Lawrence County Airport
Encyclopedia
Courtland Airport is a public-use airport
located two nautical mile
s (4 km
) northeast of the central business district
of Courtland
, a town in Lawrence County
, Alabama
, United States
. It is owned by the Lawrence County Commission and was formerly known as Lawrence County Airport.
This airport is included in the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
for 2011–2015 and 2009–2013, both of which categorized
it as a general aviation
facility.
Selection took place and the land acquired in April 1942. Construction was rapid given the emergency wartime conditions and within three months the post was to be in full operation. The airfield consisted of four concrete runways 5000x150(N/S), 5000x150(NE/SW), 5000x150(E/W), 5000x150(NW/SE). Also many taxiways, landing aids, and an extended length parking apron. Auxiliary airfields to support the training activities at the base were:
In addition to the airfield, the building of a large support base with several hundred buildings, numerous streets, a utility network, was carried out with barracks, various administrative buildings, maintenance shops and hangars. The station facility consisted of a large number of buildings based on standardized plans and architectural drawings, with the buildings designed to be the "cheapest, temporary character with structural stability only sufficient to meet the needs of the service which the structure is intended to fulfill during the period of its contemplated war use" was underway. To conserve critical materials, most facilities were constructed of wood, concrete, brick, gypsum board and concrete asbestos. Metal was sparsely used. The station was designed to be nearly self-sufficient, with not only hangars, but barracks, warehouses, hospitals, dental clinics, dining halls, and maintenance shops were needed. There were libraries, social clubs for officers, and enlisted men, and stores to buy living necessities. The buildings, together with complete water, sewer, electric and gas utilities built within a short span of approximately 8 months, with the air field officially being activated in December 1942 as Courtland Army Air Field (CAAF) . Courtland was assiged to the Southeast Training Center of the Army Air Force Training Command. It was commanded by the 446th Army Air Force Base Unit.
Courtland AAF was the home of a Basic Flying School which utilized Vultee BT-13s for the Air Cadets. Personnel were required to fire pistols or carbines for marksmanship training and practice gas attack drills. The chemical agents used during training were tear gas, mustard agent, chlorine gas, incendiary and smoke munitions.
As part of a personal biography of his years in the Service, Dr. Charles Dills has written a first-person account of some of his experiences and impressions while at Courtland Army Airfield. Dr. Dills was a member of the first cadet class at Courtland (Class 43-E). This first cadet class began instruction there approximately late January, 1943.
The Basic Flight School was replaced by a Specialized 4-Engine Flight School in August 1944. Establishment of this school involved the transfer of B-24 "Liberator" bombers and personnel from Chanute Field, Illinois. During this time, in addtion to the 4-Engine Flight School, a transition squadron was also emplaced at Courtland. The role of the transition squadron largely involved the retraining and/or reclassification of returning crews from Europe (crews who had fulfilled their required missions). Many personnel went on to B-29 schools at other locations as they were reclassified.
As training needs decreased toward the end of the war, training air fields were deactivated across the country. Courtland AAF was one of these, it being deactivated in June 1945. At the end of the war the airfield was determined to be excess by the War Department in 1946 and was excessed. The site was returned to the State of Alabama by Quitclaim Deed in 1948.
With regard to the original structures, most everything but the runways, and several concrete slabs with 3 or 4 wide concrete steps are gone now. A steel-framed aircraft hangar that was once used at Courtland still exists and is still in use, but is no longer located at the Courtland site. This structure was disassembled and moved to the Birmingham Municipal Airport (now Birmingham International Airport) during the early 1950's.
Lockheed Martin and other light industries call the Lawrence County Industrial Airpark site home today. A golf course also hugs the northeast to west perimeter.
s (142 ha
) at an elevation
of 588 feet (179 m) above mean sea level. It has two runway
s, 13/31 and 17/35, each with a concrete
surface measuring 4,994 by 150 feet (1,522 x 46 m).
For the 12-month period ending April 14, 2010, the airport had 11,900 aircraft operations, an average of 32 per day: 92% general aviation
and 8% military
. At that time there were 32 aircraft based at this airport: 81% single-engine
and 19% multi-engine.
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
located two nautical mile
Nautical mile
The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...
s (4 km
Kilometre
The kilometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres and is therefore exactly equal to the distance travelled by light in free space in of a second...
) northeast of the central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
of Courtland
Courtland, Alabama
Courtland is a town in Lawrence County, Alabama, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, as well as the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town is 769.-Geography:...
, a town in Lawrence County
Lawrence County, Alabama
Lawrence County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, as well as the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. It was named after James Lawrence, a captain in the United States Navy from New Jersey. As of the 2010 census, the population was...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is owned by the Lawrence County Commission and was formerly known as Lawrence County Airport.
This airport is included in the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. It is developed and maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration . Its purposes are:* to identify all the airports in the U.S...
for 2011–2015 and 2009–2013, both of which categorized
FAA airport categories
The United States Federal Aviation Administration has a system for categorizing public-use airports that is primarily based on the level of commercial passenger traffic through each facility. It is used to determine if an airport is eligible for funding through the federal government's Airport...
it as a general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
facility.
