Pecos Municipal Airport
Encyclopedia
Pecos Municipal Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport
located two nautical mile
s (3.7 km) southwest of the central business district
of Pecos
, a city in Reeves County
, Texas
, United States
. According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems
for 2009–2013, it is categorized as a general aviation
airport.
The United States Army Air Forces
used Pecos Airport as a training airfield by the Army Air Forces Flying Training Command
, West Coast Training Center (later the Western Flying Training Command). It was named Pecos Army Airfield.
Pecos Army Air Field was activated on 11 July 1942 while still under construction. Because more land was required for the long runways necessary for novice pilots, the town council promptly called another bond election to authorize an additional $50,000. The field's size was increased to 1834 acres (7.4 km²), accommodating one runway 7200 feet (2,194.6 m) long and two others of 6200 feet (1,889.8 m) each. Following the formal announcement of a military base on March 25, 1942, construction contracts were let in May. Both the construction and the early flying phases of the base were handicapped by wind-whipped dust until late 1943, when extensive palliation efforts relieved the situation.
The first commander, Col. Harry C. Wisehart, arrived on June 28, 1942, as project officer. The first military units to arrive were the 744th School Squadron (100 men) and the 341st Air Base Squadron (18 men). A week later five more school squadrons, each with 80 men, arrived from Lemoore Army Air Field, California, as the vanguard of the eventual population of 4,000. It first was used as a basic pilot school. The field was redesignated an advanced pilot school (twin-engine) on December 29, 1943, and had four auxiliary fields.
At its peak, on April 30, 1944, the field numbered 4,304 people, including 482 officers, 972 cadets and student officers, 2,218 enlisted personnel (including 200 WACs), and 604 civilian employees, of which 25 were WASPs. This population, nearly as large as that of Pecos itself, placed a great strain on the town's resources.
PAAF consisted chiefly of "theater of operations" type buildings-cheap, rapidly constructed, single-story structures covered with black tarpaper. It also had two large hangars, extensive maintenance facilities, and barely adequate eating and living quarters. Off-base housing in Pecos and neighboring towns was very limited, for an even larger airfield, Pyote,qv had been built twenty miles (32 km) east. PAAF eventually set up dormitories and small apartments to house civilian employees and some military families on base.
The first Pecos class, designated 43-A, graduated 133 cadets and student officers after nine weeks of combined ground school and flight training. In all, PAAF produced seventeen classes of basic pilots at roughly one-month intervals, the classes varying from ninety to 528 men. With an elimination rate ranging from 3 percent to 29 percent per class, a total of 3,367 finished the course. As basic pilot training ended on January 7, 1944, no time was lost converting to advanced pilot training by the newly redesignated 3027th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Advanced 2-Engine). Col. Olin C. Bushey relieved Colonel Wisehart as commander on August 28, 1943, and was succeeded in turn by colonels Harry B. Fisher (August 19, 1944) and Harold D. Smith (March 3, 1945). Advanced classes ranged in size from 245 to 526, and fewer students were washed out than in basic training. When the last advanced class at PAAF, 45-B, received silver wings and commissions as second lieutenants or appointments as flight officers on April 15, 1945, the active mission of the field ended. Twelve classes had by then produced 4,215 pilots.
The airfield was placed on "temporary standby" status on May 1, 1945, and was never again an active military installation. Although the city tried to develop a continuing federal use for the field, it was closed on May 12, 1945, and was deactivated on August 30. A year later it was returned to municipal control.
Over the years part of the field was sold off, and Interstate Highway 20 cut through it. Sold portions were used for the site of a hospital, zoo, and trailer park. The Pecos Municipal Airport was on the remaining airfield property, but most of the original facilities were torn down. The last hangar came down about 1986, and the last barracks were torn down about 1987. In the 1990s the airport still used four runways that had been maintained since the 1940s. An original ramp and rotating beacon were still in use. The West of the Pecos Museum in Pecos maintained a permanent exhibit at Pecos Army Air Field.
of 2,613 feet (796 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt
paved runway
s: 9/27 is 5,953 by 80 feet (1,814 x 24 m) and 14/32 is 6,236 by 80 feet (1,901 x 24 m).
For the 12-month period ending August 12, 2009, the airport had 20,050 aircraft operations, an average of 54 per day: 71% general aviation
and 29% military
.
At that time there were 13 aircraft based at this airport: 84.6% single-engine
, 7.7% multi-engine and 7.7% helicopter
.
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 (3.7 km) southwest 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 Pecos
Pecos, Texas
Pecos is the largest city in and the county seat of Reeves County, Texas, United States. It is situated in the river valley on the west bank of the Pecos River at the eastern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert and the Trans-Pecos region of west Texas and near the southern border of New Mexico...
, a city in Reeves County
Reeves County, Texas
Reeves County is a county located in the US state of Texas. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. In 2000, its population was 13,137. Its seat is Pecos. Reeves County is named for George R. Reeves, a Texas state legislator and colonel in the...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. According to 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 2009–2013, it is categorized 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...
airport.
