Morning airport history. From Western North Carolina, top left is a crash truck at Asheville-Henderson Army Airfield, a former airport that was located in Fletcher. Today, it’s the site of an industrial park.

AHAA opened as a civilian airfield in 1938 and was operated by the Army from 1943 to 1947. By the late 1950s, a larger airport for the area was sought and the Asheville Regional Airport opened in 1961, three miles to the west.

The top pictures are from the Asheville Times on January 7, 1944. Noted the story, the “sprawling corn field” near the small community of Fletcher had been transported into a “busy junction on the world’s military airways” in less than a year.

The Army took over operation of the field in July 1943. Since that time, 787 “clearances” for planes had been issued at the airfield: 358 for the two wings assigned there, 81 for naval forces “and friendly foreign governments,” and 348 for “transient planes.”

Thirteen Firemen

The airport fire department in January 1944 had 13 “civilian firemen and crash truck operators,” along with 11 “civilian guards,” 35 enlisted men, five officers, and three Women’s Air Force Service Pilots.

The “crash house” had been completed the month before. It had “bunks and lockers for the firemen on duty and a miniature kitchen in which they prepare their own meals.”

To date, the crash crews had not responded to any airfield emergencies.

Containers of Chemicals

The pictured fire truck had a “300-gallon capacity” and could spray water a distance of 100 feet. It also had “a number of containers of chemicals.” A second fire truck “carrying an auxiliary water tank with a 500-gallon capacity.”

The fire station was part of a $55,000 airport improvement program that had just been completed, with “four new olive green frame buildings” built. Another $20,000 project was soon starting.

Other Citations

The Asheville Times on August 31, 1955, reported that Asheville city officials approved an agreement with Crail Farm of Hendersonville RFD 3, allowing the cutting of grass at the airfield in return for the hay to be harvested. And with the condition that Crail Farm erect a 45×70 foot storage shed on the east side of the airfield and that space is provided for the airport’s fire engine.

More Information

Learn more about the history of Asheville-Henderson Airport at the excellent Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields site.