Atkinson Municipal Airport is three miles northwest of Pittsburg, in

Crawford County, Kansas Crawford County (county code CR) is a county located in Southeast Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 38,972. Its county seat is Girard, and its most populous city is Pittsburg. The county was named in honor of Samuel J ...

, United States. The

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

'' facility.

History

It was established as Pittsburg Airport in April 1940. It was taken over by the

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

on May 25, 1942, as a basic (level 1) pilot training airfield. It was assigned to USAAF Gulf Coast Training Center (later Central Flying Training Command). The airport conducted contract basic flying training by McFarland Flying Service.

Fairchild PT-19 The Fairchild PT-19 (company designation Fairchild M62) is an American monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces, RAF and RCAF during World War II. Designed by Fairchild Aircraft, it was a contempora ...

s were the primary trainers used. It also had several

PT-17 Stearman The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is a biplane formerly used as a military trainer aircraft, of which at least 10,626 were built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934. Widely kno ...

s and a few

P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

s assigned. The flight school also operated two auxiliary airfields in the local area. Unpowered glider pilot training was performed by 21st Army Air Forces Glider Training Detachment from May 1942 until February 1943 The airport was inactivated on October 20, 1944, with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program, and it was declared surplus in 1946. Responsibility for it was given to the War Assets Administration and was eventually acquired by the City of Pittsburg. The airport saw airline flights from 1954 to 1960:

Ozark Airlines Ozark Air Lines was an airline that operated in the United States from 1950 until 1986 when it was purchased by Trans World Airlines (TWA). In 2001, TWA was merged into American Airlines. A smaller regional airline that used the Ozark name ( ...

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

s flew between Wichita, KS and St. Louis via Pittsburg, Joplin, and Springfield, MO.timetableimages.com, Ozark Airlines timetables

Facilities

The airport covers 742

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (300 ha) at an elevation of 946 feet (290 m). It has two asphalt runways: 17/35 is , and 4/22 is . In the year ending June 23, 2009, the airport had 23,600 aircraft operations, average 64 per day: 99.6%

and 0.4% military.38 aircraft were then based at this airport: 66% single-engine, 18% jet, 8% multi-engine, 5%

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

, and 3% helicopter.

References

* Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas * Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), ''Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy'', Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC.

External links

Aerial photo as of September 1991
from

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The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to prov ...

'' * *
{{USAAF Training Bases World War II USAAF Contract Flying School Airfields Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Kansas Airports in Kansas Buildings and structures in Crawford County, Kansas USAAF Central Flying Training Command American Theater of World War II Airports established in 1940 1940 establishments in Kansas

History

Facilities

See also

References

External links