AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022 - 47

a higher standard, made of concrete and steel.
Therefore, the 63rd Army Air Forces Contract
Pilot School at Douglas is the most intact military
training facility of the era, with many of
its buildings and hangars appearing much as
they were during the war. Today, as you drive
up to the airport, you'll pass by many of these
former military buildings still doing duty; one
is the local Civil Air Patrol headquarters. The
buildings of the 63rd that remain were added to
the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
World War II Flight Training
Museum
Tie down on the ramp and walk across the
grass to one of the World War II-era buildings,
a former cadet barracks, to learn about
flight training during World War II. The World
War II Flight Training Museum explores how
Georgia men were trained as military pilots
while Georgia airports were transformed into
military bases, with an emphasis on the 63rd
AAF Flight Training Detachment. The museum
is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays,
and Saturdays. Group tours can be arranged for
other days of the week by calling the museum.
The museum is one stop on the Georgia
World War II Heritage Trail, which encompasses
10 military history sites and museums,
including the National Museum of the Mighty
Eighth Air Force, the Commemorative
Air Force, and the National Prisoner of
War Museum in Andersonville, Georgia.
The Boeing B-17 bomber Liberty Belle is based
at Douglas.
Douglas, Georgia
Douglas, Georgia, is a modest town of 12,000 people,
where not much seems to have happened.
In 1895, the railroad came to town; the Eleventh
District Agricultural & Mechanical School was
established in 1906 (which became South Georgia
State College), and Douglas was a major tobacco
market of the region in the 1920s and 1930s. The
town's history, including the wartime flight training,
is presented at the Heritage Station Museum,
housed in the 1905 train station on Ward Street.
Trains no longer pass by the station and the railroad
bed has been converted into a rail-trail.
Otherwise, the nearest historic site may be 35
miles northwest at the Jefferson Davis Memorial,
a State Historic Site. Here, while camping in a
pine forest on May 9, 1865, the Confederate president
was surrounded by Union cavalry and taken
prisoner. Today, there's a monument marking the
spot and a small museum.
Twenty-first century
flight training
Seventy-eight years after the last class of cadets
graduated in 1944, aviation education may come
to the airport once again. In December 2021,
state and local leaders met at South Georgia
State College to discuss establishing the DouglasCoffee
County 63rd Integrated Aviation School
at the airport, which would be redeveloped as
the Douglas-Coffee County 63rd Corporate
Aviation Park. The plan is to use the existing airport
buildings, and build new ones as needed,
for the school. It would be a cooperative effort of
the Coffee County Board of Education, Wiregrass
Georgia Technical College, and South Georgia
State College. They're consulting with established
flight schools to teach flight and aviation
technology courses, while researching grants and
seeking federal funding. Dennis K. Johnson is
an aviation writer and frequent contributor to
AOPA media.
Radio training class (top left).
Stearman in flight (top right).
Opposite page, Liberty Belle.
Getting there
Douglas Municipal
Airport (DQH) is located
in southeast Georgia, on
a direct route between
Chicago and Orlando, with
Atlanta and Nashville along
the route. The airport
sits at 250 feet msl with
one runway, 4/22, that
is 6,005 feet by 100 feet
of asphalt. The airport
offers self-service 100LL
fuel and Jet A, and Twin
Aviation Repair can assist
with mechanical issues.
Overnight hangar space
is not available, but there
is plenty of tiedown
space. The FBO provides
the basics-restrooms, a
pilot lounge with vending
machines, Wi-Fi, and a
courtesy car. Numerous
hotels are within walking
distance, so it's a
convenient stopover.
aopa.org/destinations
AOPA PILOT / July 2022
47
http://www.aopa.org/destinations
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2022

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