Strother Field

Strother Field
(formerly Strother Army Airfield)
2017 aerial view of the airport, looking northeastwards
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Cities of Winfield & Arkansas
Serves Winfield / Arkansas City, Kansas
Location Pleasant Valley Township / Beaver Township, Cowley County
Elevation AMSL 1,160 ft / 354 m
Coordinates 37°10′07″N 097°02′15″W / 37.16861°N 97.03750°W / 37.16861; -97.03750Coordinates: 37°10′07″N 097°02′15″W / 37.16861°N 97.03750°W / 37.16861; -97.03750
Map
WLD
Location of airport in Kansas
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
17/35 5,506 1,678 Asphalt
13/31 3,137 956 Asphalt
Statistics (2008)
Aircraft operations 6,500
Based aircraft 18

Strother Field (IATA: WLD[2], ICAO: KWLD, FAA LID: WLD) is a public airport located in Cowley County, Kansas, United States.[1] It is located five nautical miles (6 mi, 9 km) southwest of the central business district of Winfield[1] and north of Arkansas City. The airport is jointly owned by both cities.[1] This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.[3]

History

A 2006 orthophoto of Strother Field

An airport, jointly owned by Arkansas City and Winfield, was under construction in April 1942 when the United States Army Air Forces indicated a need for a training airfield by the Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, Gulf Coast Training Center. Strother Army Airfield was rushed to completion with the first class of cadets scheduled to arrive for basic training in Vultee BT-13 Valiant aircraft on December 14, 1942.

The military use of Strother Field ended in October 1945 and it was turned over for civil use. Today, the site is Strother Field and Industrial Park. Remaining wartime structures include the runways, two hangars, two link training buildings, a tetrahedron wind cone, two ruins sites and a building of unknown original use.

The airport is named for Donald Root Strother, the first Army Air Corps pilot from Cowley County, Kansas to lose his life in World War II. His older brother Dean C. Strother became a four-star general in the United States Air Force.[4]

Facilities and aircraft

Strother Field covers an area of 1,530 acres (619 ha) at an elevation of 1,160 feet (354 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways with asphalt surfaces: 17/35 is 5,506 by 100 feet (1,678 x 30 m) and 13/31 is 3,137 by 75 feet (956 x 23 m).[1]

Strother field's industrial park includes a jet engine maintenance and manufacturing facility for GE Aviation.

For the 12-month period ending November 19, 2008, the airport had 6,500 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 17 per day. At that time there were 18 aircraft based at this airport: 83% single-engine, 11% ultralight, and 6% multi-engine.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 FAA Airport Master Record for WLD (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective November 15, 2012.
  2. ↑ "IATA Airport Code Search (WLD: Winfield / Arkansas City)". International Air Transport Association. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  3. ↑ "2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A" (PDF). National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010.
  4. ↑ Strother Army Air Field "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-12-23. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
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