WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
HURRICANE MESA (aka SMITH MESA)
LOCATION
North of Highway 9 between Hurricane and Zion, a little west of Virgin.37° 14' 17" North Latitude, 113° 13' 11" West Longitude
37.238° North Latitude, 113.217° West Longitude
HISTORY
Ranches...The Hurricane Mesa Test Facility includes a 12,000 foot long test track. It was initially owned by the U.S. Air Force, constructed in 1954 and 1955 by Coleman Engineering and subsequently operated by Coleman. The site was used in the testing of ejection seat systems and other aviation systems. The U.S. Air Force ceased operations in 1961 at the site. Since 1963 the facility has been owned and operated by Goodrich Corporation, Aircraft Interior Products, Propulsion Systems. It remains in operation as a private test facility.
PHOTOS
WCHS-00140 Aerial view of Hurricane Mesa looking north
 WCHS-00141 Main building at the test facility |
 WCHS-00142 Test dummies |
 WCHS-00148 Segment of the test track |
 WCHS-00155 Break room trailer |
Other WCHS photos:
WCHS-00143 Photo of test dummies in the main building at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
WCHS-00144 Photo of the nose section of an aircraft at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
WCHS-00145 Photo of the nose sections of two aircraft at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
WCHS-00146 Photo of some rocket sleds at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
WCHS-00147 Photo of some leftover material from the making of the movie, "Octapussy", at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
WCHS-00149 Photo of the rocket sled track at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
WCHS-00150 Photo of a section of the rocket sled track at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
WCHS-00151 Photo of the south end of the rocket sled track at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
WCHS-00152 Photo of the structures at the south end of the rocket sled track at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
WCHS-00153 Photo of a tower at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
WCHS-00154 Photo of the lunchroom trailer at the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
Other photos on the web:
Photo of Hurricane Mesa looking northwest and the dirt road leading up to it
Photo of Hurricane Mesa from Highway 9, looking northeast
A collection of photos of Hurricane Mesa
REFERENCES
Wikipedia article on the Hurricane Mesa Test FacilityHistory of the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
Early history of the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
Fact sheet about the Hurricane Mesa Test Facility
History of the Hurricane Mesa Airport with photos
1960 TV episode, "The Man and the Challenge: Hurricane Mesa"
Hurricane Mesa Rocket Project (S.M.A.R.T.)
Pages 13-16 in "Selected Topics Related To Hurricane, Utah"
Written and/or compiled by Victor Hall, 2003.
Advertisement in the 1961 Dixie Roundup Program