The small, unkept airfield in LaCrosse, Wash., has seen better days. Like the time a B-17 bomber made an emergency landing on a turf runway, interrupting a flight from Seattle to Spokane in the 1940s. Today the privately-owned airfield, located near the sleepy town of LaCrosse in Palouse wheat country, is hardly used. Facilities are trashed, although the hanger remains useful to local farmers who park harvester combines under the roof. The only plane I saw was parked at the far end of a cracked asphalt runway. The airport's best feature is the red beacon tower, which still works. Who knows? Mabye it helped that WWII bomber reach the airfield safely.