History
The airport was opened as Pecos Airport. the airport initially included 400 acres (1.6 km²) located three miles (5 km) south and slightly west of Pecos. Proceeds of a $10,000 bond issue authorized in a special election on September 14, 1940, were used for land purchase. The site was cleared, fenced, and graded under a WPA contract. As the war in Europe intensified, the desire of Pecos residents for a military base increased. Efforts were unsuccessful, however, until the attack on Pearl Harbor galvanized the Army Air Force into launching a training program, first for 50,000 and then for 70,000 pilots. At that time, Pecos was chosen as one of five new training fields.The United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
used Pecos Airport as a training airfield by the Army Air Forces Flying Training Command
Air Training Command
Air Training Command is a former major command of the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force. ATC came into being as a redesignation of the Army Air Forces Training Command on July 1, 1946...
, West Coast Training Center (later the Western Flying Training Command). It was named Pecos Army Airfield.
Pecos Army Air Field was activated on 11 July 1942 while still under construction. Because more land was required for the long runways necessary for novice pilots, the town council promptly called another bond election to authorize an additional $50,000. The field's size was increased to 1834 acres (7.4 km²), accommodating one runway 7200 feet (2,194.6 m) long and two others of 6200 feet (1,889.8 m) each. Following the formal announcement of a military base on March 25, 1942, construction contracts were let in May. Both the construction and the early flying phases of the base were handicapped by wind-whipped dust until late 1943, when extensive palliation efforts relieved the situation.
The first commander, Col. Harry C. Wisehart, arrived on June 28, 1942, as project officer. The first military units to arrive were the 744th School Squadron (100 men) and the 341st Air Base Squadron (18 men). A week later five more school squadrons, each with 80 men, arrived from Lemoore Army Air Field, California, as the vanguard of the eventual population of 4,000. It first was used as a basic pilot school. The field was redesignated an advanced pilot school (twin-engine) on December 29, 1943, and had four auxiliary fields.
At its peak, on April 30, 1944, the field numbered 4,304 people, including 482 officers, 972 cadets and student officers, 2,218 enlisted personnel (including 200 WACs), and 604 civilian employees, of which 25 were WASPs. This population, nearly as large as that of Pecos itself, placed a great strain on the town's resources.
PAAF consisted chiefly of "theater of operations" type buildings-cheap, rapidly constructed, single-story structures covered with black tarpaper. It also had two large hangars, extensive maintenance facilities, and barely adequate eating and living quarters. Off-base housing in Pecos and neighboring towns was very limited, for an even larger airfield, Pyote,qv had been built twenty miles (32 km) east. PAAF eventually set up dormitories and small apartments to house civilian employees and some military families on base.
The first Pecos class, designated 43-A, graduated 133 cadets and student officers after nine weeks of combined ground school and flight training. In all, PAAF produced seventeen classes of basic pilots at roughly one-month intervals, the classes varying from ninety to 528 men. With an elimination rate ranging from 3 percent to 29 percent per class, a total of 3,367 finished the course. As basic pilot training ended on January 7, 1944, no time was lost converting to advanced pilot training by the newly redesignated 3027th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Advanced 2-Engine). Col. Olin C. Bushey relieved Colonel Wisehart as commander on August 28, 1943, and was succeeded in turn by colonels Harry B. Fisher (August 19, 1944) and Harold D. Smith (March 3, 1945). Advanced classes ranged in size from 245 to 526, and fewer students were washed out than in basic training. When the last advanced class at PAAF, 45-B, received silver wings and commissions as second lieutenants or appointments as flight officers on April 15, 1945, the active mission of the field ended. Twelve classes had by then produced 4,215 pilots.
The airfield was placed on "temporary standby" status on May 1, 1945, and was never again an active military installation. Although the city tried to develop a continuing federal use for the field, it was closed on May 12, 1945, and was deactivated on August 30. A year later it was returned to municipal control.
Over the years part of the field was sold off, and Interstate Highway 20 cut through it. Sold portions were used for the site of a hospital, zoo, and trailer park. The Pecos Municipal Airport was on the remaining airfield property, but most of the original facilities were torn down. The last hangar came down about 1986, and the last barracks were torn down about 1987. In the 1990s the airport still used four runways that had been maintained since the 1940s. An original ramp and rotating beacon were still in use. The West of the Pecos Museum in Pecos maintained a permanent exhibit at Pecos Army Air Field.
Facilities and aircraft
Pecos Municipal Airport covers an area of 771 acres (312 ha) at an elevationElevation
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 2,613 feet (796 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
paved 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: 9/27 is 5,953 by 80 feet (1,814 x 24 m) and 14/32 is 6,236 by 80 feet (1,901 x 24 m).
For the 12-month period ending August 12, 2009, the airport had 20,050 aircraft operations, an average of 54 per day: 71% 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 29% 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 13 aircraft based at this airport: 84.6% 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...
, 7.7% multi-engine and 7.7% helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
.
External links
- Aerial image as of 15 January 1996 from USGS The National Map