Redstone Army Airfield

Redstone Army Airfield or Redstone AAF is a military airport located at Redstone Arsenal, six miles (10 km) southwest of the city of Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, USA. The Airfield was originally constructed for munitions testing through the 6th AAF Base Unit (Proving Ground Detachment). It is currently used to support the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, NASA, and the Flying Activity.

History
In 1943, the airstrip on Huntsville Arsenal was established, to assist with the testing of incendiary bomb clusters. The testing was done during the height of World War II, and after the allied victory, was promptly stopped. The airfield was largely vacated, though it continued to serve as a landing strip.

On April 12, 1956, the city of Huntsville approached the commander of the airfield to talk about a new federal airway. It was decided that a control tower would be established at Redstone AAF, and it would serve as the control tower for military and commercial flights until a new Huntsville Airport was built. After the establishment of the control tower, the control tower of Memphis, Tennessee agreed to handle air traffic for Huntsville through the Redstone Control Tower. This schedule was held 24 hours a day, seven days a week until 1969, when it was changed to its current schedule of 13 hours a day, five days a week.