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Castle AFB
Castle Air Force Base (Castle AFB, 1941–1995) is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base in California, located northeast of Atwater, northwest of Merced, and about south of Sacramento. The Central Valley base in unincorporated Merced County was closed in 1995, pursuant to a Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision following the end of the Cold War and the disestablishment of Strategic Air Command (SAC). It is now known as the Castle Airport Aviation and Development Center. History The airfield was opened on 20 September 1941 as the Army Air Force Basic Flying School, one of the fields utilized to meet the needs of the 30,000 Pilot Training Program. It provided basic air training for beginning pilots and crewmen. Many pilots and crews were trained here during the war including a number of Women's Air Service Pilots (WASPs). Auxiliary air fields used by Merced Army Air Field (as the site was known at the time) during the war were: * M ...
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Shield Strategic Air Command
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of active blocks, as well as to provide passive protection by closing one or more lines of engagement during combat. Shields vary greatly in size and shape, ranging from large panels that protect the user's whole body to small models (such as the buckler) that were intended for hand-to-hand-combat use. Shields also vary a great deal in thickness; whereas some shields were made of relatively deep, absorbent, wooden planking to protect soldiers from the impact of spears and crossbow bolts, others were thinner and lighter and designed mainly for deflecting blade strikes (like the roromaraugi or qauata). Finally, shields vary greatly in shape, ranging in roundness to angularity, proportional length and width, symmetry and edge pattern; different s ...
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Merced Army Airfield Auxiliary Fields
Merced Army Air Field auxiliary fields were built to support pilot training at the Merced Army Air Field. In 1940 the US Army wanted to built near Merced, California a 30,000 per year basic pilot training base. The former city of Cuba, Merced County, California near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway rail line was chosen at at an elevation of for the main base, in Atwater, California. United States Army Air Corps leased the land from the City of Merced on 16 June 1941. Building the airbase school started on 8 July 1941 and opened on 20 September 1941 as a sub base of Army Air Forces Western Flying Training Command at Moffett Field. First called ''Air Corps Basic Flying School, Merced''. The US Army moved part of the: 98th Bombardment Group, 539th School Squadrons, 540th School Squadrons, 541st School Squadrons, the 90th Air Base Squadron, and the 340th Material Squadron at Moffett Field to the new base in November 1941. The Air Corps Basic Flying School was renamed the ...
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Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four Corners region with Utah to the north, Colorado to the northeast, and New Mexico to the east; its other neighboring states are Nevada to the northwest, California to the west and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. Historically part of the territory of in New Spain, it became part of independent Mexico in 1821. After being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase. Southern Arizona is known for its desert cl ...
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B-29
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing, but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing, and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat. One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to $ billion today), far exceeding the $1.9 billi ...
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Tinian
Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern Marianas. Tinian's largest village is San Jose. History Spanish colonial period Tinian, together with Saipan, was possibly first sighted by Europeans of the Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, when it made landfall in the southern Marianas on 6 March 1521. It was likely sighted next by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa in 1522 on board the Spanish ship ''Trinidad'', in an attempt to reach Panama after the death of Magellan. This would have happened after the sighting of the Maug Islands in between the end of August and end of September. Gonzalo de Vigo deserted in the Maugs from the ''Trinidad'' and in the next four years, living with the Chamorros, visited thirteen main islands in the ...
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Mariposa-Yosemite Airport
Mariposa-Yosemite Airport is a public airport located four miles (6 km) west of the central business district of Mariposa, in Mariposa County, California, United States. It is owned by the County of Mariposa. Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, Mariposa-Yosemite Airport is assigned MPI by the FAA but the IATA assigned MPI to Mamitupo, Panama). Facilities and aircraft Mariposa-Yosemite Airport covers an area of which contains one asphalt paved runway (8/26) measuring 3,306 x 60 ft (1,008 x 18 m). For the 12-month period ending March 2, 2007, the Mariposa-Yosemite airport had 32,000 aircraft operations, an average of 87 per day: 94% general aviation and 6% air taxi. There are 52 aircraft based at this airport: 96% single engine, 2% multi-engine and 2% ultralight. There is one FBO on the field, Airborrn Aviation Services. World War II During World War II, the airport was designated as Mariposa Air Force ...
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Merced Regional Airport
Merced Regional Airport (MacReady Field) is located southwest of Merced, in Merced County, California. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2021–2025 categorized it as a ''Commercial Service – Nonprimary'' airport. Commercial passenger service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. History On March 15, 1932 the Merced City Council accepted title to the site of an airport as a gift from the Twenty-Thirty Club and the Crocker-Huffman Company. The airport, an airstrip and of land northwest of the city near the intersection of U.S. Route 99 and California State Route 59, was dedicated on April 3, 1932. The airport site was leased to George Voight for a term of five years, and a subsidiary airline of the Stinson Aircraft Company started Merced's first scheduled airline service. In May 1936 the City of Merced assumed responsibility for the airport; constructing buildings, hangars, and other improvements; expanding the site to . In 1940 as the U.S. ...
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Potter Auxiliary Field
Merced Army Air Field auxiliary fields were built to support pilot training at the Merced Army Air Field. In 1940 the US Army wanted to built near Merced, California a 30,000 per year basic pilot training base. The former city of Cuba, Merced County, California near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway rail line was chosen at at an elevation of for the main base, in Atwater, California. United States Army Air Corps leased the land from the City of Merced on 16 June 1941. Building the airbase school started on 8 July 1941 and opened on 20 September 1941 as a sub base of Army Air Forces Western Flying Training Command at Moffett Field. First called ''Air Corps Basic Flying School, Merced''. The US Army moved part of the: 98th Bombardment Group, 539th School Squadrons, 540th School Squadrons, 541st School Squadrons, the 90th Air Base Squadron, and the 340th Material Squadron at Moffett Field to the new base in November 1941. The Air Corps Basic Flying School was renamed th ...
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Athlone Auxiliary Field
Merced Army Air Field auxiliary fields were built to support pilot training at the Merced Army Air Field. In 1940 the US Army wanted to built near Merced, California a 30,000 per year basic pilot training base. The former city of Cuba, Merced County, California near the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway rail line was chosen at at an elevation of for the main base, in Atwater, California. United States Army Air Corps leased the land from the City of Merced on 16 June 1941. Building the airbase school started on 8 July 1941 and opened on 20 September 1941 as a sub base of Army Air Forces Western Flying Training Command at Moffett Field. First called ''Air Corps Basic Flying School, Merced''. The US Army moved part of the: 98th Bombardment Group, 539th School Squadrons, 540th School Squadrons, 541st School Squadrons, the 90th Air Base Squadron, and the 340th Material Squadron at Moffett Field to the new base in November 1941. The Air Corps Basic Flying School was renamed the ...
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