When Your High School's Parking Lot is a Runway

by "Jcarr" (jcarr)
Published 01/04/2017 at 09:59

Tags: Planelopnik
STARS: 11

This is a Google Maps view of Pekin Community High School in the small southeast Iowa town of Pekin. Looks a little strange, right?

Well, that’s because the school was built on the site of a WWII-era naval landing field. Linby Naval Outlying Landing Field was a diamond-shaped set of 4 2000' by 200' runways constructed in 1943. It was part of a group of 15 satellite airfields supporting primary flight training operations at NAS Ottumwa in Ottumwa, IA.

The field was eventually closed sometime in the late 1940s/early 1950s and the land was sold to the Pekin Community School District, which built the high school on the site in 1961. According to historians, the terms of the sale specified that the runways be left intact should the Navy ever need to use the field again.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Photos and information credited to Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields .

Replies (33)

"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
01/04/2017 at 10:00, STARS: 2

Racecar?

"SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie" (sidewaysondirt)
01/04/2017 at 10:01, STARS: 3

Y u no autoX there?

"Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap" (ddadragon)
01/04/2017 at 10:01, STARS: 1

Best autoX in history?

"Jcarr" (jcarr)
01/04/2017 at 10:04, STARS: 0

Good question. If I lived there, I might campaign for that.

"EL_ULY" (uly)
01/04/2017 at 10:05, STARS: 10

Hooning has to be a class here

"SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie" (sidewaysondirt)
01/04/2017 at 10:05, STARS: 0

Ahh, with that headline, I thought that it was the high school you attended or something.

"Tazio, Count Fouroff" (tazio0625)
01/04/2017 at 10:07, STARS: 1

The Sebring of the Midwest!

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
01/04/2017 at 10:08, STARS: 0

Ugh, so many slaloms! I mean, I can have fun with any form of autocross but just doing slaloms, turning around, and doing more slaloms down the other side is not that exciting. At least if there were some taxiways to vary things up then it could be interesting.

"Stapleface" (patrickgruden)
01/04/2017 at 10:08, STARS: 1

That would be one kick-ass after school club. 1/4 mile drag club.

"smobgirl" (smobgirl)
01/04/2017 at 10:09, STARS: 1

I love that website. we do historic research as part of my job and if a property was previously on an airfield I nearly always end up down a rabbit hole there. So much random info.

"Lumpy44, Proprietor Of Fine Gif" (lumpy44)
01/04/2017 at 10:10, STARS: 1

There is one by me, same sort of situation, was a training location for the British airforce in WWII. Now is a dairy farm!

Edit: found more info on the first one and found this one about 20km away.

"Jcarr" (jcarr)
01/04/2017 at 10:11, STARS: 0

Alas, no. My highschool was just on a normal street.

"Jcarr" (jcarr)
01/04/2017 at 10:12, STARS: 7

U Hoon at Hoon U

"EL_ULY" (uly)
01/04/2017 at 10:12, STARS: 0

lol hellz yeah!

"SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie" (sidewaysondirt)
01/04/2017 at 10:13, STARS: 1

Never had that problem at my local, but we also had a surprisingly wide runway because ours was an apron for B17s during WW2. You can see by the tire marks that ours was a bit more varied. This school one gives some options because of the square shape of it though. Can pit and grid on one side and run a course around the other three sides and have more width for turns since there isn’t a B side to worry about.

"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
01/04/2017 at 10:13, STARS: 1

Cool stuff! That’s an interesting choice of dimensions for a runway. 200' is VERY wide for a 2,000' runway. Air carrier width and Cub length.

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
01/04/2017 at 10:25, STARS: 5

Hooning 101: Brake stands and burnouts

Hooning 102: The art is catching opposite lock

Hooning 201: Snow-nuts

Hooning 202: Snow-drifting

Hooning 301: Drifting

"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
01/04/2017 at 10:29, STARS: 0

Somebody needs to bring this to the attention of the Grand Tour production company.

"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
01/04/2017 at 10:34, STARS: 2

Went to that website, and clicked on my area. First listing was for Meigs Field and I shed a tear...

"Jcarr" (jcarr)
01/04/2017 at 10:38, STARS: 1

RIP Meigs.

Screw Daley.

"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
01/04/2017 at 10:39, STARS: 0

That surface just screams breakage.

I was thinking it would be cool if they ran Friday night drags there until I saw the pavement.

"SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie" (sidewaysondirt)
01/04/2017 at 10:44, STARS: 0

Doesn’t look too different from some of the disused runways I’ve done it on apart from the fact that those still had some use to keep the grass from growing through the cracks.

"The Lurktastic Opponaught" (oppolurker)
01/04/2017 at 10:48, STARS: 1

Cool website, thanks.

I found more info on the Limerick strip where I found that ercoupe I posed earlier this summer:

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/ME/Airfields_ME_S.htm

"user314" (user314)
01/04/2017 at 11:09, STARS: 1

Ah,Ottumwa, Iowa; best known as the hometown of Walter “Radar” O’Reilly .

"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
01/04/2017 at 11:22, STARS: 1

I guess I’d have to walk it first. If it’s still level then nothing weed killer couldn’t fix, but if there’s a lot of lifting it could be bad.

"Jcarr" (jcarr)
01/04/2017 at 11:22, STARS: 1

Don’t forget Tom Arnold!

"Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig" (AndySheehan-StreetsideStig)
01/04/2017 at 11:34, STARS: 1

It looks like a great place to set up an autocross course, actually.

"Jack Does Cars" (jackdoescars)
01/04/2017 at 12:13, STARS: 1

I have been to Ottumwa one time in my life and I never plan on going back. After all, a guy did try to sell me meth at Taco John’s.

"G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3" (gbodyman)
01/04/2017 at 12:49, STARS: 1

Hooning 401 Advanced: Reverse entry, high speed entry, drift trains.

"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
01/04/2017 at 13:03, STARS: 1

Hear Hear! I agree. Daley can go and fornicate with himself in hell. I’m glad I was able to fly in and out of there a year or so before he became even more of a hole in a posterior.

"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
01/04/2017 at 13:10, STARS: 0

Hooning 203: Rockford turns

"G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3" (gbodyman)
01/04/2017 at 13:29, STARS: 1

Hooning 103: handbrake turns.

Hooning 204: AWD donuts.

Hooning 302: Rallycross.

Hooning 303: Stage rally.

"Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)" (bman76-4)
01/04/2017 at 13:30, STARS: 0

and Beach Ottumwa!