With the closure of historic Martin Field, vintage A-7 headed for Siouxland Freedom Park
By Mason Dockter – Sioux City Journal, Iowa (TNS)
SOUTH SIOUX CITY — One chapter in metro Sioux City’s aviation history has closed, while a symbol of the area’s flying past is headed for a new home.
An A-7D Corsair II fighter jet displayed at the former Martin Field for 20 years will be moved to Siouxland Freedom Park. But, first, the vintage aircraft will make a stop at Sioux City’s Iowa Air National Guard base, which once flew the iconic planes.
Martin Field A-7D Corsair
A Vietnam War-era A-7D Corsair that was once based at the Air National Guard base in Sioux City is shown in a field adjacent to an runway at the former Martin Field in South Sioux City. The vintage fighter jet, displayed on a mount at the front of the airstrip, will be transported this spring to the 185th Air Refueling Wing for repainting and then moved again to Siouxland Freedom Park in South Sioux City.
Martin Field, a privately-owned airport that operated in South Sioux City for over 50 years, was sold in October. Chance Bracht, a nearby resident who purchased the 136-acre site for $2 million, said he had no intention of keeping the airport a going concern.
“We shut it down,” Bracht said. “I live a few miles away from it, and there’s quite a bit of farm ground on it. We mainly bought it for that.”
The South Sioux City Council last week approved Bracht’s request to rezone the parcels to an expanded commercial category.
“For no real reason other than, if we ever wanted to do anything, then we could kind of open our door to do whatever we wanted,” he said.
Vietnam-era aircraft
A-7s flown by the U.S. Air Force first rolled off the assembly line in the 1960s. The D-model version of the Corsair II aircraft was used extensively towards the end of the Vietnam War, primarily for close air support.
“So, the (Vietnam) War is over, and all these A-7’s started coming back — the Air Force decided they didn’t really want them,” said Sgt. Vince DeGroot, press spokesman for the 185th. “So, that’s what freed them up, freed a lot of these airplanes to get into the Air National Guard.”
The A-7 like the one displayed at Martin Field was part of the fleet flown by the 185th Tactical Fighter Group (now the 185th Air Refueling Wing) from the 1970s until the wing switched to F-16 fighter jets in the early 1990s. Later, the 185th converted to KC-135 refueling tankers.
The Air National Guard, the last of the military branches to fly A-7s, phased them out in the early 1990s. In the fall of 1995, a retired A-7 was flown by helicopter to Martin Field and mounted on a stand in front of the air field, visible to motorists traveling along Highway 20.
Like all military airplanes on display, the fighter jet was demilitarized decades ago — most of its vital mechanical and aeronautical components were removed, rendering it inoperable.
Under tentative plans, the A-7 at Martin Field will be transported across the Missouri River to Sioux Gateway Airport in March, using a sling load from a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter unit based in the Quad-Cities. Plans to move the plane earlier this month was postponed after it was discovered that the sling-hitch (the device that attaches the plane to the helicopter) had not been inspected since 2013. The equipment must undergo inspection before it can be used.
After arriving at the 185th base, the A-7 will be re-painted. The 185th has been painting small military aircraft from around the country since the 1990s. The A-7 then will be transported back across the Missouri River to Siouxland Freedom Park, a 55-acre riverfront attraction that pays tribute to veterans.
Rich aviation history
Martin Field was operated for decades by a local family with four generations of aviators.
The tradition began in 1911 as a young Tommy Martin watched flying demonstrations at the fairgrounds in Sioux City’s Riverside Park, according to a 2003 story in the Journal. Tommy Martin left an auto painting business after he was hired to paint an airplane damaged in a fire at Rickenbacker Field in Stevens (now North Sioux City), S.D. The plane was the sister ship to the famous “Spirit of St. Louis,” which Charles Lindbergh flew in a history-making solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.
In 1948, Martin purchased Sioux Air, Inc., then based at the Sioux City airport. Ten years later, in 1958, he moved the operation to Martin Field’s present location on Old Highway 20, on the western edge of South Sioux City. Martin’s son, Gene, now 86, operated the airport for decades before his retirement from flying.
Gene Martin
In a Journal file photo, Martin Field owner Gene Martin stands in front of a 1939 Piper Cub that has been in his family since 1940. The historic airport closed after it was sold in October.
The small airport flourished, serving as the home for aircraft that ranged from small private jets to crop dusting planes. In 1999, there were reportedly 24,000 takeoffs and landings at the field. For years, the air field hosted the Tommy Martin Memorial Fly In, which offered children free plane rides on Labor Day weekend.
In 2003, Gene’s grandson, Thomas Martin, made his solo flight in his great-grandfather’s 1939 Piper Cub, equipped with a 90-horsepower engine, according to the Journal story.
Marty Hogan, a retired major with the 185th and board member of Siouxland Freedom Park, knew Gene Martin’s son, J.P. Martin, from childhood. Five or six years ago, Hogan and J.P Martin, an 185th pilot, began talking about the A-7 at Martin Field, with an eye on preserving it and moving it to Siouxland Freedom Park. There was some openness to the idea, but for the time being, the Martins wanted to keep the plane there, Hogan recalled.
“He kinda liked that A-7 sitting out in front of his (airfield),” Hogan said. “So, we just kinda waited until Gene was ready to retire.”
After the sale of the airport property went through, a number of moving parts and organizations had to be coordinated, from the South Sioux City American Legion Post, which held the title to the A-7, to civil and military authorities. Then there were the logistical questions.
“First, we were looking at maybe a flatbed trailer (to move it) over, but the plane sits about 20 feet in the air from the ground, to the tip of the tail, and we wouldn’t have been able to pull it over without taking power lines and stuff like that down,” Hogan said.
So they settled on moving the A-7 the same way it arrived at Martin Field — by military helicopter. In November, title to the A-7 was transferred from the American Legion to the 185th. Hogan said the wing will retain the title after its move to Siouxland Freedom Park.
Through a mutually beneficial arrangement, moving the plane is being financed with military dollars, he said.
“The Army will fund it,” Hogan said. “What it is, they roll it into a training mission. Because this is the kind of job that that helicopter does wherever it goes, not just moving aircraft, but big, heavy equipment. So it’s a training mission for them. So it kills two birds with one stone.”
WATCH NOW: A flight over Sioux City in a 1928 Ford Tri-Motor
Siouxlanders are getting a unique opportunity to ride in a historic plane. Watch a little of what one of these flights involves.
(c)2024 Sioux City Journal, Iowa
Visit Sioux City Journal, Iowa at www.siouxcityjournal.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
