Scholes International Airport at Galveston Terminal 2012

Scholes International Airport at Galveston is three miles southwest of

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...

, in

Galveston County, Texas Galveston County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, located along the Gulf Coast adjacent to Galveston Bay. As of the 2020 census, the population was 350,682. The county was founded in 1838. The county seat is the City of Galveston ...

, United States. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''

reliever airport A relief airport or reliever airport is an airport that is built or designated to provide relief or additional capacity to an area when the primary commercial airport(s) requires additional capacity, on a long-term or temporary basis. Reliever a ...

''. The airport provides charter service and has no scheduled flights; the runways can accommodate airplanes as large as the Boeing 767-200.

Overview

Operated and maintained by the City of Galveston, GLS is a general aviation airport. It has seen several airlines; from the 1930s until 1953-54 Braniff flew to Houston International (later named William P. Hobby Airport). Trans-Texas Airways "TTa", the forerunner to Texas International Airlines, arrived in the 1950s; until 1972 TTa Convair 600s flew nonstop to both Houston and Beaumont/Port Arthur and direct to Dallas and Austin. Later Galveston was served by Houston Metro Airlines De Havilland of Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters to Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH), some stopping at Clear Lake City (CLC airport) near the NASA Johnson Space Center. A commuter airline, Texas Airlines, also served the airport in the mid-1980s with Piper Navajos to Houston Intercontinental Airport. The airport's Master Plan considers the potential return of airline service as well as the trend of corporate aircraft and oil industry helicopter activity. In preparation for increased corporate activity, the plan considers the extension of the primary runway (18/36) from 6000 X . to . It can now accommodate aircraft as large as a Boeing 767. GLS has air traffic control 12 hours a day (0600-1800), with direct clearance delivery service to Houston TRACON after the tower is closed. The Class D surface area changes to Class E and airport is uncontrolled. Airport lighting includes HIRL, MIRL, MALSR, REIL's and PAPI's as well as lighted taxiway and runway signage. It has an "A"

ARFF Aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) is a type of firefighting that involves the emergency response, mitigation, evacuation, and rescue of passengers and crew of aircraft involved in aviation accidents and incidents. Airports with schedule ...

Index. The airport offers a terminal, a 24-hour fixed-base operator, 24-hour weather services, a U.S. Customs agent on call, and state-of-the-art navigational aids with precision approaches providing all-weather capabilities. It is a fairly popular fueling stop for transient military aircraft due to a Military Operations Area in the Gulf of Mexico, and it is the destination for air ambulances transferring patients to the Shriner's Burn Hospital for Children. Of the 220+ aircraft based at GLS, 50+ are helicopters belonging to Bristow, Era, PHI and other oil industry vendors. The Lone Star Flight Museum was at the airport from 1985 until 2017. GLS ATIS Freq: 119.275, Phone Number: (409) 740-9248 ASOS

History

In the early 1920s the present Galveston airport location began to be used for aircraft operations, by Bob Scholes and Fen Waters, among others), who were some of the earliest aircraft operators in Texas (both of whom were flying before the issuance of pilot licenses. Soon after, the City of Galveston ordered them to cease providing rides and aerobatic demonstrations, in their Hisso-Suiza converted, former OX-5 powered Standard for which they were using East Beach as a runway surface. Fen Waters was offered the use of what is the present airport property, by a friend whose family operated a cattle ranch and watermelon farm. The Galveston Municipal Airport name dates back to 1931. For a time it was named Corrigan Airport in 1938 for Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, a Galveston native. During World War II, it was re-designated a United States Army Air Corps base and named "Galveston Army Air Field", United States Army Corps of Engineers, using funds made available by Congress through the Civil Aeronautics Authority, constructed three -long, hard-surface runways at the airport to accommodate army aircraft. In January 1943, Galveston Army Air Field was officially activated had the 46th Bombardment Group flying the

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

A-20 Havoc in the anti-submarine role in the Gulf of Mexico until replaced by the 10th Antisubmarine Squadron, flying RM-37 Lockheed Venturas. The Field was primarily used for replacement crew gunnery training by the 407th Fighter-Bomber Group, with targets being towed to the gunnery range at nearby Oyster Bay. The installation cost $7 million and at its peak had some 2,500 personnel assigned. It was deactivated on November 15, 1945, with ownership reverting to the City of Galveston. The existing terminal was completed in 1949 and renamed Scholes Field in honor of Airport Manager and aviation pioneer, Robert "Bob" Scholes. As late as 1948, it was an active seaplane base per Sectional Aeronautical chart SA SAC O-5. The airport has in the past offered airline services to

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas International Airlines Texas International Airlines Inc. was a United States airline, known from 1940 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways (TTa), and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Continental Airlines. ...

Facilities

Scholes International Airport covers 966 acres (391 ha) at an elevation of 6 feet (2 m). It has two runways: 14/32 is 6,000 by 150 feet (1,829 x 46 m)

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 ...

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

; 18/36 is 6,001 by 150 feet (1,829 x 46 m) concrete. In the year ending June 3, 2011 the airport had 61,087 aircraft operations, average 167 per day: 55%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

, 44%

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 August 2017, 109 aircraft were based at the airport: 75 single-engine, 15 multi-engine, 2 jet, 14

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 ...

, 1 glider and 2

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 aile ...

Regular traffic

Light general aviation aircraft, and the occasional transient business jets can be seen at GLS. The most frequent traffic is that of the helicopters that support the offshore oil and gas industry operating in the Gulf of Mexico. These large Part 135 helicopter operators include: * Bristow U.S. LLC flying Sikorsky S-92s, Sikorsky S-76s, Agusta Westland AW 139s, Eurocopter EC 135s, Bell 407s and Bell 206L-4s. Bristow US is part of Bristow Group which is one of the largest commercial helicopter operators in the world. * ERA flying Agusta A-119s, Eurocopter EC-135s, Sikorsky S-61s; * PHI (Petroleum Helicopters Inc.) flying Bell JetRangers, Messerschmidt BO-105s, Eurocopter EC-135s, Sikorsky S-76s.

Lone Star Flight Museum

The Lone Star Flight Museum, which was located at Scholes from 1985 until 2017, maintains a fleet of air worthy warbirds including: Vega B-17 Flying Fortress,

North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

Bomber,

Douglas SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/di ...

, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt,

Vought F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...

, General Motors (Eastern Aircraft) TBM Avenger,

Grumman F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy's dominant fighter in the second ha ...

, Grumman F8F Bearcat, General Motors FM-2 Wildcat, Supermarine Spitfire,

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

North American AT-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

, Beech AT-11 Kansan,

Cessna AT-17 Bobcat The Cessna AT-17 Bobcat or Cessna Crane is a twin-engine advanced trainer aircraft designed and made in the United States, and used during World War II to bridge the gap between single-engine trainers and larger multi-engine combat aircraft. Th ...

, Stinson L-5, Douglas DC-3 Sky Train, and

Stearman PT-17 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 known ...

. The Lone Star Flight Museum moved to nearby Ellington Airport in September 2017.

References

External links

Scholes International Airport
official webpage
Galveston Aviation Services
the

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, ...

(FBO)
Lone Star Flight Museum
* at

Texas DOT The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

Airport Directory
Aerial image as of January 1995
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

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 pro ...

'' * *
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