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1945 U.S.C.G.S. Aeronautical Chart of Arizona
GilaRiver-uscgs-1945$325.00
Title
AAF Aeronautical Chart Gila River 405.
1945 (dated) 21 x 28.25 in (53.34 x 71.755 cm) 1 : 1000000
1945 (dated) 21 x 28.25 in (53.34 x 71.755 cm) 1 : 1000000
Description
This is a 1945 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey aeronautical chart of Arizona. Published near the end of World War II, the map highlights numerous Army, Army Air Force, Navy, and Marine airfields and other installations across the state. The sheer number of bases underscores how much the country dedicated to winning the war and training the soldiers and pilots needed to do so.
A Closer Look
Depicting from Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon to just south of Tucson, this map illustrates most of Arizona and the extreme southern portion of Nevada around Boulder City. As a U.S. Army Air Force aeronautical chart, this map was created for military pilots. Circles mark both military and civilian airfields. The percentage of the circle that is filled in indicates the length of the longest runway at each location. Some of these airfields, such as those at Phoenix, Tucson, and Kingman, have become civilian airfields after the war. Others, such as Yuma, Luke, and Williams, are still in use today by the U.S. military. Diagonal lines outline ‘Danger Areas’ throughout the state, highlighting areas where even military pilots should not fly. None are explicitly identified, but some easily understood with the benefit of the nearly 80 years since the end of the war. The large area in the southwestern portion of the map is almost certainly the Desert Training Center, established in 1942 to teach Army and Army Air Force personnel to live and fight in the desert.Arizona During World War II
Arizona hosted numerous, Army, Army Air Force, Navy, and Marine bases during World War II, including part of the Desert Training Center. Several flight training schools were established for Army, Navy, and Marine pilots, along with a handful of gunnery ranges. Two Japanese internment camps were established in Arizona as was an Italian prisoner of war camp.Thunderbird Field No. 1
Thunderbird Field No.1 (which is marked here) was established in 1939 in Glendale, Arizona, and was a contract primary flight training base for Allied pilots. James Stewart, the famous Hollywood actor, helped establish the field, which was officially designated Thunderbird Field No. 1 after Thunderbird Field No. 2 was established on June 22, 1942. The Hollywood movie Thunder Birds was filmed at the field in 1942. Thunderbird Field was declared surplus in 1946 and was closed at some point within the next year.Publication History and Census
This map was created and published by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in March 1945. This map is not cataloged in OCLC, and it is scarce on the private market.Cartographer
The Office of the Coast Survey (1807 - present) founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin, is the oldest scientific organization in the U.S. Federal Government. Jefferson created the "Survey of the Coast," as it was then called, in response to a need for accurate navigational charts of the new nation's coasts and harbors. The spirit of the Coast Survey was defined by its first two superintendents. The first superintendent of the Coast Survey was Swiss immigrant and West Point mathematics professor Ferdinand Hassler. Under the direction of Hassler, from 1816 to 1843, the ideological and scientific foundations for the Coast Survey were established. These included using the most advanced techniques and most sophisticated equipment as well as an unstinting attention to detail. Hassler devised a labor intensive triangulation system whereby the entire coast was divided into a series of enormous triangles. These were in turn subdivided into smaller triangulation units that were then individually surveyed. Employing this exacting technique on such a massive scale had never before been attempted. Consequently, Hassler and the Coast Survey under him developed a reputation for uncompromising dedication to the principles of accuracy and excellence. Unfortunately, despite being a masterful surveyor, Hassler was abrasive and politically unpopular, twice losing congressional funding for the Coast Survey. Nonetheless, Hassler led the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, at which time Alexander Dallas Bache, a great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, took the helm. Bache was fully dedicated to the principles established by Hassler, but proved more politically astute and successfully lobbied Congress to liberally fund the endeavor. Under the leadership of A. D. Bache, the Coast Survey completed its most important work. Moreover, during his long tenure with the Coast Survey, from 1843 to 1865, Bache was a steadfast advocate of American science and navigation and in fact founded the American Academy of Sciences. Bache was succeeded by Benjamin Pierce who ran the Survey from 1867 to 1874. Pierce was in turn succeeded by Carlile Pollock Patterson who was Superintendent from 1874 to 1881. In 1878, under Patterson's superintendence, the U.S. Coast Survey was reorganized as the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C & GS) to accommodate topographic as well as nautical surveys. Today the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA as the National Geodetic Survey. More by this mapmaker...
Condition
Excellent. Light wear along original fold lines.