History
Following the onset of World War II the United States faced a challenging goal to train upwards of 75,000 to 100,000 pilots per year. It was recognized that to achieve this goal, many new training fields would have to be constructed - hundreds across the country. Due to the climate allowing year-round flight instruction, as well as the low airways congestion, North Alabama was considered to be a good location for one of the new Army Air Force training fields. Following a review by a site selection board, Courtland was chosen to receive this facility. It was considered the best overall site of three evaluated within the North Alabama region.Selection took place and the land acquired in April 1942. Construction was rapid given the emergency wartime conditions and within three months the post was to be in full operation. The airfield consisted of four concrete runways 5000x150(N/S), 5000x150(NE/SW), 5000x150(E/W), 5000x150(NW/SE). Also many taxiways, landing aids, and an extended length parking apron. Auxiliary airfields to support the training activities at the base were:
- Danville (Auxiliary #1) 34°25′27"N 087°07′08"W
- Trinity (Auxiliary #2) 34°18′15"N 087°09′22"W
- Bay (Auxiliary #3) 34°42′49"N 087°15′45"W
- Leighton (Auxiliary #4) 34°39′27"N 087°29′40"W
- Muscle Shoals (Auxiliary #5) 34°44′50"N 087°36′50"W
In addition to the airfield, the building of a large support base with several hundred buildings, numerous streets, a utility network, was carried out with barracks, various administrative buildings, maintenance shops and hangars. The station facility consisted of a large number of buildings based on standardized plans and architectural drawings, with the buildings designed to be the "cheapest, temporary character with structural stability only sufficient to meet the needs of the service which the structure is intended to fulfill during the period of its contemplated war use" was underway. To conserve critical materials, most facilities were constructed of wood, concrete, brick, gypsum board and concrete asbestos. Metal was sparsely used. The station was designed to be nearly self-sufficient, with not only hangars, but barracks, warehouses, hospitals, dental clinics, dining halls, and maintenance shops were needed. There were libraries, social clubs for officers, and enlisted men, and stores to buy living necessities. The buildings, together with complete water, sewer, electric and gas utilities built within a short span of approximately 8 months, with the air field officially being activated in December 1942 as Courtland Army Air Field (CAAF) . Courtland was assiged to the Southeast Training Center of the Army Air Force Training Command. It was commanded by the 446th Army Air Force Base Unit.
Courtland AAF was the home of a Basic Flying School which utilized Vultee BT-13s for the Air Cadets. Personnel were required to fire pistols or carbines for marksmanship training and practice gas attack drills. The chemical agents used during training were tear gas, mustard agent, chlorine gas, incendiary and smoke munitions.
As part of a personal biography of his years in the Service, Dr. Charles Dills has written a first-person account of some of his experiences and impressions while at Courtland Army Airfield. Dr. Dills was a member of the first cadet class at Courtland (Class 43-E). This first cadet class began instruction there approximately late January, 1943.
The Basic Flight School was replaced by a Specialized 4-Engine Flight School in August 1944. Establishment of this school involved the transfer of B-24 "Liberator" bombers and personnel from Chanute Field, Illinois. During this time, in addtion to the 4-Engine Flight School, a transition squadron was also emplaced at Courtland. The role of the transition squadron largely involved the retraining and/or reclassification of returning crews from Europe (crews who had fulfilled their required missions). Many personnel went on to B-29 schools at other locations as they were reclassified.
As training needs decreased toward the end of the war, training air fields were deactivated across the country. Courtland AAF was one of these, it being deactivated in June 1945. At the end of the war the airfield was determined to be excess by the War Department in 1946 and was excessed. The site was returned to the State of Alabama by Quitclaim Deed in 1948.
With regard to the original structures, most everything but the runways, and several concrete slabs with 3 or 4 wide concrete steps are gone now. A steel-framed aircraft hangar that was once used at Courtland still exists and is still in use, but is no longer located at the Courtland site. This structure was disassembled and moved to the Birmingham Municipal Airport (now Birmingham International Airport) during the early 1950's.
Lockheed Martin and other light industries call the Lawrence County Industrial Airpark site home today. A golf course also hugs the northeast to west perimeter.
Facilities and aircraft
Courtland Airport covers an area of 350 acreAcre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s (142 ha
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
) at an elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
of 588 feet (179 m) above mean sea level. It has two runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
s, 13/31 and 17/35, each with a concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
surface measuring 4,994 by 150 feet (1,522 x 46 m).
For the 12-month period ending April 14, 2010, the airport had 11,900 aircraft operations, an average of 32 per day: 92% general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
and 8% military
Military aviation
Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...
. At that time there were 32 aircraft based at this airport: 81% single-engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
and 19% multi-engine.
See also
- Alabama World War II Army AirfieldsAlabama World War II Army AirfieldsDuring World War II, the United States Army Air Force established numerous airfields in Alabama for antisubmarine defense in the Gulf of Mexico and for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers....
- List of airports in Alabama
External links
- Tennessee Valley Air Center, the fixed base operatorFixed base operatorA Fixed-base operator or commonly abbreviated FBO is a term developed in the United States after the passage of the Air Commerce Act of 1926...
(FBO) - Aerial image as of 16 January 1999 from USGS The National Map