![Coolidge Municipal Airport](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Coolidge_Municipal_Airport.jpg)
Coolidge Municipal Airport is a city-owned public
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
southeast of
Coolidge, in
Pinal County
Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...
,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, United States.
Facilities
The airport covers and has two
asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
s: 5/23 is 5,528 x 150 ft (1,685 x 46 m) and 17/35 is 3,861 x 75 ft (1,177 x 23 m).
In the year ending April 2, 2020 the airport had 56,050 aircraft operations, average 153 per day: >99%
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 ...
and <1% military. In December 2020, 39 aircraft were then based at the airport: 24 single-engine, 10 multi-engine, 1 jet, 3
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
, and 1 glider.
History
Coolidge Army Airfield
![Coolidge Army Airfield AZ 13 June 1943](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Coolidge_Army_Airfield_AZ_13_June_1943.jpg)
Coolidge Municipal Airport began in 1941 when the War Department began acquiring about 1,277 acres for an Army Air Corps flying training school. Property acquisition began between December 1, 1941 and May 21, 1943, when 873.85 acres were acquired from the state of Arizona in an exchange for an offer of public domain land from the Department of the Interior (DOI). Additionally, 394.33 acres were acquired by fee from three private individuals between February 3 and May 27, 1943, and easements totaling 9.31 acres were obtained from the state and two private individuals between February 19 and April 19, 1943, for the installation of an electric transmission line.
The original airfield was built with three runways in a triangle. Two remain: 17-35 and 5-23. Support facilities were built, of which a by hangar remains. 85 buildings, a sewage treatment plant, utilities and a firing range were built. Three buildings were ordnance related.
Coolidge AAF had originally been designed by the War Department as a single-engine aircraft flight training school, however, the facility initially functioned as an auxiliary field for Williams AAF as Williams Auxiliary Field No. 3.
The entire personnel of the 572nd AAF Base Unit stationed at Sky Harbor Airfield in Phoenix were moved to Coolidge AAF in May 1944. Coolidge AAF then was a ferrying service station for Air Transport Command, providing refueling and maintenance to Army, Navy, and Marine Corps planes en route to other bases, although Army Air Forces Training Command continued to use the field.
Coolidge Municipal Airport
Coolidge AAF was declared surplus on November 30, 1945, withdrawn from surplus effective March 21, 1946 by the Secretary of War, and again declared surplus effective August 28, 1946, by the Adjutant General. In 1948 the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers attempted to transfer the site to the Air Force for use as an auxiliary field by
Williams Air Force Base
Williams Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located in Maricopa County, Arizona, east of Chandler, and about southeast of Phoenix. It is a designated Superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contaminan ...
(located about 30 miles northwest), but there is no evidence the transfer was completed. The site was transferred to Pinal County by quitclaim deed dated January 19, 1950, and patent deeds dated March 14, 1953, and May 15, 1956. The site was then transferred to the city of Coolidge by a quitclaim deed dated March 2, 1959.
Pinal County owned and operated the airport until 1959 when the City of Coolidge obtained ownership of the airport. On March 2, 1959, the airport was officially transferred from Pinal County ownership to the City of Coolidge.
From 1962 until July 1992, operations at the airport were dominated by USAF
T-37 jet training aircraft based at
Williams Air Force Base
Williams Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located in Maricopa County, Arizona, east of Chandler, and about southeast of Phoenix. It is a designated Superfund site due to a number of soil and groundwater contaminan ...
. The Air Force had a lease agreement with the City of Coolidge for four parcels of land and joint use of the main runways and taxiways in return for the continued maintenance and upkeep of the main runway and taxiway. In addition, they constructed several facilities along the runway and apron to support their operations.
With Williams AFB marked for closure pursuant to
BRAC action, the Air Force lease was terminated in July 1992 and USAF training operations at the airport ceased in June 1992. However, among the lessees at the Coolidge Municipal Airport is CPS, a private contractor working with the DoD to conduct parachute jump training at the airport. In addition, units from
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base periodically conduct equipment drops in the area.
[Thole, Lou (1999), Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now - Vol. 2. Publisher: Pictorial Histories Pub, ]
See also
*
Arizona World War II Army Airfields
During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) established numerous airfields in Arizona for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers.
Most of these airfields were under the command of Fourth Air Force or the ...
*
List of airports in Arizona
This is a list of airports in Arizona (a U.S. state), grouped by type and sorted by location. It contains all public-use and military airports in the state. Some private-use and former airports may be included where notable, such as airports that w ...
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
* at the city of Coolidge website
Coolidge Municipal Airport (P08)at
Arizona DOT
The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT, pronounced "A-Dot") is an Arizona state government agency charged with facilitating mobility within the state. In addition to managing the state's highway system, the agency is also involved with p ...
airport directory
*
{{authority control
1941 establishments in Arizona
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Arizona
World War II airfields in the United States
Airports in Pinal County, Arizona
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in North America