{{Use American English|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox airport | name = Stout Army Airfield | nativename = Mars Hill Airport | image = | image-width = | caption = | IATA = | ICAO = | FAA = | type = Military: Army Airfield | operator = United States Army | location = Indianapolis, Indiana | built = 1927 | used = 1927-1960 | commander = | occupants = Army | elevation-f = 256 | elevation-m = 78 | coordinates = {{coord|39|44|15.93|N|86|13|47.95|W|type:airport|display=inline,title}} | website = | r1-number = 14/32 | r1-length-f = 4,642 | r1-length-m = 1,415 | r1-surface = Asphalt | r2-number = 2/20 | r2-length-f = 2,971 | r2-length-m = 905 | r2-surface = Asphalt | r3-number = 9/27 | r3-length-f = 2,691 | r3-length-m = 819 | r3-surface = Asphalt | r4-number = 13/31 | r4-length-f = 150 | r4-length-m = 46 | r4-surface = Asphalt | r5-number = 0/18 | r5-length-f = 150 | r5-length-m = 46 | r5-surface = Asphalt | footnotes = Closed }} thumb|Stout Field hangar '''Stout Army Airfield''' is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It serves as the Joint Forces Headquarters of the Indiana National Guard.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.in.ng.mil/About/tabid/216/Default.aspx |title=About the Indiana National Guard |date=19 February 2009 |publisher=Indiana National Guard |accessdate=4 December 2009}}</ref>
==History== Stout Field is located west of Holt Road, north and south of Minnesota Street in west Indianapolis. Established in 1926, the airport was a stop along a transcontinental air route from New York City to Los Angeles. The airport was officially named for Lt. Richard Harding Stout, a decorated veteran of World War I who had died in an airplane crash at Fort Benjamin Harrison.<ref name=Bodenhamer>{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis |last1=Bodenhamer |first1=David J. |last2=Barrows |first2=Robert Graham |year=1994 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington, Indiana |isbn=0-253-31222-1 |page=1301 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bg13QcMSsq8C |accessdate=4 December 2009}}</ref>
Curtiss Flying Service operated an air passenger service and flying school at Stout Field.<ref name=IHS>{{cite web |url=http://indianahistory.org/library/manuscripts/collection_guides/P0070.html |title=W. C. Moyer Aircraft photographs, 1929–1959 Collection Guide |publisher=Indiana Historical Society |accessdate=4 December 2009}}</ref> Curtiss' manager was Captain Harvey Weir Cook.<ref name=hi>{{cite web |last=Hamlett |first=Ryan |title=Stout Army Airfield |publisher=Historic Indianapolis |url=http://historicindianapolis.com/stout-army-air-field/ |year=2013 |accessdate=5 May 2017}}</ref> By 1928, the city realized expansion possibilities were limited and began plans for what is now Indianapolis International Airport {{convert|2|mi|spell=in}} to the west.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/IN/Airfields_IN_Indy_W.htm#stout |title = Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Indiana: Western Indianapolis area |access-date = 10 August 2009}}</ref> Captain Cook was among those who pushed for a larger municipal airport, which opened in 1931 as Indianapolis Municipal Airport. Curtiss and Transcontinental Air Transport moved their passenger service and school to the new airport.<ref name=Bodenhamer />
The United States Army Air Corps leased Stout Field from Indiana for $1 per year during World War II<ref name=Bodenhamer /> to use as a training base, and to conduct air transport operations.<ref name=IHS /> Elements of the Central (later Eastern) Technical Training Command were located there.
The Indiana State Police used the airfield following the war and purchased more land in order to build extensions to the runways.<ref name=hi /> The site proved inadequate for landing the new class of military jets and much of the land was sold in 1953.<ref name=IHS />
The site of the airport has now been mostly filled out by commercial and industrial development, though the unmistakable outline of an airfield can still be seen from satellite pictures.
==Units hosted== *122nd Fighter Wing
==Aircraft Hosted== *C-47 Skytrain *C-53 Skytrooper *C-46 Commando *thumb|Stout Field Control Towerde Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter *Bay Super V Bonanza *F-80 Shooting Star *F-101 Voodoo
==See also== * Indiana World War II Army Airfields
==References== <references/> {{commons cat}}
{{USAAF Training Bases World War II}} {{INMilitary}}
Category:1931 establishments in Indiana Category:History of Indianapolis Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Indiana Category:Defunct airports in Indiana Category:Buildings and structures in Indianapolis