Kingman Airport is a city-owned, 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 surface ...

located northeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

of Kingman, a city in

Mohave County, Arizona Mohave County is in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is the fifth largest county in the United St ...

, United States. The Kingman Municipal Airport, also known as the Kingman Army Airfield, was founded at the start of World War II and was as one of the nation's largest aerial training bases. After the war, the Kingman Airfield served as one of the nation's top reclamation sites for outdated military aircraft. It became open to civilian use in 1949. At that time, the Kingman Army Airfield Historical Society was established; it maintained records and artefacts from the site. In 2010, an inspection of the site revealed soil contamination, and from 2013 until July 2014, the land was rehabilitated for safe use, by removing the

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple aromatic rings. The simplest representative is naphthalene, having two aromatic rings and the three-ring compounds anthracene and phenanthrene. ...

(PAHs) from the soil.

History

The Kingman Airport was built as a

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 ...

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 ...

training field. Between 1942 and 1945 the U.S. Army Air Forces acquired about 4,145 acres in Mohave County outside of Kingman, Arizona and established the Kingman Army Airfield and Kingman Aerial Gunnery School training facilities in 1942.

Wartime Aircraft Gunnery School

Kingman AAF Postcard - Night Gunnery Training

Kingman Army Airfield was established as a training base for Army Air Force aerial gunners. In addition to the main base, the Kingman Ground to Ground Gunnery Range and Kingman Air to Air Gunnery Range was located about six miles north of the present city limits of the City of Kingman. From this point, the former practice gunnery ranges extended northward approximately 31 miles, generally following the Hualapai Valley. To support the training at the main facility,

Yucca Army Airfield Yucca Army Airfield is a former military airfield located about west of Yucca, in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is on the east side of Interstate 40, south of Kingman. It is now used as a private facility owned by Fiat Chrysler ...

operated several emergency landing strips. It was built in 1942 by the

Del E. Webb Construction Company The Del E. Webb Construction Company was a construction company that was founded in 1928 and developed by Del Webb. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, it became the Del E. Webb Corporation a publicly traded company on the New York ...

with Kemper Goodwin serving as architect. The gunnery ranges were used to train gunners in air-to-air firing. Five target flight lines and two auxiliary landing fields were established within this range. Initially, gunnery trainees fired at targets towed along these target flight lines. This technique did not provide good training and other techniques were tried. One of the first was to place a gun camera on the machine gun and instead of firing bullets the camera would record the gunners sight picture whenever the trigger was pulled. In this situation, instead of aiming at a towed target sleeve, P-39 and P-63 aircraft were used as targets. Another technique tried involved the use of frangible bullets which were fired at specially armored versions of the P-39 and P-63s. This was called Operation PINBALL. On May 7, 1943, the facility was officially named the Kingman Army Air Field. The base continued to grow and change with many new squadrons being added to the base and some of the existing ones combined. The host unit at Kingman Field was the 460th AAF Base Unit. Training units were as follows: * 1120th Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron * 1121st Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron * 1122d Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron * 1123d Flexible Gunnery Training Squadron * 334th Aviation Squadron The 1120th and the 329th merged with the 328th to become the 328th Flexible Gunnery Training Group. The 1122d, 537th, and 538th were consolidated to form the 1123d Flexible Gunnery Training Group. The 1121st became the 329th. The 536th and the 760th Flexible Gunnery Training Groups were added to the list. Also assigned to the B-17 groups was the 31st Altitude Squadron, training for operations at high altitude. Kingman Army Air Field was set up to handle two classes of about 200 students at any one time. During 1943, the policy was to have a class fire 1,200 rounds per student for one week on the Kingman Air to Air Gunnery Range (week five of the training cycle) and then move to Yucca AAF and have them fire 1,000 rounds during the second week. Initially, the ammunition used was .30 caliber. As the .50 caliber machine gun became available, the use of the .30 caliber was phased out. The

P-39 The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

and P-63 aircraft, used as targets, were normally equipped with a 37mm cannon. When the aircraft was in use as a target, this cannon was supposed to be removed and a light replaced it which would signal the gunners when hits were scored on the aircraft. During the latter part of the period this range was operational, the policy was that the gun camera missions were flown on this range and the live fire missions were flown on the Yucca Air to Air Range. On April 22, 1944, the Kingman Army Air Field was consolidated and the host unit was redesignated as the 3018th Army Air Force Base Unit. Each of the units on the base became subdivisions of 3018th. During 1944 the 3018th was one of the top training schools in the United States. After 1945 there was no need for a gunnery school – or for the airplanes that carried the guns. That year saw the base wind down to a stop. On November 15, 1945, the property was declared surplus, and between 1946 and 1950 the various parcels were returned and leases cancelled.

