Houlton International Airport

(Redirected from Houlton Army Air Base)

Houlton International Airport (IATA: HUL, ICAO: KHUL, FAA LID: HUL) is a public-use airport located in the town of Houlton in Aroostook County, Maine, United States, near the town border of Hodgdon, Maine, also on the border of New Brunswick, Canada. This general aviation airport is publicly owned by the town of Houlton. It once had scheduled airline service on Northeast Airlines.

Houlton International Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorTown of Houlton
ServesHoulton, Maine
LocationHoulton, Maine
Elevation AMSL489 ft / 149 m
Coordinates46°07′23″N 067°47′31″W / 46.12306°N 67.79194°W / 46.12306; -67.79194
Websitewww.houlton-maine.com/airport/
Maps
FAA airport diagram
FAA airport diagram
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
5/23 5,001 1,524 Asphalt
1/19 2,600 793 Asphalt

The airport originated as Houlton Army Air Base. Prior to the United States' entry into World War II, American army pilots flew planes to the base. They could not fly the planes directly into Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth, because that would violate the official United States position of neutrality. Local farmers used their tractors to tow the planes into Canada, where the Canadians closed the Woodstock highway so that aircraft could use it as a runway.[1]

From October 1944 to May 1946, the air base housed Camp Houlton, a prisoner-of-war camp.[2]

Facilities

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Houlton International Airport covers an area of 1,615 acres (654 ha) and has two runways:

  • Runway 5/23: 5,001 x 150 ft (1,524 x 46 m), surface: asphalt
  • Runway 1/19: 2,600 x 100 ft (793 x 30.5 m), surface: asphalt

See also

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References

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  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  1. ^ "Site of the Houlton Army Air Base".
  2. ^ "NBMHP | Houlton Army Airfield | UNB". www.unb.ca. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
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