View source for Hatbox Field

{{Short description|Closed airport in Muskogee County, Oklahoma}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=November 2021}}{{Infobox airport
| name         = Hatbox Field<br>{{smaller|Hatbox Army Airfield}}
| image        = Hatbox Field - Oklaholma.jpg
| image-width  = 250
| caption      = [[USGS]] aerial image, 2006
| IATA         = HAX
| ICAO         = KHAX
| FAA          = HAX
| type         = Public
| owner        = City of Muskogee
| operator     =
| city-served  = [[Muskogee, Oklahoma]]
| location     = <!--if different than above-->
| 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]]<ref name="FAA">{{FAA-airport|ID=HAX|use=PU|own=PU|site=19112.*A}}. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 29 July 2010.</ref>
}}

'''Hatbox Field''' {{airport codes|HAX|KHAX|HAX}} is a closed airfield located within city limits, two nautical miles (3.7&nbsp;km) west of central [[Muskogee, Oklahoma|Muskogee]], a city in [[Muskogee County, Oklahoma|Muskogee County]], [[Oklahoma]], United States.<ref name="FAA" /> 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&nbsp;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]] "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]].  It is one of the airports that the [[Douglas World Cruiser|Douglas aircraft]] of the Army's [[First aerial circumnavigation|1924 Around the World Flight]] stopped, and was a stop on the Army's mail route.

In 1929, the airfield was described as a municipal airport, operated by the [[United States Army Air Corps|Army Air Corps]], and having a beacon light. [[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]], Spartan provided primary flight training to cadets as an Army Air Forces contract flying school until 1944.   The USAAF [[410th Air Expeditionary Wing|410th Bombardment Group]] trained at the airfield with [[A-20 Havoc|Douglas A-20 Havocs]] in the fall of 1943 before being reassigned to the [[Ninth Air Force]] in [[England]], where they flew 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 King Air|Beechcraft U-21 Ute]]s. Hatbox was closed completely in 2000, and the refurbishing company moved to nearby Muskogee [[Davis Field (Oklahoma)|Davis Field]].

== Facilities ==
Hatbox Field covered an area of {{convert|434|acre|ha}} at an elevation of 627 feet (191 m) above [[mean sea level]]. It had one [[runway]] designated 11/29 with an [[Asphalt concrete|asphalt]] surface measuring 3,800 by 50 feet (1,158 x 15 m).<ref name="FAA" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Aviation}}
* [[Oklahoma World War II Army Airfields]]
* [[List of United States Army airfields]]
* [[31st Flying Training Wing (World War II)]]

== References ==
<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]]: 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.  ]

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{{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:USAAF 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]]