Abandoned Air Bases
From air force bases hidden in the middle of the pacific ocean, to bases left over from the soviet union, here creepiest abandoned Air Bases,
5. Mongolian Air Base
Although it wasn’t official, Mongolia was basically a part of the Soviet union but they didn’t want to seem to seem imperialistic and put the Chinese on alert. With communist countries on both sides, it was heavily influenced by both powerful nations, but acted as a satellite nation to the USSR. In the 1970’s this air base was added and was seen as a way to protect themselves in case there was any territorial disputes with China and here we see this statue with a fighter jet. These armored aircraft shelters in the gobi desert, you see in this photo were made to protect expense aircraft from potential attacks and are designed with reinforced concrete. This random statue which is now close to a grazing pasture for cattle, has an inscription on it that states,”Glory to the Communist Party of Soviet Union. These large buildings housed the officers and their soldiers in this very isolated environment.
4. Cosmodrome Kazakhstan
Many of the Soviets Union’s new buildings were built far away from the capital city of Moscow and into occupied territory or satellite states. Ralph Mireb captured some truly remarkable photos of an abandoned Soviet space shuttle and the building used to house it. The Soviet space program was quite successful and this is where they launched the sputnik. The area is Kazakhstan is quite remote, so it really seemed as if no one had returned to the place since they left it. Here you see the inside of the cockpit of the space shuttle where the pilots would have sat during missions. It’s believed that this spacecraft actually made it to space at some point
3. Gila River Airport
This privately owned airport in Arizona is currently in a state of complete abandonment and most likely won’t be seeing any flights for a while. It was formerly used for planes who were involved in crop dusting and who knows what else. Built in 1942, it was used by the US army and went by the name, Williams Auxiliary Army Airfield number 5. Some experimental jet aircraft was tested out in during the 1950’s and then handed over for civilian use, and renamed as goodyear airport. In the 1990’s, operational usage ceased and it’s now just an aircraft boneyard as you can tell. This was after the Gila River Indian community gained control of it, which resulted in the eviction of commercial tenants. The last recorded aircraft operation was recorded in 1983. Many of the aircraft have fallen victim to graffiti artists or just decay from the elements of the desert. Here we see an abandoned 1945 Lockheed Pv-2D harpoon which has certainly seen better days.
2. Nicosia Airport, Cyprus
The Nicosia airport on the mediterranean island of cyprus has a long history and it was once one of the main airports on this island nation. It’s even been used as an air base during world war two for the allies to launch attacks on north africa. In 1974, the an unexpected event took place when Turkey sent armed forces onto the island of Cyprus. The airport became a scene of heavy fighting between the cyprus ary and the turks. It’s been abandoned ever since, however the runway is occasionally used by the UN during peacekeeping missions. Here we see some of the seats on the inside of the airport, deteriorating inside one of the terminals. The Turks claim that ethnic Turkish people living in the area were targets of genocide.
Croydon Airport, UK
This historical airport has seen legendary pilots such as Charles Lindbergh during a transatlantic flight in 1927 and even pilot lessons by Winston Churchill. It was originally built during world war I after a zeppelin bombing raid on london took place and is the first major international airport constructed by the UK. It was rapidly constructed complete with factories to build planes and munitions. As of right now, however, it’s basically a giant museum. Although much of the runway has built built over, the main terminal has been preserved and is known as the airport house. The croydon airport was a target during world war II and in 1940 it was the site of a major air raid in the london area. The main armory was destroyed during the battle of britain and the civilian airport also took a hit. It was quite difficult to defend the attack and it wasn’t much again until 1944. With suburban areas beginning to expand, in 1952 it was decided that the airport would close and in 1959 it saw its last flight. As you walk around the area, you can still see quite clearly that parts of it still stand as a memorial for those who fought in order to keep britain free.
Credit to : American Eye
