Ivisted Red Butte in the early 2000's since I'm and aviation buff. The hangar was in much better shape then. The snow and vandalism has, and will continue, to take their toll. If you drive out about 100 yards straight out of the hangar doors you can still see the remains of the runway and taxiway. To my knowledge, the runways were never paved and were always sand and loam. It take the light being behind you to clearly see the old runway but, due to the arid climate and lack of vegetation, it's still there. Like most of the other once numerous buildings at the airport, the hanger will eventually burn, and that will be the end of Red Butte, except for that runway, the sun, and the wind.
Hi Kathy. Usually when a place is first abandoned it is intentionally destroyed or left to fall apart because it isn't regarded as being old enough yet to be historic. If several decades pass and the building still stands on public land it can be deemed as "historic" in which case it becomes illegal to remove objects or cause further destruction. Stabilizing a building for better preservation requires resources that can be hard to come by. In the case of this old airport, I believe there was a private group interested in trying to save it but plans didn't work out. To my knowledge the Forest Service also doesn't have the funds. Hope this helps answer your question.
Thank you so much for the silent tour of the aged facility, especially the pictorial comparisons of current view verses times long past!
Thanks! Glad you appreciated it.
thanks for posting, no telling who might have taken a tour from that facility in its heyday, really enjoyed this vid, thanks again
Thanks Mark. I know that Charles Lindbergh was there, and you're right, there was probably so many others.
Awesome, thank you for doing what you do.
Nice video. I like the "Now and Then" photo montage.
Thanks Jim.
Was there in June 2015 and it was just so amazing! Btw I'm from Germany and Arizona is a state I really would recommend to visit...
Thanks for visiting from Germany
yeah arizona is great!
Ivisted Red Butte in the early 2000's since I'm and aviation buff. The hangar was in much better shape then. The snow and vandalism has, and will continue, to take their toll. If you drive out about 100 yards straight out of the hangar doors you can still see the remains of the runway and taxiway. To my knowledge, the runways were never paved and were always sand and loam. It take the light being behind you to clearly see the old runway but, due to the arid climate and lack of vegetation, it's still there. Like most of the other once numerous buildings at the airport, the hanger will eventually burn, and that will be the end of Red Butte, except for that runway, the sun, and the wind.
Why are these historic sites left to run-down?
Hi Kathy. Usually when a place is first abandoned it is intentionally destroyed or left to fall apart because it isn't regarded as being old enough yet to be historic. If several decades pass and the building still stands on public land it can be deemed as "historic" in which case it becomes illegal to remove objects or cause further destruction. Stabilizing a building for better preservation requires resources that can be hard to come by. In the case of this old airport, I believe there was a private group interested in trying to save it but plans didn't work out. To my knowledge the Forest Service also doesn't have the funds. Hope this helps answer your question.