Post by dragnews on Jul 10, 2009 22:53:27 GMT -5
1960,and the Slowpoke car club is now holding drag races every Sunday, at it's new location 7 miles north of Ardmore, at the former Ardmore Municipal Air Port. The facility was built around 1934 it was listed as CAA intermediate site 10. The original airport had two sod runways. The longest being 3,900 feet and running in a Northwest direction. currently the location of the Ardmore Dragway strip. Around 1937 the runway was paved.
I have been told by former pilots that flew form this location. The air port was used during the war by the U.S. Army/Navy as a crash site for planes having mechanical problems. They would be routed to this location, instead of landing at the Springer air base
8 miles east of the current dragstrip, to avoid a catastrafy with other military air craft. After the war it was reopened as a civilian airport operated by Max Jones. Once again during the Korean conflict the old airport was recommissioned but never used by the air force, and in 1960 was labeled abandoned by the Oklahoma airport directory.
The above newspaper add is from a 1956 daily Ardmorite paper.
It is advertising the Ardmore Municipal airports, Ardmore Air Service. They were a Cessna plane dealer, flight training school and repair station for aircraft during this period. Slow Poke club member and drag racer Troy Powell was employed here around 1958. There are very few reminders of the old air port still visible.
The hanger located at the northeast end of the track and a few concrete plane tie down pads scattered around the pits are all that is left from this time period.
Next time the end of a tradition and the beginning of a new organization.
See you at the drags........................................Rob
Story and photo's courtesy of the Ragland collection 2009.
I have been told by former pilots that flew form this location. The air port was used during the war by the U.S. Army/Navy as a crash site for planes having mechanical problems. They would be routed to this location, instead of landing at the Springer air base
8 miles east of the current dragstrip, to avoid a catastrafy with other military air craft. After the war it was reopened as a civilian airport operated by Max Jones. Once again during the Korean conflict the old airport was recommissioned but never used by the air force, and in 1960 was labeled abandoned by the Oklahoma airport directory.
The above newspaper add is from a 1956 daily Ardmorite paper.
It is advertising the Ardmore Municipal airports, Ardmore Air Service. They were a Cessna plane dealer, flight training school and repair station for aircraft during this period. Slow Poke club member and drag racer Troy Powell was employed here around 1958. There are very few reminders of the old air port still visible.
The hanger located at the northeast end of the track and a few concrete plane tie down pads scattered around the pits are all that is left from this time period.
Next time the end of a tradition and the beginning of a new organization.
See you at the drags........................................Rob
Story and photo's courtesy of the Ragland collection 2009.