Much has been written about the numerous battles and activities that took place during World War 2 but very little has been mentioned about the war effort at home. We read stories about the aircraft, ships and land vehicles used during the war; we read stories about the brave men who fought and the generals who led them; but we rarely hear about the hundreds of thousands of dedicated men and women who worked in The States to prepare the United States for war and keep the war effort supplied. We at HiTech Creations would like to take a moment to look at one state, Washington State, and the massive effort its citizens made for the United States Army Air Force.
During the war numerous airfields were built to help train pilots and aircrews fighting in the Pacific Theater and in Europe. Most of these airfields were commanded by the Second Air Force of the Army Air Forces Training Command. These included:
- Bellingham Tulip AAF, now the Bellingham International Airport
- Ephrata AAF, now the Ephrata Municipal Airport
- Geiger/Sunset Field, now the Spokane International Airport
- Seven Mile Gunnery range, a sub-base of Geiger AAF
- Felts Field, now Felts Field Airport in Spokane
- McChord Filed AAF, now McChord Air Force Base
- Olympia AAF, now Olympia Airport
- 33rd Army Air Force Base Unit, Paine Air Force Base, now Paine Field in Everett
- Port Angeles AAF, now Jefferson County International Airport
- 357th Army Air Force Base, now Walla Walla Regional Airport
One state responded to the war effort by building ten different airfields to help with the training of pilots and crews and this was just one state. One of the cool things worth noting is that all of those airfields are still being used in a public capacity today with the exception of McChord which is one of the largest peace time military airfields in the United States.
As you can probably tell by now, the makers of Aces High are pretty interested in WWII details. Maybe that explains why Aces High has been the best combat flight simulator on the market for so many years. Our love of history shows in our game detail and that attention to detail is appreciated by the thousands of flight sim players around the world.
Give us a try! We offer a free two-week download so you can get familiar with our World War 2 Flight Simulator. We are willing to bet that once you try Aces High you won’t be satisfied with any other combat flight sim.
