Inyokern Airport is a public use
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 surfa ...
located northwest of the
central business district of
Inyokern
Inyokern (formerly Siding 16 and Magnolia) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California, United States. Its name derives from its location near the border between Inyo and Kern Counties. Inyokern is located west of Ridgecrest, a ...
, in
Kern County
Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield.
Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
It is owned by the Indian Wells Valley Airport District
and serves the
Indian Wells Valley
Indian Wells Valley is an arid north-south basin in east-central California. In the geologic sense, it is a southern extension of Owens Valley to the north, with the recent volcanics of the Coso Range being the separator. It is defined by a maj ...
area. The airport is mostly used for
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 was previously served by a number of commuter and regional airlines over the years with passenger flights to Los Angeles (
LAX
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
).
As per
Federal Aviation Administration
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 ...
records, the airport had 11,149 passenger boardings (enplanements) in
calendar year 2008, 11,081 enplanements in 2009, and 11,109 in 2010. It is included in the
National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which
categorized it as a ''primary commercial service'' airport (more than 10,000 enplanements per year).
History
Historical airline service
As early as the mid 1950s, Inyokern had scheduled passenger air service operated by
Southwest Airways with
Douglas DC-3 aircraft twice a day on weekdays nonstop to
Burbank Airport
Hollywood Burbank Airport, legally and formerly marketed as Bob Hope Airport after entertainer Bob Hope , is a public airport northwest of downtown Burbank, in Los Angeles County, California, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. e ...
(BUR, now
Bob Hope Airport
Hollywood Burbank Airport, legally and formerly marketed as Bob Hope Airport after entertainer Bob Hope , is a public airport northwest of downtown Burbank, in Los Angeles County, California, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. ef ...
) in the Los Angeles area. According to the March 11, 1954, Southwest Airways system timetable, this DC-3 service was "operated under and subject to terms of U.S. Navy Contract". Southwest Airways then changed its name to
Pacific Air Lines
Pacific Air Lines was a regional airline (then called a "local service" air carrier as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid 1940s under the name ...
which in 1960 was operating nonstop DC-3 service to
Los Angeles International Airport (
LAX
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
). By 1964, Pacific was operating
Martin 4-0-4
The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G ( ...
propliners from the airport to LAX. In 1968, Pacific Air Lines merged with
Bonanza Air Lines
Bonanza Air Lines was an airline (known at the time as a "local service" air carrier as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) in the Western United States (and eventually Mexico) from 1945 until it merged with two other local service ai ...
and
West Coast Airlines to form
Air West
Air West is an airline based in Khartoum, Sudan. It operates domestic passenger services and international cargo charters. Its main base is Khartoum International Airport, with a hub at Sharjah International Airport.
This airline has no connect ...
which at this time was operating
Fairchild F-27
The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standa ...
turboprops from Inyokern to Los Angeles via a stop at
Fox Field
General William J. Fox Airfield is a county-owned, public airport in Los Angeles County, California, five miles northwest of Lancaster, California, United States. Locally known as Fox Field, the airport serves the Antelope Valley. The airport i ...
in
Lancaster, CA
Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 173,516, making Lancaster the 153rd largest city in the United ...
. Air West then changed its name to
Hughes Airwest
Hughes Airwest was a regional airline in the western United States, backed by Howard Hughes' Summa Corporation. Its original name in 1968 was Air West and the air carrier was owned by Nick Bez. Hughes Airwest flew routes in the wes ...
which continued to serve the airport with F-27 propjet flights to LAX via Lancaster. In 1968, Cable Commuter Airlines was operating
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprops to
LAX
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
in competition with Air West.
Following the cessation of service by Hughes Airwest in the early 1970s, a number of commuter and regional airlines served the airport over the years with scheduled passenger flights to
Los Angeles International Airport (
LAX
Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...
). Schedules in the
Official Airline Guide (OAG) from 1974 through 2007 list flights operated at various times over the years by
American Eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
(operated by
Wings West Airlines
Wings West Airlines was an American regional airline headquartered at McChesney Field (SBP), unincorporated San Luis Obispo County, California. The airline initially began scheduled passenger service as an independent commuter air carrier and th ...
), C&M Airlines, Cable Commuter Airlines,
Delta Connection
Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to ope ...
(operated by
SkyWest Airlines),
Desert Sun Airlines,
Golden West Airlines
Golden West Airlines was a commuter airline that operated flights on a high volume schedule in California. It ceased operations in 1983.
History
The original Golden West Airlines, headquartered at Van Nuys, California, was founded in 1968 a ...
, Indian Wells Airlines, Inland Empire Airlines, Mojave Airlines, and
United Express
United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights.
On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...
(initially operated by
Mesa Airlines
Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air ...
and later by
SkyWest Airlines). These OAGs also list the various turboprop aircraft types that were operated by most of the above airlines into the airport including the
Beechcraft C99
The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...
(Desert Sun and Mojave Airlines), the
Beechcraft 1900C
The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With ...
(Mesa Airlines), the
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...
BAe Jetstream 31 (Wings West), the
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter (Cable Commuter Airlines and Golden West), the
Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia
The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer.
The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series of ...
(SkyWest) and the
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner
The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San ...
