Airplane Boneyard: Gila River Memorial Airport

It's been a long time since an airplane has flown in or out of Gila River Memorial Airport. Built to support the Pacific front in World War II, it now serves as an airplane graveyard.

After checking out the ruins of Mesa, Arizona's agricultural heritage, I made my way south. It was a perfect sunny day, and I could hardly wait for my first exploration of an abandoned airport. 

Gila River Memorial Airport was built in 1942 to support the rapidly growing U.S. aerial operations during World War II. The 1,345 acre stretch of land was designated Williams Auxiliary Army Airfield #5.

The original Williams Auxiliary Army Airfield #5
(photo from http://www.airfields-freeman.com/AZ/Airfields_AZ_Phoenix_SE.htm#memorial)

After the war, it was renamed Goodyear Air Force Auxiliary Airfield and the runway was modified to better accommodate the jet airplanes that saw increased use in the 1950s. In the late '60s it became a civilian airfield and its name was shortened to Goodyear Airport and then changed to Memorial Airfield.

Memorial Airport before the hangars were added
(photo from http://www.airfields-freeman.com/AZ/Airfields_AZ_Phoenix_SE.htm#memorial)

In the late 1970s hangars were finally added and it took on the appearance it has today (minus the rust and decay, of course). By this time, the airport was mostly used by Biegert Aviation, a company that flew piston-engined aircraft that had been converted into air tankers.

By the 1990s, the airport had become a boneyard for retired aircraft. Dozens of old airplanes sat in various states of decay and dismantlement. It must have been an awesome place to explore.

In 2006 plan were drawn up for redeveloping the airport, which involved giving the structures a Native American style.  and at least one of the runways was repaved. But the plans never came to fruition.

Since then, most of the retired planes have been hauled off and scrapped.

Abandoned Gila River Memorial Airport Building

By 2007, the Gila River Indian Community was given control of the airfield and gave it its current name, Gila River Memorial Airport. All commercial tenants were evicted and allegedly there was talk of building a casino on the site.

Can you see the little plane buried beneath the rubble?

When I visited, only a few airplanes remained on the property and three buildings stood in fairly advanced states of decay. I didn't go inside any of the hangar buildings because there were large swarms of bees in each of them.

I was only able to take a few pictures before a police officer showed up and asked me what I was doing there. I told him I just wanted to take pictures of the neat old planes. He informed me that I was on an Indian reservation and said "The Indians don’t want you here". He also told me that I could be cited for trespassing and have my vehicle confiscated for 30 days. 

I quickly got the hell out of there and continued on to explore the bizarre abandoned Casa Grande Domes.

Thanks for checking out this article. If you enjoyed it, please feel free to share it on Facebook. While you're at it, please subscribe to Places That Were and follow me on my social media sites:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/placesthatwere

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JimSullivanPlacesThatWere/posts

EyeEm: https://www.eyeem.com/u/placesthatwere

flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/placesthatwere/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/placesthatwere/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jimplicit

Instagram: http://instagram.com/theplacesthatwere

Tumblr: http://placesthatwere.tumblr.com/

Thank you!