Flying High at Springfield Airport

Today, millions of drivers pass through the infamous "mixing bowl" - the intersection of the Capital Beltway and Interstates 95 and 395, renowned as a traffic bottleneck among Washington commuters. However, how many of those drivers know that this spot was once the location of an airport?

This year, the Franconia Museum celebrates the 80th anniversary of Springfield Airport! Beloved by locals, this small grassy airstrip operated for almost fifteen years from 1945 to 1959. It was often overshadowed by its larger cousins, Beacon Hill and Hybla Valley Airport located on Route 1, and completely forgotten as Washington-Dulles International Airport opened nearby in 1962. However, almost everyone who lived in the Franconia area during this time has a fond memory of the airport and the people who worked there.

Today, we look back 80 years to 1945 and the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, bringing World War II to a close in the European theater. Suddenly, millions of American servicemen and women were making plans to return home to the United States and build new families and new communities. One of those men was Major Carl Victor Allen of the U.S. Army Air Force Reserve, a predecessor of the modern-day USAF that consisted of civilian pilots who were called to active duty to bolster the ranks of the Army’s Air Force when needed. On his return home, Carl Allen spoke with a long-time family friend and Franconia Road resident, Herbert Ogden, about his plans to open an airport. He put him in touch with a neighbor, Snap Akins, who offered to lease his farm to Carl to start his airport where Lewis High School and the Springfield Estates neighborhood are located today. The Allen family would stay in the Ogden home (present-day Key Middle School) for a few months until they could purchase their own home in Springfield’s Leewood neighborhood.

Carl’s wife, Gretchen, was the airport’s first treasurer and secretary, keeping operations moving smoothly. The Allens received permission from Virginia’s State Corporation Commission in June 1945 to start operating Springfield Airport, and they quickly had the property cleared and open for business by September. They started out by constructing the airport office and hangar near the present-day intersection of Buckskin Street and Abilene Street. The first runway was a north/south 3,000-foot sod runway that ran from Lewis HS in the south to the intersection of Apache Street and Bowie Drive in the north. Within a year, he added a second 2,200-foot east/west runway which ran from the intersection of present-day Cimarron Street and Bowie Drive in the west to the intersection of Custer Street and Frontier Drive in the east.

Springfield Airport was known for doing a little bit of everything. Major Allen offered fuel and airplane maintenance services to the public, as well as operating a sales agency for new planes and an auction house to sell used planes. Carl would also give private flying lessons and guided tours of the Washington area by air. World War II veterans were offered their flying lessons free of charge.

In 1945, future Lee District Supervisor Joe Alexander, at only fifteen years of age, convinced Major Allen to let him start working at the airport for free in exchange for flying lessons. Joe’s parents weren’t thrilled with the idea, but acquiesced after it became apparent their son was determined to become a pilot. Joe rode his bike to work and helped build the new runways. He skipped school to complete his first solo flight and earned his pilot’s license in 1946 at age sixteen.

From 1947 to 1950, Charlie Kulp worked as an airframe and powerplant mechanic at Springfield Airport. Nicknamed the “Flying Farmer,” Charlie (1925-2021) later went on to earn international fame for performing a comedy aerobatic routine every Sunday at the Flying Circus Aerodrome in Bealeton, Virginia for 34 years up until his retirement in the year 2007. The Ogden family has many fond memories of dinners with Charlie Kulp and the Allen family on almost a nightly basis.

In April 1951, Major Carl Allen was recalled to active service by the Air Force and was tragically killed in a plane crash near Mexico City on June 21 along with his wife, Gretchen. Both were laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Springfield Airport lay dormant for several months until Charlie Kulp decided to pick up the equipment in 1952 and help restart the airport in a new location, just south of Franconia Road, where the Springfield Town Center stands today. The new Springfield Airport operated a single 2,700-foot north/south runway on an unofficial basis until 1959 when it was permanently closed in favor of using the land for more profitable gravel pit mining. Gravel pits grew by the dozens throughout the neighborhood until Springfield Mall opened in 1973.

Even today, 80 years later, Carl Allen and Charlie Kulp are still fondly remembered by many who passed through Springfield Airport and were met by kind, welcoming smiles and a friendly, can-do attitude. This was still old Franconia, where everyone, stranger or friend, received a little of that classic Southern charm.

FRANCONIA REMEMBERS --
-- Major Carl Victor Allen (1904-1951)
-- Charles Allen “Charlie” Kulp (1925-2021)            

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FRANCONIA REMEMBERS
This is one of the Franconia Museum’s occasional articles highlighting the area history.  If you would like for a friend to receive these FREE articles, contact us at franconiamuseum@yahoo.com. Memberships also are encouraged so we can continue our work. The Museum is located in the Franconia Government Center, currently located at 6121 Franconia Road, Alexandria, Virginia 22310. The hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. The Museum is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization as approved by the Internal Revenue Service.

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