Springfield Airport (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the airport office used to stand. No remains are visible here.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Franconia Museum history blog:

Flying High at Springfield Airport
Written by Nathaniel Lee

Today, millions of drivers pass through the infamous "mixing bowl" - the intersection of the Capital Beltway and Interstates 95 and 395, renowned as a traffic bottleneck among Washington commuters. However, how many of those drivers know that this spot was once the location of an airport?

This year, the Franconia Museum celebrates the 80th anniversary of Springfield Airport! Beloved by locals, this small grassy airstrip operated for almost fifteen years from 1945 to 1959. It was often overshadowed by its larger cousins, Beacon Hill and Hybla Valley Airport located on Route 1, and completely forgotten as Washington-Dulles International Airport opened nearby in 1962. However, almost everyone who lived in the Franconia area during this time has a fond memory of the airport and the people who worked there.

Today, we look back 80 years to 1945 and the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8 bringing World War II to a close in the European theater. Suddenly, millions of American servicemen and women were making plans to return home to the United States and build new families and new communities. One of those men was Major Carl Victor Allen of the U.S. Army Air Forces Reserve, a predecessor of the modern-day USAF that consisted of civilian pilots who were called to active duty to bolster the ranks of the Army’s Air Force when needed. On his return home, Carl Allen spoke with a long-time family friend and Franconia Road resident Herbert Ogden about his plans to open an airport. He put him in touch with a neighbor, Snap Akins, who offered to lease his farm to Carl to start his airport where Lewis High School and the Springfield Estates neighborhood are located today. The Allen family would stay in the Ogden’s home (present-day Key Middle School) for a few months until they could purchase their own home in Springfield’s Leewood neighborhood.

Carl’s wife Gretchen was the airport’s first treasurer and secretary, keeping operations moving smoothly. The Allens’ received permission from Virginia’s State Corporation Commission in June 1945 to start operating Springfield Airport and they quickly had the property cleared and open for business by September. They started out by constructing the airport office and hangar near the present-day intersection of Buckskin Street and Abilene Street. The first runway was a north/south 3,000-foot sod runway that ran from Lewis HS in the south to the intersection of Apache Street and Bowie Drive in the north. Within a year, he added a second 2,200-foot east/west runway which ran from the intersection of present-day Cimarron Street and Bowie Drive in the west to the intersection of Custer Street and Frontier Drive in the east.

Springfield Airport was known for doing a little bit of everything. Major Allen offered fuel and airplane maintenance services to the public, as well as operating a sales agency for new planes and an auction house to sell used planes. Carl would also give private flying lessons and guided tours of the Washington area by air. World War II veterans were offered their flying lessons free of charge. Carl was also a constant presence in the local community, helping to organize many neighborhood events, parades, and clubs.

In 1945, future Lee District Supervisor Joe Alexander, at only fifteen years of age, convinced Major Allen to let him start working at the airport for free in exchange for flying lessons. Joe’s parents weren’t thrilled with the idea, but acquiesced after it became apparent their son was determined to become a pilot. Joe rode his bike to work and helped build the new runways. He skipped school to complete his first solo flight and earned his pilot’s license in 1946 at age sixteen.

From 1947 to 1950, Charlie Kulp worked as an airframe and powerplant mechanic at Springfield Airport. Nicknamed the “Flying Farmer,” Charlie (1925-2021) would later go on to earn international fame for performing a comedy aerobatic routine every Sunday at the Flying Circus Aerodrome in Bealeton, Virginia for 34 years up until his retirement in the year 2007. The Ogden family has many fond memories of dinners with Charlie Kulp and the Allen family on almost a nightly basis.

In April 1951, Major Carl Allen was recalled to active service by the Air Force and was tragically killed in a plane crash near Mexico City on June 21 along with his wife, Gretchen. Both were laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Springfield Airport lay dormant for several months until Charlie Kulp decided to pick up the equipment in 1952 and help restart the airport in a new location, just south of Franconia Road, where the Springfield Town Center stands today. The new Springfield Airport operated a single 1,400-foot runway on an unofficial basis until 1959 when it was permanently closed in favor of using the land for more profitable gravel pit mining. Gravel pits grew by the dozens throughout the neighborhood until Springfield Mall opened in 1973.

