Qualla: Raco Army Airfield https://qualla.com/raco-army-airfield en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:18 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Raco Army Airfield https://qualla.com/raco-army-airfield Raco Army Airfield: Introduction https://qualla.com/raco-army-airfield/ Somewhere in the vast pine forests of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, hidden among the trees west of Sault Ste. Marie, old concrete pads fan out in precise geometric patterns. They once cradled aircraft dispersed against enemy attack. Then they held anti-aircraft guns aimed at the sky. Then they housed supersonic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads. Today, automakers use them to test how their cars handle ice. Raco Army Airfield has lived more lives than most military installations ever dream of, and each chapter is stranger than the last.

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/5/x/raco-army-airfield-wp/f05x-raco-army-airfield-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Raco Army Airfield: Guarding the Locks https://qualla.com/raco-army-airfield/ The Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie were among the most strategically vital structures in wartime America. Iron ore from Minnesota's ranges passed through those narrow channels on its way to the steel mills feeding the war machine. Losing the locks would have crippled the entire in...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/5/x/raco-army-airfield-wp/f05x-raco-army-airfield-guarding-the-locks.mp3 0:06 2 full Raco Army Airfield: Skysweepers in the Forest https://qualla.com/raco-army-airfield/ Silence did not last. The Cold War demanded new defenses, and the Army found a creative second use for Raco's infrastructure. Former taxiways became roads, and more than two dozen aircraft dispersal pads were reshaped into circular artillery positions for 75-mm Skysweeper anti-ai...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/5/x/raco-army-airfield-wp/f05x-raco-army-airfield-skysweepers-in-the-forest.mp3 0:06 3 full Raco Army Airfield: The Nuclear Sentinels https://qualla.com/raco-army-airfield/ The Air Force moved in almost immediately. East of the old runways, construction crews built a rectangular installation for something far more powerful than any gun: the CIM-10 Bomarc, the first long-range surface-to-air missile in the world. These supersonic, ramjet-powered inte...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/5/x/raco-army-airfield-wp/f05x-raco-army-airfield-the-nuclear-sentinels.mp3 0:06 4 full Raco Army Airfield: Where Cars Meet Winter https://qualla.com/raco-army-airfield/ After the Air Force departed, the property passed to the United States Forest Service and became part of the Hiawatha National Forest. But those expanses of old military concrete and the punishing Upper Peninsula winters attracted a surprising tenant. Smithers-RAPRA leased the si...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/5/x/raco-army-airfield-wp/f05x-raco-army-airfield-where-cars-meet-winter.mp3 0:06 5 full Raco Army Airfield: Ghosts in the Pines https://qualla.com/raco-army-airfield/ Flying over Raco today, the old triangular runway pattern is still visible through the forest canopy, a ghostly imprint of wartime urgency. The circular artillery pads dot the woods like crop circles. The rectangular BOMARC installation sits silent to the east. And across the ice...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/f/0/5/x/raco-army-airfield-wp/f05x-raco-army-airfield-ghosts-in-the-pines.mp3 0:06 6 full