Where Is This Airfield?

Posted by sorotomotor@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 46 comments

Reposted from r/whereisthis: Can anyone identify this airfield? Here's what we know so far:

OP's grandfather (the photographer) was a pilot on a carrier in the Pacific Theater of WWII. He flew combat missions into mainland China.
The r/whereisthis consensus is the airfield is a stateside Naval Air Station training base, large enough to be a NAS and not a NAAS (Naval Auxiliary Air Station) or a NOLF (Naval Out Lying Field) near the main bases.
The dark-to-light band in the upper left corner appears to be a body of water, with railroad tracks along its shoreline, which is why I first thought this was Mines Field ca. early 1940s, later known as Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Now, I'm not so sure.
If OP's grandfather was a pilot flying missions from a carrier in the Pacific, I assumed he trained at a NAS in California, Oregon, or Washington, so I only searched West Coast NAS. I've since been informed my assumption was incorrect. Also, the NAS may have been closed/decommissioned.
We do not know the N/S/E/W orientation of the photograph. Also, the runways appear to be numbered, but we can't read the numbers.

Does anyone recognize this airfield?

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MmmSteaky@reddit

Somewhere without any truly prevailing winds, I’d say.

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TheMusicArchivist@reddit

Almost every single WWII-era airfield in the UK has triangle runways

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SalsaForte@reddit

Submitted the photo to Gemini and it found the airport. Dang! AI came a long way.

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SalsaForte@reddit

Being downvoted for highlighting the fact AI can help identify and geolocate stuff. Well, Reddit will be Reddit.

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First clue, left side of the picture is the North, or close to the north. The runway going right to left on this picture has the lowest number (seems to be (0)2) so the apron and control tower are to the north of the picture.

That puts the coastline on the north side, firmly excluding LAX as a possibility. It was already excluded as a possibility in my mind as a) this airfield is too close to the coastline and b) LAX/Mines Field never had a configuration like this.

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testfire10@reddit

How did you know which direction North is?

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Kanyiko@reddit

Runway numbering. One runway's numbered '2' and one is numbered '30'. It gives an idea of the magnetic north on the picture.

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testfire10@reddit

Oh, I can’t read that. Thanks! I thought it was some clever use of shadows or something.

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sorotomotor@reddit (OP)

So this is the correct orientation, north at the top?

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Kanyiko@reddit

Rotate it by about 20° clockwise and that should be the correct orientation or close to it.

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thewrk@reddit

Just keep in mind that runway numbers are done in magnetic, which can have significant variation from true. And given 80 years or so since the picture was taken could have changed significantly as well. I’d say the coastline is generally to the north but could be as much as 20 degrees off either east or west and would probably not match exactly if any of these runways still exist in the present.

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Kanyiko@reddit

Well aware of that fact, but it gives more or less an idea what to look for.

I'm also aware this base and its surroundings could have changed unrecognisably since - or altogether have disappeared - but at least it gives an idea what to look for.

The configuration of the housing at the top seems to indicate a stateside base as the 'house and garden' lay-out is typical for America.

I also have a feeling that this would not have been a military base by default, but had a previous life as a municipal airport instead; if it had been purposely built by the military, the runway configuration would have been more symmetrical.

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thefriedcajun@reddit

Give this sub a couple hours. They’ll tell you who took the photo.

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93perigee@reddit

And what they had for breakfast 4 days prior

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PaddyMayonaise@reddit

Gary Powers.

The airfield is in Sverdlovskaya oblast.

/s just in case

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CounterSimple3771@reddit

😂

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emptyminder@reddit

Something about this photo makes me feel like the photo was taken looking upwards toward the inside of a giant sphere, it’s really unsettling. I know it’s not, but maybe the camera has some kind of distortion?

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hex64082@reddit

Probably the camera used to scan the actual paper photo. Aerial cameras are very accurate, suitable for map making.

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Iaqton@reddit

I think this is my hometown airport, KCXY. The body of water to the top left would be the Susquehanna River. Bottom left would be the Yellow Breeches creek. Cemetery is still there to this day and the runway configuration matches up with "the olden" days. Not certain, but the large hangar might be the Texaco hangar which I think pre-dates WWII.

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_Bon_Vivant_@reddit

I've been there...to New Cumberland Army depot anyway...those long buildings in the upper right.

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Aniridia@reddit

Looks like a detachment of Photographic Squadron 2 (VD-2) was stationed there to staff the “Photographic Reconnaissance Training School” from April of 1944 to September of 1945. The 103rd Observation Squadron was there in February 1941 but (I believe) was soon deployed to Europe). If I had to guess, I’d say the photo was taken by a member of VD-2/the reconnaissance school.

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swoodshadow@reddit

Yeah, this is clearly it. Even from current day Google Maps it’s easy to corroborate. You’ve got clear land marks on each side.

New Cumberland Borough Park with the stream.
The cemetery
The Susquehanna river
the runway layout

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sorotomotor@reddit (OP)

Y'all are amazing, thank you! I'll post this in the r/whereisthis thread.

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Iaqton@reddit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=55&v=7lyPUXxl1ck&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flycxy.com%2F&source_ve_path=MTM5MTE3LDEzOTExNywyODY2MiwxMzkxMTcsMTM5MTE3LDI4NjY2

Some historical photographs to corroborrate.

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swoodshadow@reddit

100%. The picture at 0:18 is super easy to match up. Runways, hangars, water, and even the cemetery.

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arroyobass@reddit

I think you are right! The primary runways and center paved / ramp area match as well as a lot of the surrounding buildings!

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alienXcow@reddit

You could pull up the Google Earth aerials timeline or check vintageaerials.com to see if it matches up

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geopolitikin@reddit

Its Hornby island

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airport-codes@reddit

IATA	ICAO	Name	Location
LAX	KLAX	Los Angeles International Airport	Los Angeles, California, United States

I am a bot.

^(If you are the OP and this comment is inaccurate or unwanted, reply below with "bad bot" and it will be deleted.)

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Planeandaquariumgeek@reddit

bad bot

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balckkok@reddit

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Thats_my_cornbread@reddit

AI says Dallas Love. I haven’t found a photo that supports it yet. There a lake right on the north side though.

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MmmSteaky@reddit

Thanks for doing almost less than nothing.

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Thats_my_cornbread@reddit

Ha it was worth a try. Two different AIs gave very wrong answers

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Thats_my_cornbread@reddit

I’m arguing with it, but it seems adamant. The more I look i think it’s wrong and AI thinks it’s right.

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Iamstu@reddit

Looks like SRQ, I work right next to it...

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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DoughnutSwimming3709@reddit

Looks similar to Baastin.

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JoNMattJ@reddit

Google image search comes up with RAF Skeabrae - Orkney Islands off Scotland

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Mysterious-Air3618@reddit

Interestingly when I put it as a google image search it comes up as Silverstone.

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Kanyiko@reddit

Problem is that Google Image won't know what to do with this image, as most USAAF Bases and Naval Air Stations were built to very similar patterns.

It's not RAF Skeabrae (that was inland) and it's not Kirkwall either (the runways at RAF Grimsetter crossed each other dead center - these runways cross each other with an offset creating the asphalted triangle inbetween them.)

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