# Hatbox Field > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hatbox_Field > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hatbox_Field.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatbox_Field > Source revision: 1331989904 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Closed airport in Muskogee County, Oklahoma}} {{More footnotes needed|date=November 2021}} {{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox airport | name = Hatbox Field
{{smaller|Hatbox Army Airfield}} | image = Hatbox Field - Oklaholma.jpg | image-width = 250 | caption = [USGS](/source/USGS) aerial image, 2006 | IATA = HAX | ICAO = KHAX | FAA = HAX | type = Public | owner = City of Muskogee | operator = | city-served = [Muskogee, Oklahoma](/source/Muskogee%2C_Oklahoma) | location = | elevation-f = 627 | elevation-m = 191 | coordinates = {{coord|35|44|45|N|95|24|46|W|region:US-OK_type:airport_scale:10000}} | website = | pushpin_map = Oklahoma | pushpin_mapsize = 250 | pushpin_map_caption = Location of Hatbox Field (Closed) | pushpin_label = '''KHAX''' | pushpin_label_position = bottom | r1-number = 11/29 CLOSED | r1-length-f = 3,800 | r1-length-m = 1,158 | r1-surface = Asphalt | footnotes = Source: [Federal Aviation Administration](/source/Federal_Aviation_Administration){{FAA-airport|ID=HAX|use=PU|own=PU|site=19112.*A}}. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 29 July 2010. }} '''Hatbox Field''' {{airport codes|HAX|KHAX|HAX}} is a closed airfield located within city limits, two nautical miles (3.7 km) west of central [Muskogee](/source/Muskogee%2C_Oklahoma), a city in [Muskogee County](/source/Muskogee_County%2C_Oklahoma), [Oklahoma](/source/Oklahoma), United States. It was opened sometime in the early 1920s and was closed in 2000. It is the location of the Love-Hatbox Sports Complex, a large recreation center and waterpark. The former airfield site includes 10 lighted baseball fields‚ eight lighted softball diamonds‚ two full-size football fields and a 30 acre‚ 19-field soccer area called the Georgia Pacific Soccer Complex. In addition‚ a 3.1-mile (5 km) asphalt Centennial Trail walking/biking exercise pathway loops around the 120 acres‚ and a former airplane hangar houses three indoor batting cages. Three Rivers Area Model Plane Society (T.R.A.M.P.S.), a local model airplane club, hosts two annual events at Love-Hatbox that attract flying enthusiasts from around the country. ==History== Hatbox Field was depicted on the 1929 [Rand McNally](/source/Rand_McNally) "Standard Indexed Map with Air Trails of OK" as a public airport with a radio station. The airfield was Muskogee's original municipal airport, and is a very historic [airfield](/source/airfield). It is one of the airports that the [Douglas aircraft](/source/Douglas_World_Cruiser) of the Army's [1924 Around the World Flight](/source/First_aerial_circumnavigation) stopped, and was a stop on the Army's mail route. In 1929, the airfield was described as a municipal airport, operated by the [Army Air Corps](/source/United_States_Army_Air_Corps), and having a beacon light. [Charles Lindbergh](/source/Charles_Lindbergh) was on hand for the dedication. The Spartan Aviation School opened at the field in 1940. They used the two large arch-roofed hangars at Hatbox. Renamed '''Muskogee Army Airfield''' during [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Spartan provided primary flight training to cadets as an Army Air Forces contract flying school until 1944. The USAAF [410th Bombardment Group](/source/410th_Air_Expeditionary_Wing) trained at the airfield with [Douglas A-20 Havoc](/source/Douglas_A-20_Havoc)s in the fall of 1943 before being reassigned to the [Ninth Air Force](/source/Ninth_Air_Force) in [England](/source/England), where they flew [Martin B-26 Marauder](/source/Martin_B-26_Marauder)s. Following the end of its military use, Hatbox was reused as a purely civil airfield. The operator was listed as the City of Muskogee. The city of Muskogee decided to close the field to the public following a two-fatality crash in 1998. Limited aviation use was allowed until 2000, however, by a private firm that refurbished military-surplus [Beechcraft U-21 Ute](/source/Beechcraft_King_Air)s. Hatbox was closed completely in 2000, and the refurbishing company moved to nearby Muskogee [Davis Field](/source/Davis_Field_(Oklahoma)). == Facilities == Hatbox Field covered an area of {{convert|434|acre|ha}} at an elevation of 627 feet (191 m) above [mean sea level](/source/mean_sea_level). It had one [runway](/source/runway) designated 11/29 with an [asphalt](/source/Asphalt_concrete) surface measuring 3,800 by 50 feet (1,158 x 15 m). ==See also== {{Portal|Aviation}} * [Oklahoma World War II Army Airfields](/source/Oklahoma_World_War_II_Army_Airfields) * [List of United States Army airfields](/source/List_of_United_States_Army_airfields) * [31st Flying Training Wing (World War II)](/source/31st_Flying_Training_Wing_(World_War_II)) == References == ===Other sources=== * {{AFHRA}} * Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas {{OCLC|71006954|29991467}} * Maurer, Maurer (1983). ''Air Force Combat Units Of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. {{ISBN|0-89201-092-4}}. * Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), ''Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy'', Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC. {{OCLC|57007862|1050653629}} * [https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/OK/Airfields_OK_E.htm#hatbox] [Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields](/source/Abandoned_%26_Little-Known_Airfields): Eastern Oklahoma == External links == * [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/H/HA052.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Hatbox Field] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018202909/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/H/HA052.html |date=2010-10-18 }} * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110208030400/http://trampsrc.com/ Three Rivers Area Model Plane Society]}} * {{US-airport-minor|HAX|HAX}} * [https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/OK/Airfields_OK_E.htm "Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields: Eastern Oklahoma" by Paul Freeman. ]
{{USAAF Training Bases World War II}} {{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II}} Category:1929 establishments in Oklahoma Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Oklahoma Category:Defunct airports in Oklahoma Category:United States Army Air Forces Contract Flying School Airfields Category:Buildings and structures in Muskogee, Oklahoma Category:USAAF Central Flying Training Command Category:American theater of World War II Category:2000 disestablishments in Oklahoma Category:Transportation in Muskogee County, Oklahoma --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hatbox Field](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatbox_Field) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatbox_Field?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.