Gainesville Municipal Airport

Gainesville Municipal Airport
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of Gainesville
Serves Gainesville, Texas
Elevation AMSL 845 ft / 258 m
Coordinates 33°39′05″N 097°11′49″W / 33.65139°N 97.19694°W / 33.65139; -97.19694Coordinates: 33°39′05″N 097°11′49″W / 33.65139°N 97.19694°W / 33.65139; -97.19694
Map
GLE
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 4,296 1,309 Asphalt
17/35 6,000 1,829 Asphalt
Statistics (2005)
Aircraft operations 20,200
Based aircraft 70

Gainesville Municipal Airport (IATA: GLE, ICAO: KGLE, FAA LID: GLE) is a public-use airport located three miles (5 km) west of the central business district of Gainesville, a city in Cooke County, Texas, United States. It is owned and operated by the City of Gainesville.[1]

History

The airport was opened in August 1941 as Gainesville Army Airfield and was used by the United States Army Air Forces Third Air Force as a training base to provide photographic intelligence for air and ground forces.

Known units which trained at Gainesville were the 8th and 426th Reconnaissance Groups. They flew a wide variety of aircraft, including the P-38 Lightning (F-5), P-51 Mustang (F-6), B-24 Liberator (F-7) and P-40 Warhawk.

The 8th Reconnaissance group was deployed to India in 1944 to support 10th and 14th Air Forces in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater.

Reassigned from Third Air Force in April 1944 to AAF Central Flying Training Command. Hosted AAF Pilot School (Advanced, Single Engine). At the end of the war the airfield was determined to be excess by the military and turned over to the local government for civil use.

Facilities and aircraft

Gainesville Municipal Airport covers an area of 1,336 acres (541 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 17/35 measuring 6,000 x 100 ft (1,829 x 30 m) and 12/30 measuring 4,296 x 80 ft (1,309 x 24 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending August 30, 2005, the airport had 20,200 aircraft operations, an average of 55 per day: 99.5% general aviation and 0.5% military. At that time there were 70 aircraft based at this airport: 66% single-engine, 21% multi-engine, 9% jet, 3% helicopter and 1% ultralight.[1]

Since at least 2006, the unique Aviatian Traders ATL-98 Carvair, tailnumber N89FA (aka "Miss 1944") has been based at Gainesville. This aircraft is one of only 22 uniquely modified DC-4 airframes and was seen in the James Bond movie, Goldfinger.

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  • Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
  • Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas ASIN: B000NYX3PC
  • Thole, Lou (1999), Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now - Vol. 2. Publisher: Pictorial Histories Pub, ISBN 1-57510-051-7
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