This list of airports was extracted from an investigation report dated October 26, 1959 by Frank Kappel, Supervisor of Criminal Intelligence for the Dade County Sheriff's Office to Thomas J. Kelly, Dade County Sheriff. The investigation concerned complaints by Fidel Castro about Miami-based aircraft dropping propaganda leaflets over Havana and efforts to find the airports that the aircraft were operating from.


DATE: OCTOBER 26, 1959
TO: THOMAS J. KELLY, Metropolitan Sheriff
FROM: FRANK KAPPEL, Supervisor, Criminal Intelligence

Below are listed the known landing fields and some pertinent facts pertaining to same:

Miami International Airport and North in Dade County

#1 Miami International Airport, LeJeune Road and 20th Street Both large and small planes can fly to and from this location generally without interference if they comply with control tower regulations.

#2 Chalk's Flying Service, MacArthur Causeway Seaplanes, commercial, hauling to nearby islands.

#3 Amelia Earhart and Southfield of Navy and Marine Corps, East 8th Avenue and 52 Street, Hialeah, Eastward to N.W. 27th Avenue. Good field; could be used;

#4 Marine Corps Air Station (former) N.W. 135 Street and LeJeune Road and 37th to 57th Avenues. Good field; could be used; particularly the western portion.

#5 Biscayne Seaplane Base Inc., 11295 Biscayne Boulevard. Primarily private planes.

#6 Craves Tract, East of Biscayne Boulevard on N.E. 139th Street Tow planes for aerial signs.

#7 197th Street and 7/10 of mile East of the Boulevard. Very good conditions, planes occasionally land here; nature of operation unknown.

South of Miami International Airport

#8 Tamiami Airport, S. W. 8th Street and 117th Avenue. Good field, will handle multiple engine aircraft and known to have been used in the past for illegal operations.

#9 Areo Country Club, formerly Brown's Airport, S.W. 104 Street and 74 Ave. Primarily private aircraft.

#10 Richmond Air Base, Richmond Drive and S.W. 117 Avenue. Information was obtained that several weeks ago the U.S. Border Patrol requested F.A.A. to radar track an unidentified plane approaching this field. Results not known.

#11 Private Field, approximately 1 mile North of Quail Drive in line with S.W. 167 Avenue. Reported to belong to the Pope family, no other information obtained.

#12 B. & T. Farms and Pitts Aero Service, Grossman Drive and S.W. 187 Avenue. Curtis Pitts and Jim Holland operators; dusters and private planes, two hangers. Border Patrolman Phillips took alien from plane.

#13 Princeton Farms, Quail Roost Drive and S.W. 167th Avenue. Crop dusters and private; good isolated strip, 2000 foot runway.

#14 Private Field, ½ mile West of Goulds. Operated by Charles Burr, Crop dusters.

#15 Homestead Air Force Base.

#16 Barnes Field, 3 miles North of State Prison Camp on Farmer Road. Crop dusting and private; narrow with high tension wires close by.

#17 Sotille Private Field, South of Tucille Drive and East of Tennessee Road. Small field; low; flooded out now.

#18 South Dade Farms, 3 miles S.E. of Florida City. Crop dusting and Government Park plane; good width strip and isolated.

#19 Holley Dusting Service, 3 miles south of Florida City on Tower Road. Crop dusting, soft wet ground; trees at end of runway.

#20 Brown's Strip, sawmill roads, 2 miles south of Palm Drive. Crop dusting, isolated, ½ mile or more long.

#21 Holley Dusting Service, 4 miles West of Holley field on Tower Road on U.S. Highway 27. Crop dusting, ½ mile strip, isolated and Border Patrol worked a case here.

#22 Barnes Strip, in Everglades National Park, 7 miles Southwest of the Holley field located on U.S. 27. Crop dusting; private; 1/2 mile long; isolated.

#23 Iora Strip, 4 miles west of the Barnes Strip in the Everglades National Park. Crop dusting and private; isolated.

#24 Hayes Strip, 3 miles Southwest of Barnes Strip in the Everglades National Park. Crop dusting; private; wide and ½ mile long; good smooth strip and could hold a DC-3.

Person to contact for reliable South Dade information on airstrips;

CLAUDE PINKSTON, 1511 N.E. 14th Street, Homestead, Florida phone number CI 7-2167.



Supplementary List Other Than Dade County

#1 Key Largo, Monroe County

#2 Immokalee, reported to be very good possibility

#3 Upper Matecumbe Key

#4 Marathon, Monroe County, gas and oil available.

#5 North Perry, West Hollywood. Has been used for illegal operations.

#6 Davie, Broward County

#7 Ft. Lauderdale Municipal Field