An airstrip once used to develop U.S. pilots during World War II in Central California has been sold.
Located in western Fresno County about 10 miles south of Dos Palos and 15 miles north of Firebaugh, Eagle Field dates back to 1942 when construction of the airstrip got underway a few months after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and the United States entering WWII.
The airfield fulfilled a vital necessity for the war effort — training pilots — but it also offered amenities that other bases didn’t have, said Eagle Field historian Jim Bertao, who helped run the WWII museum at Eagle Field, which opened in 1990.
“Because pilots were getting killed very rapidly during the war, the United States had to keep training new men all the time and find those who wanted to become a pilot,” Bertao said.
“A lot of airstrips were built in California during World War II. What made Eagle Field stand out from others was that it was viewed as the country club of training bases. Being brand new and landscaped. Having a swimming pool. The rec room had a bowling alley. It was the facility to be at as a cadet who wanted to become a pilot.”
Drag racing, parties
In more recent years dating to 2009, Eagle Field was used twice a year as a drag racing venue.
A variety of hot rods, street cars and old-school, drag racing vehicles that didn’t necessarily meet all the strict and current NHRA requirements loudly revved their engines while blazing down an eighth-mile straightaway.
Thousands of fans, some coming from as far as Oregon, Nevada and Arizona, often would attend the races.
The airstrip’s fairly remote location helped keep down noise complaints.
On other occasions, the hangars at Eagle Field were used to turn up the music while being used annually for fly-in, dinner-and-dance parties.
“It wasn’t a perfect place for drag racing, but it was a lot of fun,” said Chris Lopes, whose company was a sponsor for Eagle Field Drags and raced at Eagle Field for 15 years. “A lot of great memories.”
Proceeds from both the drag racing and the dinner dance helped fund the Eagle Field WWII museum.
Over the years, the museum expanded into a collection to include military artifacts beyond WWII, including a nonoperational bomber plane, helicopters and turrets.
Drag racing at Eagle Field in Firebaugh has come to an end after the historic airstrip that dates back to World War II, along with the 300 acres of land around the runway, was sold last month. The operators of drag strip decided to move their operation to Mendota Speedway. Eagle Field also has been used for annual dinner-dance functions under a hangar, as shown in this photo from 2022. Courtesy photo/Jake Carter Pilot training at Eagle Field
The real action at Eagle Field dates back to the 1940s when the facility served as the initial training grounds for would-be pilots.
Airbases like Eagle Field were built up and down California at the time for two primary reasons: To be located for the purposes of continental defense partly due to the fear of a Japanese attack on the West Coast, and because the state had desirable weather conditions that seldom curtailed flying, according to MilitaryMuseum.org.
Rigorous training at Eagle Field lasted about 10 weeks with cadets learning how to fly military trainer planes like the Ryan PT-22 and Stearman PT-17.
Those who passed got to move on to other airbases, including nearby Castle Air Force Base in Atwater (aka Merced Army Airfield), where pilots learned to fly bigger, more powerful planes.
Those who “washed out” of pilot training at Eagle Field often were assigned to other roles within the military, including the possibility of becoming a ground troop.
“Talk about motivation,” Bertao said.
In all, about 5,000 pilots graduated first-level pilot training at Eagle Field. But they still needed to pass two more levels of instruction elsewhere before being sent overseas for actual combat.
By December 1944, training at the Central Valley airstrip was halted as the United States and the rest of the Allies “gained the upper hand in the war effort and enough student pilots were in the pipeline,” Bertao wrote.
Actual operations at Eagle Field lasted 30 months. In that time, only three pilot-training deaths occurred at the Firebaugh-area airstrip.
Bertao said the ratio of roughly 5,000 pilots trained to three deaths over the course of 2 1/2 years was considered an “excellent record.”
“Each cadet had to have about 100 hours of pilot training,” Bertao said. “The instructors really worked with the cadets to help them pass the proficiency part of training.”
Crew member Chuck Enoch sits in the pilots seat while a B-25 Mitchell bomber that was part of a fly-in at Eagle Field in Dos Palos is towed into position on the tarmac after landing in June 2007.
Following the end of WWII, Eagle Field ceased all pilot training, but the facility continued to be used by the government for plane storage.
As the years went by, the airstrip mostly was used as a crop duster facility.
At one point, the city of Dos Palos was supposed to develop Eagle Field to become a municipal airport but those efforts eventually failed, Bertao said.
The airstrip, as well as the large parcel of land that surrounded the runway and the hangars and administration building and barracks on the property, went onto become owned by Fresno resident Joe Davis, a WWII enthusiast.
Davis had visions of restoring the WWII airfield and eventually made it a home for vintage aircraft and vehicles.
Due to his recent health, Davis elected to put the airstrip and the surrounding 300 acres up for sale.
It was bought by Palo Alto entrepreneur Guy Kaplinsky, who is the CEO and co-founder of the flying car company AKSA.
The cost of the entire real estate transaction was not immediately known, though four acres of the land sold for $1.1 million last month, according to a property history report on realtor.com.
Kaplinsky said he has plans to renovate the WWII training facility but declined to go into extensive detail of the future use of Eagle Field.
The group that operated drag racing at Eagle Field, meanwhile, elected to move its events to Mendota Raceway Park due to the increased costs to insure races and improve safety measurements at the old WWII airstrip.
“A lot of airstrips after the war got used for drag racing; these races gave these runways new life,” Eagle Field Drags director Rocky Phillips said. “There hadn’t been races in Fresno County for 40 years until we got that started, so it was a great fit for many years. And we built a great racing family from it.
“It’s a sad deal that we couldn’t come to terms with the new owner. It’s emotional. But life moves on.”
