United States Army Air Forces Modification Centers were World War II facilities at which military aircraft underwent post-production changes in order to modify or install equipment needed for specific roles or theaters of operation. The majority of newly produced combat aircraft were channeled to the modification centers immediately after leaving the production facility, and before departing to the active theaters of war. The use of modification centers avoided disruption to the production lines to incorporate continuous improvements or other changes to the aircraft design. They were the only "set of field installations" constructed for Material Command.[1] Modification Centers were for:
- "the tailoring job of the AAF which fills the gap between the time we decide on an alteration of a plan and the time the factory can incorporate the change into production. To modification centers, operated by contract by commercial airline companies and manufacturers, go most of our airplanes before shipment overseas. Here they are modernized with the newest equipment available. Planes also are dressed up or stripped down according to the military requirements and weather conditions of the theater for which they are destined. Modification is continued on operational aircraft by service personnel in the theaters, where many modification ideas originate."[2]
Sites
editDuring 1942, 21 modification centers were activated, "eight being operated by commercial airlines and the remainder by aircraft manufacturers. Nineteen of the centers remained in operation at the end of the year after two other centers had been closed out":[1]
- Atlanta, Georgia (Eastern Airlines)
- Atlanta, Georgia (Delta Airlines)
- Birmingham, Alabama (Betchel, McCone, and Parsons)
- Brownsville, Texas, Texas (Pan American)
- Buffalo, New York (Curtiss Aircraft)
- Cheyenne, Wyoming (United Air Lines)
- Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas (Lockheed Aircraft)
- Daggett, California (Douglas Aircraft)
- Denver, Colorado (Continental Airlines)
- Evansville, Indiana (Republic Aviation)
- Fairfax Field in Kansas City, Kansas (North American Aviation Kansas)[note 1]
- Kansas City, Missouri (Transcontinental and Western Airlines)[note 2]
- Long Beach, California (Douglas Aircraft) [note 3]
- Louisville, Kentucky (Convair)
- Louisville, Kentucky (Curtiss Aircraft)
- Memphis, Tennessee (Southern Airlines)
- Niagara Falls, New York (Bell Aircraft, Buffalo)
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Douglas Aircraft)
- Omaha, Nebraska (Martin Aircraft)
- St. Paul, Minnesota (Northwest Airlines)
- Tucson, Arizona (Convair Aircraft)
- Tulsa, Oklahoma (Douglas Aircraft)
- Vandalia, Ohio (Northwest Air Lines)[note 4]
Depots, e.g., Fairfield, Ohio (FAD), did modifications but were not modification centers.
The commercial modification centers were distinct from the USAAF Air Service Command domestic depot system, which also performed modification as an addition mission function. There were four major depots in the system which expanded to about a dozen during the war. The depots had sub-depots and auxiliary locations. There were also major overseas depot and sub-depot systems which predated addition modifications to combat aircraft.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Built from May–October 1942[3] for altering new B-25 Mitchells from the nearby Air Force Plant NC, Fairfax's center was a dual hangar of timber frame on the south edge of the airfield near the Missouri River (some alterations were performed on the airport apron). A west extension and several outbuildings were added to the modification center and in October 1944, it became an adjunct[clarification needed] to the final assembly line. Post-war, "Transcontinental and Western Air leased the modification center" for servicing airliners.[4]
- ^ Across the river from the Fairfax B-25 modification center.
- ^ Long Beach, CA, Douglas is listed in Appex. 3, AAF Study 62. The site modified 1,395 aircraft in 1944, including 66 B-17; 34 A-26 and C-47 for the AAF (1,238), and China (12).
- ^ The Northwest Airlines facility at Vandalia. OH is listed in Appendix 3, 1944 Modification Summary to AAF Study 62. The site modified four AT-6 aircraft.
References
edit- ^ a b Futrell, Robert F. (July 1947). No 69 - Development of AAF Base Facilities in the United States, 1939-1945 (PDF) (Report). US Air Force Historical Studies. Air Historical Office. p. 141. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-08.
- ^ Arnold, Gen. Henry H. (foreword) (2006). AAF: The Official Guide to the Army Air Forces. ISBN 9781598400007. (p. 129)
- ^ Freeman, Paul (2012-12-29). "Sweeney Airport / Fairfax Airport / Fairfax Army Airfield (KCK), Kansas City, KS". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Eastern Kansas. Airfields-Freeman.com. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
- ^ “TWA to Center,” Kansas City Star, October 24, 1945 (cited by Macias p. 260)
- AAF Historical Studies: No. 62, Modification of Army Aircraft in the United States 1939–1945; O'Toole, Virginia, G., 1947