[meteorite-list] Strange Happenings

[James Beauchamp]

Hi Adam, 

I am very envious of your adventure.

During the early days of WWII, due to the cosmic numbers of aircraft we were using, you couldn't flight train everyone on existing active airfields, so a large number of auxiliary airfields, also known as outlying fields, were built.  They were used mostly for approach and landing training.  No buildings were needed - just level pavement.

This method is still alive today, but the demand is much less due to advances in simulation and of course the much lower number of planes in service.

I went through nav training about 12 years ago in Pensacola and have fond memories of repeated approaches to these fields with Satan (A.K.A Instructor) screaming F-bombs from the back seat.  A student and instructor drawing OLF duty will land at the fields to sometimes observe and direct the patterns.

Over time, the desert and local communities have absorbed them.  I predict this particular triangular patterned field served multiple other uses such as visual navigation and aimpoint training, and maybe even served as a Drop Zone for cargo run training.  The list could go on for pages.


--- On Tue, 5/24/11, Adam Hupe <raremeteorites at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Adam Hupe <raremeteorites at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Strange Happenings
> To: "Adam" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 10:09 AM
> Hi Guido, James and List,
> 
> Yes, I was thinking it was some sort of airfield but the
> lack of building ruins 
> threw me off. I did find a ~20' crater on top of a small
> rise that punched 
> through the desert pavement and left a raised rim. Perhaps
> the military presence 
> in that area can explain this structure about two miles
> away from the abandoned 
> airfield.   I did not find any shrapnel
> around it but some interesting rocks 
> were excavated.  If I was a rock-hound, my backpack
> would have weighed over 200 
> pounds. 
> 
> 
> In any case, this area looks perfect for meteorite hunting
> at first glance but 
> once your boots are on the ground the story changes. There
> are a lot of black 
> magnetic rocks (magnetite) lying around everywhere
> mimicking meteorites while 
> others have heavy desert varnish.  The desert pavement
> is very old and well 
> developed so I am sure there are meteorites mixed in but a
> metal detector would 
> not be of much use.  
> 
> 
> I had a great time, met some very friendly people and got
> some much needed 
> exercise. Perhaps one of these days, we will discover a
> cosmic landing strip 
> (strewn-field) with meteorites lying around everywhere.
> Until then, we will 
> continue the search and dream. 
> 
> 
> Happy Hunting,
> 
> Adam 
> 
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