Freeman Municipal Airport

Freeman Municipal Airport (IATA: SER, ICAO: KSER, FAA LID: SER) is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) southwest of the central business district of Seymour, a city in Jackson County, Indiana, United States. It is owned by the Seymour Airport Authority.

Facilities and aircraft

Freeman Municipal Airport covers an area of 2,100 acres (850 ha) at an elevation of 583 feet (178 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 5/23 is 5,500 by 100 feet (1,676 x 30 m) and 14/32 is 5,502 by 100 feet (1,677 x 30 m) . It also has two turf runways: 9U/27U is 1,000 by 100 feet (305 x 30 m) is 18U/36U is 1,200 by 100 feet (366 x 30 m).

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 14,277 aircraft operations, an average of 39 per day: 77% general aviation, 21% air taxi, 1% military. At that time there were 80 aircraft based at this airport: 71% single-engine, 9% multi-engine, 1% helicopter and 19% ultralight.

History

Flying Training

Established by the United States Army Air force in 1942. Activated on 1 December as Freeman Army Airfield It was named to honor Captain Richard S. Freeman, a 1930 graduate of West Point. Captain Freeman helped establish Ladd Field which is today's Wainwright Army Base just outside Fairbanks, Alaska. He was Ladd Field's first commander. Freeman Field had four 5,500' hard all-weather runways and seven axillary airfields for emergency and overflow landings/takeoffs. Conducted Advanced twin-engine flying training (33d Twin Engine Flying Training Group). Many of the graduates went on to fly bombers, such as B-17s and B-24s. The last graduation was February 1, 1945. A total of 4,245 pilots graduated from the Freeman Field aerial training base. Twenty-four instructors and cadets were killed during training.

Became first USAAF helicopter training school in June 1944. Continued training until October when AAFTC moved the training to Chanute Field, Illinois, so it could consolidate the flying training operation with helicopter mechanic training.

Freeman Field Mutiny

Black aviators, including a group of Tuskegee Airmen, trained at Freeman Field. In April 1945, black officers tried to integrate an officers' club resulting in what became known as the "Freeman Field Mutiny". The mutiny is generally regarded by historians of the Civil Rights Movement as an important step toward full integration of the armed forces and as a model for later efforts to integrate public facilities through civil disobedience.

Foreign Aircraft Storage

After the end of World War II, Feeeman AAF became a storage depot of many captured German and Italian aircraft (Operation Lusty). Training at the field had stopped and it became the site for the storage of American and foreign aircraft.

In 1945 the enemy aircraft shipped to the United States were divided between the Navy and the Army Air Forces. General Hap Arnold ordered the preservation of one of every type of aircraft used by the enemy forces. The Air Force brought their aircraft to Wright Field, and when the field could no longer handle additional aircraft, many were sent to Freeman Field to the foreign technology evaluation center established there. Most of the foreign airplanes were German, but there were also Japanese, Italian and English planes. Nowhere in the United States would there be such large numbers of foreign aircraft, many of which were rare and incredible advanced for their time, In addition, there were warehouses full of Luftwaffe equipment. Forty-seven personnel were engaged in the identification, inspection and warehousing of captured foreign equipment. Freeman Field was also charged with the mission to receive and catalogue U. S. equipment for display at the present and for the future AAF museum.

In 1946 when Freeman Field was scheduled to close, Air Technical Service Command had to move the aircraft. The larger aircraft were sent to Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, and the fighter aircraft sent to the Special Depot, Park Ridge, Ill. (now O'Hare Airport), which was under the control of ATSC's Office of Intelligence. Many of the captured aircraft which were not moved were destroyed or buried. Freeman Field was closed and declared surplus on 30 December 1946. It was deactivated in November 1948. The War Assets Administration determined the post-war use of the land and structures: 2,241 acres for a municipal airport for Seymour; more than 240 acres for agricultural training in the Seymour Community Schools; and the Seymour Industrial Association received more than sixty acres to develop an industrial park.

Examples of aircraft that have no record of leaving Freeman Field are a Dornier Do 335 experimental interceptor; a Heinkel He 219 RADAR-equipped night fighter; an Arado Ar 234 twin-engined jet bomber, two Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptors, two Focke-Wulf Fw 190 interceptors and a Junkers Ju 88 two-engine multi-role aircraft. Today, several groups are engaged in locating and recovering any aviation artifacts from the aircraft which were destroyed and buried in 1946. The groups are currently in communication with former base personnel, local eyewitnesses, and historians in order to get a comprehensive picture of where the burial pits are located and what items were put in them.

(Click on the photo to enlarge)

Location & QuickFacts

FAA Information Effective:	2007-12-20
Airport Identifier:	SER
Airport Status:	Operational
Longitude/Latitude:	085-54-30.0740W/38-55-28.9160N -85.908354/38.924699 (Estimated)
Elevation:	583 ft / 177.70 m (Surveyed)
Land:	2100 acres
From nearest city:	2 nautical miles SW of Seymour, IN
Location:	Jackson County, IN
Magnetic Variation:	02W (1985)

Owner & Manager

Ownership:	Publicly owned
Owner:	Seymour Airport Authority
Address:	P.o. Box 702 Seymour, IN 47274
Phone number:	812-522-2031
Manager:	Don Furlow
Address:	P.o. Box 702 Seymour, IN 47274
Phone number:	812-522-2031

Airport Operations and Facilities

Airport Use:	Open to public
Wind indicator:	Yes
Segmented Circle:	Yes
Control Tower:	No
Lighting Schedule:	DUSK-DAWN MIRL RYS 05/23 & 14/32 PRESET ON OFF ; TO ACTVT & INCR INTST REIL RYS 05, 23, 14 & 32, & ODALS RYS 05 & 23 PAPI RYS 05 & 23 - CTAF.
Beacon Color:	Clear-Green (lighted land airport)
Landing fee charge:	No
Sectional chart:	St Louis
Region:	AGL - Great Lakes
Boundary ARTCC:	ZID - Indianapolis
Tie-in FSS:	HUF - Terre Haute
FSS on Airport:	No
FSS Toll Free:	1-800-WX-BRIEF
NOTAMs Facility:	HUF (NOTAM-d service avaliable)
Federal Agreements:	NGPY

Airport Communications

CTAF:	122.800
Unicom:	122.800

Airport Services

Fuel available:	100LLA
Airframe Repair:	MINOR
Power Plant Repair:	MINOR
Bottled Oxygen:	NONE
Bulk Oxygen:	NONE

Runway Information

Runway 05/23

Runway 09U/27U

Runway 14/32

Runway 18U/36U

Radio Navigation Aids

Remarks

Based Aircraft

Operational Statistics

General Info
Country	United States
State	INDIANA
FAA ID	SER
Latitude	38-55-24.793N
Longitude	085-54-26.516W
Elevation	583 feet
Near City	SEYMOUR

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