(SkyWest, Wings West and Inland Empire). C&M Airlines and Indian Wells Airlines operated small
Cessna prop aircraft. Scheduled passenger airline service ended following the cessation of
United Express
United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights.
On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...
flights operated by
SkyWest in November 2013.
[Jack Barnwell,]
Bye-bye Boutique: Airport board votes to terminate short-lived air service
"The Daily Independent", October 13, 2017
On July 7, 2017, airport officials awarded a contract to
Boutique Air
Boutique Air, Inc. is a commuter airline based in San Francisco, California. The airline offers charter services as well as scheduled passenger services subsidized under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. Boutique operates the second lar ...
to begin daily flights to
Los Angeles International Airport starting August 8, 2017. However, on October 12, 2017, the Indian Wells Valley Airport District board of directors voted to terminate its contract with Boutique Air following a 60-day notice.
The airport currently does not have any scheduled passenger service but does have air cargo service.
Drag racing
The Inyokern Airport Dragstrip opened in 1954, and was the second oldest continuously operating
dragstrip
A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201&n ...
in the United States, behind Thornhill Dragstrip in Kenton, KY which opened in 1953. The drag strip closed during the 2005 season due to new
Federal Aviation Administration
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 ...
regulations.
Soaring
Beginning in the 1950s, regular glider records were set out of Inyokern in various sources of lift. Due to its location on the lee side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, it is an excellent location for altitude records in wave conditions or distance and speed records in thermal lift. It is a challenging location, as the winds change frequently, but with three long runways pilots generally have a variety of options for launch and landing. Many well known pilots have flown gliders out of Inyokern, including
Neil Armstrong,
Paul Bikle
Paul F. Bikle (5 June 1916 – 19 January 1991) was director of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Facility from 1959 until 1971, and author of more than 40 technical publications. He was associat ...
, and
Steve Fossett
James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – September 3, 2007) was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraf ...
.
Presently Inyokern Airport is the home to Sierra Soaring Club, which operates a
Cessna 182
The Cessna 182 Skylane is an American four-seat, single-engined light airplane built by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. It has the option of adding two child seats in the baggage area.
Introduced in 1956, the 182 has been produced in a ...
for towing gliders, a Blanik L-23 for rides and instruction, and a
Schweizer 1-35 and
Standard Cirrus for wave flights and cross country soaring.
Film history
In the wake of the drag strip's closing, the airport has been actively promoting its use for film shoots, with the Ridgecrest Regional Film Commission marketing its (Runway 28) as "the region's #1 filming location". A notable example of this new use is a
television advertisement
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
titled "Gravity", for the
Lexus IS
The is a compact executive car sold by Lexus, a luxury division of Toyota since 1999. The IS was originally sold under the nameplate in Japan from 1998 (the word ''Altezza'' is Italian for 'height' or 'highness'). The IS was introduced as an e ...
. The airdrop "target" featured in the commercial, where the falling automobile hits the ground, was painted on the old drag strip; however, many of the vehicle shots preceding the car drop actually feature the Lexus rolling down runway 20. Other notable automotive television ads shot here include most spots from
Saab
Saab or SAAB may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB
** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB
* Saab Automobile, a fo ...
's "Born from Jets" campaign, as well as spots for
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...
,
Volvo
The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...
,
Cadillac,
Nissan,
Mazda
, commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan.
In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...
,
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
,
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
, and
Chevrolet, just to name a few. Movies have also utilized the airport for shooting, including the aviation blockbuster, "Top Gun: Maverick" which used the hangar facility for scenes with Tom Cruise working on a vintage aircraft.
Facilities and aircraft
Inyokern Airport covers an area of at an
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...
of above
mean sea level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set.
For a data set, the '' ari ...
. It has three
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 ...
paved
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, concre ...
s: 15/33 is , 2/20 is , and 10/28 is
For the 12-month period ending March 22, 2021, the airport had about 33,000 aircraft operations, an average of 90 per day: 81%
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 ...
, 9%
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
, 5%
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) ...
, and 4%
scheduled commercial. At that time there were 29 aircraft based at this airport: 25 single-engine and 4 multiengine airplanes.
World War II
During
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 opposing ...
the Inyokern Airport was used by the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
's as Harvey Field and opened on May 10, 1944. Harvey Field was also used as Inyokern Auxiliary Field.
Naval Ordnance Test Station, Inyokern opened on December 12, 1943 with a 900-square mile test range.
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 ...
trained at the base. Harvey Field is named after Lieutenant Commander Warren W. Harvey for his work on aviation Ordnance for aircraft. Harvey commanded a fighting Squadron Three before the start of WW2. Started the plans for fighting plane tactics. Harvey Field closed in April 1946. The airstrip was built as an emergency landing field in 1935.
The Early Days: Naval Air Facility, China Lake Museum Foundation, Jan 2017 -
/ref>
Airlines and destinations
Cargo
See also
* List of airports in Kern County, California
References
External links
Inyokern Airport
official site
Aerial image as of May 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 pro ...
''
*
{{US-airport-ga, IYK
Airports in Kern County, California
Defunct drag racing venues
Defunct motorsport venues in the United States
1954 establishments in California
Sports venues completed in 1954