doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (10/08/85)
Another spooky airport (what a choice of adjective!) is Pinal
County Airpark (MZJ), formerly Marana Airpark, in southern Arizona.
My student "long cross country" included a stop at MZJ. I hadn't
heard about MZJ, and I guess my instructor hadn't either. Anyway,
I haven't been back since (8 years).
MZJ is "home base" for Evergreen International Airlines, a "charter
airline" which hotly denies any relationship with a certain Government
agency. Even so, to this day MZJ has a TACAN and no VOR, and I've
never seen another "municipal airport" with active guard stations at
the entrance.
Anyway, the ramp at the airport is covered with various models of
jetliners, sporting the "colors" of a number of airlines, and with
all of the windows shrouded on the inside. There are no FBO's, and
no services of any kind (not even restrooms or telephones).
I wouldn't suggest landing at MZJ. Besides, they also have a legit
activity these days: after a routine training flight from Davis-Monthan
AFB crashed into the U of Arizona, killing a few people, the USAF now
does much of their D-M flight training at MZJ (there is a
weekday/daytime-only military control tower at MZJ now).
--
Doug Pardee -- CalComp -- {calcom1,savax,seismo,decvax,ihnp4}!terak!dougbl@hplabsb.UUCP (10/09/85)
A "spooky" airport that my wife and I once visited was at Hilo on the big Island of Hawaii. We landed our Cherokee 140 and was directed to a transient spot by ground control. We walked into the main terminal building and entered the Twilight Zone! The building was empty of not only people but also all equipment. The counters were gone, the conveyer belts for baggage claim were gone, nothing but an empty shell of a building. We finally wandered outside and found the FSS. They told us that everything had been moved to the new terminal building on the other side of the field.
mcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch) (10/09/85)
In article <779@terak.UUCP> doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) writes: > Another spooky airport (what a choice of adjective!) is Pinal > County Airpark (MZJ), formerly Marana Airpark, in southern Arizona. > . . . > > MZJ is "home base" for Evergreen International Airlines, a "charter > airline" which hotly denies any relationship with a certain Government > agency. Even so, to this day MZJ has a TACAN and no VOR, and I've > never seen another "municipal airport" with active guard stations at > the entrance. Marana is the final "graveyard" for many planes. The site was chosen as a mothball area because of the low humidity, lack of precip, and (at the time) cheap acreage. There are rows and rows of retired airliners and military craft, a good number of which are stripped for spares. It's impressive and depressing at the same time. If you look through AIRLINER PRODUCTION LIST (Aviation Data Centre, London) you can find hundreds of references to "WFU Marana" or "Preserved Marana" in the listings. I suspect the guards are due either to the presence of so much USAF and Navy hardware (inactive, but possibly still sensitive) or to the military operations that take place there from time to time. Michael C. Berch mcb@lll-tis-b.ARPA {akgua,allegra,cbosgd,decwrl,dual,ihnp4,sun}!idi!styx!mcb
brent@poseidon.UUCP (Brent P. Callaghan) (10/11/85)
I agree with Doug Pardee - Marana is spooky ? My wife and
I drove through there about 6 years ago. From a distance
it looks like you're approaching a major airport. You can
see the fins of dozens of large airliners.
At the gate we were greeted by a guard who asked what our business
was and let us through the barrier. The jetliners there are
surplus to requirements and are kept there cos tiedowns are
cheap, security is good, and the dry desert air doesn't
corrode the aluminium.
We didn't go near the jetliners on the tarmac. A sentry
was taking two fierce dogs for a walk in the vicinity.
There is at least one legit operation there: a skydiving
operation. They train quite a few student skydivers there
from the Phoenix area. They seemed to be quite a professional,
polished operation. They didn't have a very good relationship
with another bunch of skydivers at Coolidge about
40 miles northeast who were banished there some years ago
from another DZ nicknamed "The Gulch" after too many landed
without their parachutes open.
Coolidge is in the middle of nowhere. It is an ex WW2
military airfield. First impressions were that of a ghost
town. The wind was blowing dust and tumbleweeds all over.
It too has a nickname: "Ghoulidge".
Anybody had occasion to pass through Coolidge AZ ?
--
Made in New Zealand --> Brent Callaghan
AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft, NJ
{ihnp4|mtuxo|pegasus}!poseidon!brent
(201) 576-3475bobbyo@celerity.UUCP (Bob Ollerton) (10/15/85)
hey! Coolidge is next door to my home town, Eloy Az. You think
Coolidge is a lost city! Heck, in Coolidge you can spend money after
6:30 at night.
The Coolidge airport is like many airports in Arizona in that it
was a former training field for WWII pilots. For a while, it
was mostly used by crop dusters. I was there July 4th with a couple
of buddies in a rented Trinadad. There is now a slurry bomber
stationed there during fire season, and I was told the airport
is the 3rd most active in Arizona during weekdays as it is once
again being used for military training. There is a control tower
in operation weekdays during daylight hours.
The jumpers are still there, and were active during our visit
even though it was about 115F in the shade that day!
Eloy airport is not former military, as it was built in the late
60's. I believe its a concrete runway, with a couple of crop
dusting operations and the home of the builders of the
dragon fly.
Both Eloy and Coolidge are interesting places to drop it, there
is gas and pop at both, but not much else. They are not places
to take the kids for a sunday cruise. Sedona is much more
interesting and has a good resturant.
.
--
Bob Ollerton; Celerity Computing;
9692 Via Excelencia; San Diego, Ca 92126; (619) 271 9940
{decvax || ucbvax || ihnp4}!sdcsvax!celerity!bobbyo
akgua!celerity!bobbyoems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (10/17/85)
> The Coolidge airport is like many airports in Arizona in that it > was a former training field for WWII pilots. ... > The jumpers are still there, and were active during our visit > even though it was about 115F in the shade that day! Yeah, but think of the wind chill factor at 160mph straight down! :-) -- E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems 'If you can dream it, you can do it' Walt Disney This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything. (Including but not limited to: typos, spelling, diction, logic, and nuclear war)