General Ulpiano Paez Airport is a public/military joint-use airport serving the coastal city of Salinas, in the

Santa Elena Province The Province of Santa Elena () is a province of Ecuador in the coastal region. Created in 2007 from territory that belonged to the Guayas Province, it is one of the two newest provinces of Ecuador, along with Santo Domingo de Los Tsáchilas. It ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. The city and airport are on a peninsula extending into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. The Salinas

non-directional beacon A non-directional beacon (NDB) or non-directional radio beacon is a radio beacon which does not include directional information. Radio beacons are radio transmitters at a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid. NDB are ...

(Ident: SLS) and

VOR-DME In radio navigation, a VOR/DME is a radio beacon that combines a VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) with a distance-measuring equipment (DME). The VOR allows the receiver to measure its bearing to or from the beacon, while the DME provides the slan ...

(Ident: SAV) are located on the field.

History

During World War II the airport was used by the

United States Army Air Forces 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 ...

Sixth Air Force Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor si ...

defending the

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

n coastline and the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

against Japanese submarines. Flying units assigned to the airfield were: * 25th Bombardment Squadron (

Panama Canal Department The Panama Canal Department was a department (geographical command) of the United States Army, responsible for the defense of the Panama Canal Zone between 1917 and 1947. First U.S. Army presence The Isthmian Canal Commission and the Panama Ca ...

), 21 January 1942 – 22 May 1943, (B-24 Liberator) * 3d Bombardment Squadron (

6th Bombardment Group Alec Trevelyan (006) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film '' GoldenEye'', the first film to feature actor Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Trevelyan is portrayed by actor Sean Bean. The likeness of Bean as Ale ...

), 23 May-11 June 1943, (B-17 Flying Fortress) * 51st Fighter Squadron ( 32d Fighter Group) December 1942-March 1943 (P-40 Warhawk)

References

External links

OpenStreetMap - SalinasSkyVector - Salinas
* * {{authority control Airports in Ecuador Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Buildings and structures in Santa Elena Province

History

See also

References

External links