Air University (United States) - Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics Airfields, McCoy Air Force Base (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 23. Chapters: Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics Airfields, McCoy Air Force Base, Fresno Yosemite International Airport, Hurlburt Field, William C. Martel, Meadows Field, Orlando Executive Airport, Gainesville Regional Airport, Cross City Air Force Station, Visalia Municipal Airport, Hernando County Airport, Dunnellon/Marion County Airport, Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, Kissimmee Gateway Airport, Williston Municipal Airport, Salinas Municipal Airport, Keystone Heights Airport. Excerpt: McCoy AFB (1940-1947, 1951-1975) is a former United States Air Force base located 10 miles (16 km) south of Orlando, Florida. It was a training base during World War II. After the war it became a Front-Line Strategic Air Command (SAC) base during the Vietnam War and the Cold War. With McCoy's closure as an active air force installation in 1975, the site was redeveloped and is known today as Orlando International Airport, which carries the airport code MCO (McCoy). Pinecastle Army Air Field was originally opened in on 1 August 1940 as an auxiliary field in support of the nearby Orlando Army Air Base. Following service in World War II and the immediate post-war period, the installation was closed in 1947. With the advent of an independent United States Air Force, the USAF reopened the base in 1951 as Pinecastle Air Force Base. The base was re-named for Colonel Michael Norman Wright McCoy (1905-1957) on 7 May 1958. Col McCoy was killed on 9 October 1957 in the crash of DB-47B-35-BW Stratojet, 51-2177A, of the 447th Bomb Squadron, 321st Bomb Wing, while taking part in a practice demonstration which suffered wing-failure during the annual Strategic Air Command Bombing Navigation and Reconnaissance Competition. McCoy served as commander of the 321st Bombardment Wing, the host unit of the base at the time of his death. A hugely popular figure in C...