Even today, 80 years later, Carl Allen and Charlie Kulp are still fondly remembered by many who passed through Springfield Airport and were met by kind, welcoming smiles and a friendly, can-do attitude. This was still old Franconia, where everyone, stranger or friend, received a little of that classic Southern charm.

Major Carl Victor Allen (1904-1951)
Charles Allen “Charlie” Kulp (1925-2021)


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Here follows an excerpt from the "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields" website written by Paul Freeman:

Springfield Airport, Springfield, VA
(Southwest of Washington, DC)

Springfield Airport was evidently established at some point between 1944-45, as it was not depicted on the 1944 Washington Sectional Chart or the 1945 USGS topo map. According to the book "Virginia Airports" by Vera Rollo & Norman Crabill (published by the VAHS), Springfield Airport was opened "after WW2" by Carl Allen. "The airport had a north/south 3,000' sod runway & offered fuel & maintenance to the public." The earliest depiction which has been located of Springfield Airport was on the December 1945 Washington Sectional Chart. It depicted Springfield as a commercial airport, adjacent to the south side of the Southern railroad tracks.

In 1947, Charlie Kulp (who would later go on to fame as the Bealton Flying Circus' “Flying Farmer”) worked as an Airframe & Powerplant mechanic at Springfield Airport (according to an article by Linda Burdette in the 1/06 issue of the VAHS Virginia Eagles newsletter). The September 1948 USAAF Pilot's Handbook (courtesy of Chris Kennedy) depicted Springfield Airport, but did not give any other details about the field. The 1948 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Chris Kennedy) & 1949 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe) described Springfield Airport as having a 2,200' unpaved runway.

The irregular outline of the Springfield Airport property was depicted on the 1949 USAF Target Complex Chart, but no runways were depicted. The planned alignment of Interstate 95 was also depicted running adjacent to the west side of the airport property. The only photo which has been located showing Springfield Airport in operation was a 3/4/49 USGS aerial view. It depicted Springfield Airport as having 2 grass runways in an “X” shape, with a hangar & 9 single-engine light aircraft on the south side.

Charlie Kulp left his job as an A&P Powerplant mechanic at Springfield Airport in 1950 (according to an article by Linda Burdette in the 1/06 issue of the VAHS Virginia Eagles newsletter). At some point afterward, the owner of the airport & his wife were killed in an airplane crash, and the airport closed soon afterward.

The last aeronautical chart depiction which has been located of Springfield Airport was on the January 1951 Washington Local Aeronautical Chart (courtesy of Tim Zukas). It depicted Springfield Airport as having a 2,200' unpaved runway. Springfield Airport was evidently closed by 1951, as the remarks in the Aerodromes table on the 1951 Washington Sectional Chart (courtesy of Mike Keefe) said "Closed indefinitely." It was described as having 3 runways, with the longest being a 2,770' unpaved strip. The 1951 USGS topo map showed the newly-constructed Interstate 95 having been built along the west side of the site of Springfield Airport.

A 1953 aerial view (from the Fairfax County Historical Imagery Viewer) depicted Springfield Airport after its closure. The property remained clear, but the runways were only barely recognizable. According to the book "Virginia Airports", "As in so many other cases, developers purchased the land & built a large residential subdivision, Springfield Estates." Springfield was a short-lived airport, apparently lasting no more than 7 years. It was obviously doomed by its location, directly adjacent to the paths of both the Washington Beltway & Interstate 95, which were constructed in the 1950s. By the time of the February 1960 Washington Local Aeronautical Chart, Springfield Airport was no longer depicted. A 1960 aerial photo showed houses covering the site, with not a trace remaining of Springfield Airport.

As seen in the 2002 USGS aerial photo, the site of Springfield Airport is now a densely developed residential neighborhood, adjacent to the infamous "mixing bowl" - the intersection of the Washington Beltway & Interstate 95. Not a trace appears to remain of the former Springfield Airport.