Grider Field , also known as Pine Bluff Regional Airport, is a municipal airport at Pine Bluff,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. It was established in 1941 as a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Flight Training School operated by the Pine Bluff School of Aviation. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the city turned it into a commercial airport facility. It is a 850 acre facility consisting of a large terminal and restaurant,

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

weather monitoring equipment, private corporate hangars, fixed-base operators offering fuel and avionics services, a fire station, and aviation museum. It serves as the only ILS-equipped, jet capable airport in southeast Arkansas.

History

World War II

The airfield opened on March 22, 1941, with 6,300' x 6,380' open turf field. Under contract to the Pine Bluff School of Aviation,

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

aviation cadets trained there during

. It was named for J. McGavock Grider of

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Muscogee language, Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a S ...

and assigned to the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) Gulf Coast Training Center, later known as Central Flying Training Command, as a primary pilot training airfield. It had five auxiliary airfields assigned for emergency and overflow landings. Primary training was conducted with

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. It also had

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

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. Flexible gunnery training was taught as well. The 2559th Army Air Forces Base Unit was inactivated on November 30, 1944, with the post-World War II drawdown of the USAAF Training Command's pilot training program.

Cold War and late 20th century

Grider Field was declared surplus and turned over to the Corps of Engineers on September 30, 1945. Transferred to the

War Assets Administration The War Assets Administration (WAA) was created to dispose of United States government-owned surplus material and property from World War II. The WAA was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by Executive Ord ...

, it returned to its former status an airport. Chicago and Southern DC-3s served the city from 1949 until 1953, when Trans-Texas took over. Texas International served the airport until 1975.

Facilities

Grider Field covers at an elevation of 206 feet (63 m). Its single runway, 18/36, is 5,998 by 150 feet (1,828 x 46 m). In November 2007 it was announced that Grider Field would undergo renovation and modernization. In the year ending May 31, 2009 it had 39,875 aircraft operations, average 109 per day: 94%

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 ...

, 5% military and 1%

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) an ...

. 50 aircraft were based at the airport: 84% single-engine, 12% multi-engine and 4%

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 ...

. An original 2559th Army Air Forces Base Unit barracks is being painstakingly restored to its Pine Bluff School of Aviation era condition using historic records, oral history and authentic materials. When restoration is complete, the building will be a museum that houses a burgeoning collection of World War II aviation artifacts and memorabilia.

Notes

References

External links

; Government * * ; General information
Aerial image as of 16 February 1994
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 prov ...

'' * * {{Authority control 1941 establishments in Arkansas Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Arkansas Airports established in 1941 Airports in Arkansas Buildings and structures in Pine Bluff, Arkansas Government buildings in Arkansas Transportation in Jefferson County, Arkansas USAAF Central Flying Training Command USAAF Contract Flying School Airfields Works Progress Administration in Arkansas