under the Second Air Force. However, to the disappointment of the 21st Wing, which, incidentally, was continually plagued by lack of facilities with which to operate, Pratt never really came under its program. The enormous effort[clarification needed] necessary to form and train the B-29 groups diverted Pratt from its original mission with the 21st to one of the several fields dedicated to the special B-29 combat training program.
The training of the B-29 groups at the airfield and the other initial B-29 bases in Kansas was challenging and filled with problems, with the major cause being the B-29 itself. The Superfortress was a revolutionary new aircraft, the most sophisticated ever produced, and it was rushed into production due to the urgent need to get the aircraft into combat as quickly as possible. As a result, everything connected with the B-29 and the crews that would fly it was done at breakneck speed. The first aircraft arriving from Boeing were simply not fit for combat. The engines tended to overheat and catch fire. There was a lack of trained personnel to teach the newly organized airmen and no training aids available.
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