Fairmont Army Air Field

Fairmont State Airfield (former Fairmont Army Airfield)
USGS 2006 orthophoto
IATA: none ICAO: KFMZ FAA LID: FMZ
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Nebraska Department of Aeronautics
Serves	Fairmont, Nebraska
Location	Madison Township, Fillmore County
Elevation AMSL	1,636 ft / 499 m
Coordinates	40°35′10″N 097°34′23″W / 40.58611°N 97.57306°W / 40.58611; -97.57306Coordinates: 40°35′10″N 097°34′23″W / 40.58611°N 97.57306°W / 40.58611; -97.57306
Map
FMZ Show map of Nebraska FMZ Show map of the US Location of airport in Nebraska / United States
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 17/35 4,317 1,316 Concrete 12/30 3,021 921 Concrete
Statistics (2012)
Aircraft operations 1,625 Based aircraft 21
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Fairmont Army Airfield
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Show map of Nebraska Show map of the US
Nearest city	Fairmont, Nebraska
Area	1,827 acres (739 ha)
Built	1942
Architectural style	Other, Aircraft hangars
NRHP Reference #	03000105
Added to NRHP	March 11, 2003

Fairmont State Airfield (ICAO: KFMZ, FAA LID: FMZ) is three miles south of Fairmont, in Fillmore County, Nebraska. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation facility. It has no scheduled airline service.

Most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, but this airport is FMZ to the FAA and has no IATA code.

Construction of Fairmont State Airfield by the United States Army Air Forces began on September 17, 1942. It was one of eleven training airfields built in Nebraska during World War II. Shortly after construction began, a railroad spur was built from Fairmont to the site to haul materials for the construction. About 1,000 laborers were hired to build the base, and the small towns of Geneva (pop. 1,888) and Fairmont (pop. 800) were hard pressed to find housing for the workers. Early in the construction, the facility was referred to as the Fairmont Satellite Airfield, and was designated a satellite of the Topeka Army Air Base in Kansas, however by early 1943, the name was changed to the Fairmont Army Airfield, as its mission was determined to be a training facility for heavy bomber groups. The first military personnel arrived in November 1942

The airfield was under the command of Second Air Force Headquarters, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The 241st Army Air Force Base Unit was the Operational Training Unit at the airfield. It was assigned to the 15th Bombardment Training Wing (September 1943 - March 1944), then transferred to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing in March 1944 for B-29 training. The 511th Army Air Force Base Unit commanded the support elements at Fairmont as part of Air Technical Service Command.