Bushnell Army Airfield is a former World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 United States Army Air Force airfield located northeast of the intersection of Route 301 & Walker Avenue, one mile northeast of the town of Bushnell, Florida

Bushnell, Florida

Bushnell is a city in Sumter County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,050 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 2,119...

.

History

The airfield was acquired by lease from various owners beginning in 1940, and was constructed the by the 841st Aviation Engineers Battalion in 1943. It was initially called a "T/O training field,supporting the main base of the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics

Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics

The Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics was a military training organization of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II...

 at Orlando Army Air Base

Orlando Executive Airport

Orlando Executive Airport is a public-use airport located three nautical miles east of the central business district of Orlando, a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. It is owned by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority...

.

Bushnell had a 6,000' hard-surface runway and a a 4,000' NNE/SSW steel plank landing mat runway but had no radio facilities, no gasoline, and no hangars. The 6,000' runway was known as the "bomber runway", while the 4,000' strip was known as the "fighter runway". An aircraft parking area was apparently located at the southwest end of the bomber runway.

Bushnell was used extensively in Chemical warfare

Chemical warfare

Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...

 trials. In 1943 the Dugway Proving Ground

Dugway Proving Ground

Dugway Proving Ground is a US Army facility located approximately 85 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah in southern Tooele County and just north of Juab County...

 Mobile Chemical Warfare Service Unit arrived at Bushnell AAF to begin experiments on non-persistent chemical agents, setting up the Chemical Warfare Service Experimental Station. The airfield was used by the Dugway Proving Ground Mobile CWS Unit as a landing strip for the planes used in the field trials at Withlacoochee Bombing & Gunnery Range. Bushnell was also used by Boeing B-17s from Brooksville AAF

Hernando County Airport

Hernando County Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located southwest of the central business district of Brooksville, a city in Hernando County, Florida, United States. It is owned by Hernando County and is north of Tampa...

, B-25 Mitchell

B-25 Mitchell

The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...

s from Montbrook AAF

Williston Municipal Airport

Williston Municipal Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located two nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Williston, a city in Levy County, Florida, United States. Commonly referred to as Williston Airport, it is located SW of Gainesville Regional Airport...

, P-47 Thunderbolt

P-47 Thunderbolt

Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...

s from Cross City AAF

Cross City Airport

Cross City Airport is a public-use airport located east of the central business district of the town of Cross City in Dixie County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned. It was used by the United States Air Force under the name of Cross City Air Force Station-History:The airport...

, P-38 Lightning

P-38 Lightning

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...

s from Lakeland AAF

Lakeland Linder Regional Airport

Lakeland Linder Regional Airport is a public airport located four miles southwest of the central business district of Lakeland, a city in Polk County, Florida, United States...

, and B-26 Marauder

B-26 Marauder

The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....

s from Drew Field

Tampa International Airport

Tampa International Airport is a major public airport located six nautical miles west of the central business district of Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. This airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority...

near Tampa.

It was classed as a temporary field on standby basis in 1944, and was closed in 1945.

At the end of the war, the 20,000 steel mats which had made up the two runways at Bushnell were sold for scrap, but many found new life as miles of fences scattered across west-central Florida. The Bushnell AAF property was certified to the War Assets Administration for disposal in 1946.

The lands reverted to the owners & most land was put back into agricultural use, and was never reused as a civilian airfield. The chemical warfare activities conducted at Bushnell in World War II have caused it to be the site of environmental cleanup investigations in 2001.

Today the areas of the two former airfields are still largely undeveloped, with some houses scattered around the area. The outline of the former fighter & bomber runways are still barely apparent in aerial photos, if you know just where to look.
Bomber Runway- 28* 40'52.88 N 82*05'27.14 W APPROXIMATE MIDDLE
Fighter Runway-28*41'22.53 N 82*03'50.35 W APPROXIMATE MIDDLE
(Via Google Earth)

There does not appear to be any remains of any airfield buildings.

External links

• Abandoned and Little-Known airfields, Bushnell Army Airfield