The Airport café’ is a popular place in our community. Adorning the walls are historic pictures of when the Sebring Regional Airport was during World War II known as Hendricks Army Airfield. As we sip our coffee and enjoy our breakfast, the memories of the thousands of air crews who also sipped their coffee and downed their military prepared breakfast on the same grounds 84 years ago linger all around.
I did some research on the airport’s history and what follows is a summary of the key points. The podcast that is available today will continue the story of how the Sebring Regional Airport developed from a surplus abandoned U.S. Army Airfield to what it is today. The airfield could have been just another airfield abandoned to the weeds and scrub like many other Florida WW II airfields if it were not for some visionary leaders in our community.
Hendricks Army Airfield was used during World War II as a Heavy Bomber Training School for B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator pilots. The base was named Hendricks Field in honor of First Lieutenant Laird Woodruff Hendricks, Jr. A native Floridian. Lieutenant Hendricks was killed in a B-17C crash near RAF Polebrook, England on 28 July 1941, just three days after he arrived there to train Royal Air Force pilots.
The airfield’s origins begin in 1940 when Sebring officials and citizens contacted their Florida congressional delegation to see about getting an Army base in the area. In the summer of 1940, and in early 1941, a group of Army Air Corps officers surveyed the area. On June 12, 1941, Congressman J. Hardin Peterson advised that an area of 9,200 acres of woodland had been approved for a basic flying school. The City of Sebring purchased the land and leased it to the government at $1 per year for 99 years.
The base achieved its initial operating capability and was placed under command of Major Roderick on June 26, 1941. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the base’s status was upgraded to full operational capability and placed under the command of Colonel Carl B. McDaniel.
At the close of 1941, it was revealed that the field would not be used for basic flight training. It was to become the first Combat Crew Training School in the United States, for heavy bombers. On 29 January 1942, the first B-17 Flying Fortress landed at Hendricks Field. In peak operation about 120 B-17’s were assigned and over 10,000 pilots and other crew members were trained.
March 1942 saw the beginning of the program which would train and coordinate combat crews; Pilot, Copilot, Navigator, Bombardier, Aerial Engineer, Radio Operator, and Gunners. Hundreds of combat crews were trained and dispatched to the European and North African Theatres of Operations.
Later in 1942, the mission of Hendricks Field was changed. It was to be a specialized school for four-engine first pilots; other members of the combat crews would be assembled from other points after training at specialized schools for Copilots, Navigators, Bombardiers, Aerial Engineers, Radio Operators and Gunners. The final crews were assembled here before being deployed in combat.
With the end of the European war in May 1945, the pace of training pilots slowed down during the summer months. With the Japanese surrender in August of that year, training programs ended and flight operations at Hendricks began to wind down. Air traffic consisted of transient aircraft as de-mobilization was the order of the day, with most personnel being returned to civilian life.
The base was closed on 31 December 1945 and declared as surplus in 1946. On February 21, 1946, the city of Sebring received a permit to operate a civilian airfield on the site and on May 1, 1946, the abandoned airfield was turned over to the City of Sebring to become Sebring Air Terminal, now Sebring Regional Airport & Commerce Park; and the Sebring International Raceway.
For the stories behind the Hendrick Army Airfield history, tune into today’s podcast.
John Rousch is a columnist, podcaster, and a 58-year veteran educator. He can be reached at 863-273-0522 or johnrousch73@gmail.com. Check out “Flightlines – The Stories Behind the Stories” on YouTube: “Flightlinestories.com”.
