Bomber 17 Traditional Cache
palmetto: No response from owner.
Archiving listing.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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You are searching for a slim Jim. This is a quick park and grab.
This parking lot used to be part of Hwy 559, which is now Bomber Road, before realignment.
In 1941, Bartow Mayor C.E. Williams spearheaded the city's initial land acquisition for what would become the Bartow Municipal Airport. In 1942, the US Government took over this site and subsequently developed it into a training field for the U.S. Army Air Forces. Throughout World War II, the field was used for the training of pilots.
The base was ordered to deactivate on 25 October 1945 and the deactivation was completed and the base closed by the end of the year. The airport was then returned to the City of Bartow by the General Services Administration (GSA). It was stipulated by GSA that the airport must continue be used as an airport for aviation purposes; and if not, that it be returned to the U.S. Government. Through the years 1945 to 1950, a fixed base operator (FBO) ran the airfield and flight line portion of the airport, while the large complex of support buildings that had been constructed by the Federal Government was used by industry and for storage.
In 1946, approximately 32 former military barracks were converted into apartments for returning military veterans.
In 1950, the U.S. Government exercised its reversal clause for the facility and again took over control of the airport. The Department of Defense concurrently called for bids from civilian contractors to man and operate a primary pilot training school for U.S. Air Force student pilots. Renamed Bartow Air Base, the installation served as a USAF primary flight training facility for the Air Training Command (ATC) from 1951 to 1960. USAF operations officially ended in 1961 and the facility was totally transferred to the city once again by the GSA. Forty years after the deactivation of Bartow AB, a retired USAF T-37 was loaned to the city and the airport by the National Museum of the United States Air Force and placed on a permanent static display pylon as a memorial to the former U.S. Army Air Forces and U.S. Air Force presence at Bartow. The T-37 is located near the former air base main gate, now the current entrance to the airport, and The Museum Room in the airport's main terminal also commemorates the airport's military heritage.
From 1960 through 1967 the City of Bartow again managed the airport and the aviation facilities were leased yet again to a fixed base operator. In 1964, the City made a formal request to the Federal Aviation Administration for authority to convert a large building area into an industrial park. The concept was approved and the industrial park was opened. In July 1967, the City of Bartow passed an ordinance which established an airport authority, its official name being the Bartow Municipal Airport Development Authority. The Authority was composed of five city commission members and an executive director.
Bartow Municipal Airport and Industrial Park has been self-supporting since its inception. Utilizing its aircraft refueling, storage facilities and Industrial Park to obtain its revenues, the Authority has maintained the facility as a public use general aviaton airport.
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