RAF Texas Liaison Jeremy Harris organized volunteers, and 22 showed up to help, including RAF Texas Ambassadors Steve Maus, Chuck Howard and Mike Hergenrather; and RAF Oklahoma Liaison Steve Thompson. The weekend project consisted of removing and palleting 15,800 bricks from the floor. A vapor barrier and concrete slab will later be poured; eventually each brick will be cleaned and re-positioned. Calvert also plans to replace the 18 original six-foot high windows. New trusses have been ordered, and the building will be re-sided entirely in the spirit of the original hangar.
RAF VOLUNTEERS HELP RESTORE HISTORIC RANGER AIRFIELD HANGAR
RAF Texas volunteers and Ranger Airfield Foundation volunteers helped begin restoration of the historic 1928 Ranger Airfield hangar on March 28. “A Wright biplane landed here at the field in 1911, and people have been using it ever since,” Ranger Airfield Foundation Founder Jared Calvert said. He noted that Amelia Earhart landed there in a Pitcairn Auto Gyro. Richard Bach, Pancho Barnes, and General Patton also landed at the field. It’s the oldest continuously used turf field in Texas.
Ranger Airfield, F23 hosts an airshow the first week in October – seeing up to 300 airplanes. It is hoped that this hangar will be ready in order to welcome the airshow dinner attendees. Calvert says the 1918 Curtiss Jenny, the Waco, a donated Cessna Airmaster, and the 1928 Travel Air will be displayed on the restored brick floor.
“Ranger Airfield is an impressive place with a rich aviation history, and Jared, with his family and friends, has done an amazing job taking the torch from previous generations to keep it moving forward and improving,” Harris said.
The nonprofit Ranger Airfield Foundation has just assumed ownership of the airfield from the city of Ranger. The foundation also operates a museum on the field. Both will remain open a minimum of 90 days a year.
Harris expressed appreciation for time well spent with RAF and Ranger Airfield Foundation volunteers.
"The camaraderie is impressive. We had ages ranging from people in their 20s, and our oldest volunteer was 90 years old doing some good old-fashioned manual labor,” Harris said. “Plenty of smiles, laughter, and jokes to go around, and everyone had a sense of accomplishment at the end of a long day.”
He added, “Thanks to all of those that attended, and hopefully I'll see you at the next event soon!"
For more information about Ranger, visit the Airfield Guide.
Submitted March 30, 2026
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As you're planning your 2026 flying adventures, remember to review safety briefings for the airstrips you plan to visit. The RAF strongly recommends you review safety briefings and print a copy to have in your airplane - it's even required to fly into some airfields, like Ryan Field (2MT1). For those airfields, pilots flying in are required to review the briefing on an annual basis, and now is the perfect time to catch up on any changes to the runway/area that happened throughout the winter. You can find safety briefings on the RAF Airfield Guide . If an airfield in the Airfield Guide has a required briefing, the airfield listing will clearly indicate it and have a tab to view the briefing. Submitted March 30, 2026 Photo By Jim Stevenson: Ryan Field, MT (2MT1)
For adventurers seeking access to the Gila Wilderness, we suggest landing at Sacaton Airstrip, NM16, near Buckhorn, New Mexico. The runway lies on a “finger mesa,” and the Rain Creek trailhead lies just northeast of the field. Thanks to RAF New Mexico Liaison Ron Keller's coordination with the USFS using a Cost Share Agreement, Keller was able to organize RAF and New Mexico Pilot Association (NMPA) volunteers to rehabilitate and reopen the long-abandoned airstrip in 2022. Beyond reopening the airstrip, Keller added camping amenities, including picnic tables and a new vault toilet. Most recently, Keller oversaw the installation of new shade structures, most welcoming to campers and hikers. RAF and NMPA volunteers complete ongoing maintenance at Sacaton and other airfields in the Gila National Forest. You’ll see white-painted rocks along Sacaton’s 3,989-ft dirt runway, and surrounding the segmented circle near the RAF windsock. The airstrip lies at 6,200-ft elevation, so pilots should be mindful of density altitude while flying over high terrain in the vicinity, even in winter temperatures. “Anglers will enjoy plying streams for the rare native copper-colored Gila trout, once a threatened species,” Keller reports. The mile-and-a-half trail to the crossing at Rain Creek is narrow and challenging and traverses a variety of terrain, but the serious hiker will be rewarded trekking through steep canyon walls lined with green alder, willow, and boxelder, hoodoos, and eagle aeries above. There are rumors of a double waterfall some distance on the west fork of Rain Creek trail. See the Sacaton page in the Airfield Guide for more details. Note that the airstrip may be unusable due to snow or after heavy rains. This runway should be considered one-way in/one-way out to avoid overflying the Wilderness boundary. There is a 4.6% upslope to the East, favoring landing Runway 08 with right traffic, remaining clear of the Wilderness east and north of the airfield. Please consider others seeking a Wilderness experience. Prior to landing at Sacaton, permission is required by calling the USFS Gila Dispatch center at 800-538-1644. Please familiarize yourself with Sacaton in the Airfield Guide and the New Mexico Pilots Association Safety Briefing . Submitted March 30, 2025 By Carmine Mowbray
