The Deland Municipal Airport was built because in the 1930s pilots often were landing on the golf course of the College Arms Tower and in Daytona Beach. So DeLand served as a pit stop between major cities like Jacksonville and Orlando. Planes would be able to land or fuel up then be on there way. 

The city of DeLand offered the United States Navy the airport and then it became the DeLand Naval Air Station. The facility was used to provide training for the Lockheed PBO Ventura, Douglass SBD Dauntless Dive Bombers and the F6F Hellcat carrier-based fighters during WWII. In 1944 the base had over 330 officers and 1,200 personnel stationed. Near the airport Lake George was used form bombing practices and Deleon Springs was used for rescuing downed pilots who would practice crash landings on the water.

After World War II the facility was given back to the city of DeLand but the ammunition bunkers, hangars, and many other structures still remained. Over the years many things were installed into the airport such as the Airport Restaurant & Gin Mill, The Perfect Spot Pub, Skydive DeLand, and even The Florida Military School in 1956 which closed due to the Vietnam War. 

But the grounds also served many other purpose such as in 1966 and 1967 the County fair was held on the grounds and today sometimes the circus sets up there events at the airport. The airport has even had drag racing on the runway. If you were to drive around the airport roads today you would find many different businesses and industrial complexes some of them are the original 1940s buildings from when this was a Naval Air Station.  

Skydive Deland is known as the biggest skydive center in the world. Thousands travel to DeLand from countries like Sweden, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Norway just to set up camp along the runway and skydive. Some have even moved to DeLand just to skydive. I bet Denny our Warren Pa investigator would love living here. Some days I will be out walking and seen people parachuting just gliding around in the skies. But there is a dark side to the skydiving here as well. Over the years many who have skydived have also done there last jump as there parachutes did not open. I do not know the statistics but there have been some deaths and although they say the pilots are daredevils here and reckless Skydive DeLand is always busy. 

Also over the years many other tragedies have occurred such as in 1987 two planes collided. Then in 1999 another two planes collided this time right over the airport. One of the planes landed near the park bordering the airport and the other in a marsh. A person who witnessed the crash said the plane broke apart in midair and when he approached the one plane near a wooded area he said there was blood and bones all over the cockpits dashboard and controls. That day four people died and both planes were being used for training exercises as the DeLand Municipal Airport is also used as a flight training school. Then in 2004 another plane crashed into Wal-Mart which sits fairly close to the airport. So these are a few of the wrecks and yes people have perished in some of these tragedies. 

The airport has a real eerie feeling at night maybe its the rotating lights or perhaps because there are a few woods and dirt roads within the municipal airport where you can just feel something is out there watching. One road within the airport has a really bad feeling as it dead ends near a marsh I believe this is the area near where one of the planes crashed but you can also tell its a very secluded area perhaps where others party or dump things at.

Within the airport there is also what use to be the DeLand Police Department Shooting Range. One person told me he always felt watched back there and its real strange there. Today the range still stands and near by is an old ammunitions bunker which is over 100 feet long buried somewhat in the ground. The bunker is now used by a company but an odd smell comes from above it sort of like an electrical burning sort of odor.  The bunker sits back in the woods and still has warning symbols on it. There is also some other old structures which I am sure were used by the Navy at one time. 

The reason for our investigation of the airport is that a witness told me about a UFO encounter she had many years ago. She said her house bordered the airport probably in the more secluded side of it. I was told that the craft was hovering above the grounds and pulsated with various colors. Like most military bases or airports often people will see some amount of UFO activity.

Then another person reported to us that he was working in one of the hangars one night when something made a loud bang and crashed. He and a co-worker were the only ones working in there that night. He also said one time he seen a figure go past him inside the hangar yet the entire place was locked up. So yes ghost have been reported at the airport as well. 

But I really enjoy visiting here its like being a kid in a candy store there is just so many buildings, roads and interesting places to check out you never know what you might see here. Our first visit here it was quite foggy and very dark out no moon or anything. The fog really distorts a lot of the ghost photos but our first trip here turned out to be quite interesting. We stepped out near the runway and it was black as the night with just a few dim lights. Surprisingly even at night many people still visit the airport whether they are campers, work at some of the hangars, or they just want to watch a lightening storm in the landing areas. 

I even heard the Airport Restaurant has great burgers and beer so I do plan on taking my sons there so we can enjoy the food, spirits and planes fly by. Our investigation of the airport will be a three part adventure as we explore various locations within this very large aero park.

© By

Rick-AngelOfThyNight


             

The following shots below were taken from our first late night trip to the airport. The speckles you see are not orbs but rather fog which contains alot of moisture. But the photos below are taken at the shooting range, munitions bunker, airport entrance, a hangar, and fire engine all within the airport grounds. The photos you see above were taken in the evening just as the sun was going down to give you a little more perspective of the planes, towers, runway, restaurant etc. We will be working with this place a few times most likely.