World War II aircraft disposal

After the war the

Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was a government corporation administered by the United States Federal Government between 1932 and 1957 that provided financial support to state and local governments and made loans to banks, railroads, mortgag ...

established five large storage, sales and scrapping centers for

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 ...

aircraft. These were located at Albuquerque AAF,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, Altus AAF,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, Kingman, Arizona, Ontario AAF,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and Walnut Ridge AAF,

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 ...

. A sixth facility for storing, selling and scrapping Navy and Marine aircraft was located at

Clinton, Oklahoma Clinton is a city in Custer County, Oklahoma, Custer and Washita County, Oklahoma, Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 9,033 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. History The community began in 1899 when ...

. Estimates of the number of excess surplus airplanes ran as high as 150,000. Consideration was given to storing a substantial number of these. By the summer of 1945, at least 30 sales-storage depots and 23 sales centers were in operation. In November 1945, it was estimated a total of 117,210 aircraft would be transferred as surplus. Between 1945 and June 1947, the RFC, War Assets Corporation and the War Assets Administration (disposal function of the RFC was transferred to WAC on January 15, 1946, and to the WAA in March 1946) processed approximately 61,600 World War II aircraft, of which 34,700 were sold for flyable purposes and 26,900, primarily combat types, were sold for scrapping. War Assets Administration came to Kingman AAF to set up Sales & Storage Depot No. 41. Depot 41 was to sell off the base buildings and equipment. Not only that, it would store aircraft from the Army Air Force. Some reports estimated that approximately 10,000 warbirds were flown to Kingman in 1945 and 1946 for storage and sale, but official records indicate that number ended up being closer to 5,500. 38 of the 118

B-32 Dominator The Consolidated B-32 Dominator (Consolidated Model 34) was an American heavy strategic bomber built for United States Army Air Forces during World War II, which had the distinction of being the last Allied aircraft to be engaged in combat duri ...

Very Heavy (VH) bombers, built by Convair at Fort Worth, Texas, were flown there, including several straight from the assembly line. Five of Kingman's B-32s had participated in the

312th Bombardment Group 31 may refer to: * 31 (number) Years * 31 BC * AD 31 * 1931 CE ('31) * 2031 CE ('31) Music * ''Thirty One'' (Jana Kramer album), 2015 * ''Thirty One'' (Jarryd James album), 2015 * "Thirty One", a song by Karma to Burn from the album ''Wild, ...

's overseas activities in the closing days of World War II. Most of the transports and trainers could be used in the civil fleet, and trainers were sold for $875 to $2,400. The fighters and bombers were of little peacetime use, although several P-38 Lightnings were sold to individuals for use in air racing. Typical prices for surplus aircraft were: *

BT-13 The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of the B ...

– $450 *

P-38 The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

– $1,250 * AT-6 – $1,500 * A-26 – $2,000 *

P-51 The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

– $3,500 * B-25 – $8,250 *

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

– $13,750 *

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

– $13,750 * B-32 – not available for sale. Milton Reynolds, of the Reynolds Pen Company, wanted to purchase a Kingman Dominator for one of his record-setting publicity stunts, but he was not allowed to buy one as all 38 were destroyed. Many aircraft from the various War Assets locations were transferred to schools, and to communities for memorial use for a minimal fee. A Boy Scout troop bought a B-17 for $350. The only B-17 known to have made it out of Kingman was B-17D #40-3097 named ''

The Swoose ''The Swoose'' is a B-17D-BO Flying Fortress, USAAF Ser. No. "40-3097", that saw extensive use in the Southwest Pacific theatre of World War II and survived to become the oldest B-17 still intact. It is the only early "shark fin" B-17 known t ...

'', which is currently (as of 2015) under restoration at the U.S. Air Force Museum's Dayton Ohio facility. General sales were conducted from these centers across the U.S.; however, the idea for long-term storage, considering the approximate cost of $20 per month per aircraft, was soon discarded, and in June 1946, the remaining aircraft, except those at Altus, were put up for scrap bid. After the Sales-Storage No. Depot 41 completed its job in late 1948, the airfield was turned over to Mohave County to be used as an airport for the county.

Kingman Airport and Industrial Park

Boeing 727F DHL Tail Line Up (8971079479)

With the disposal of the military aircraft completed, Kingman AAF was returned to civilian use in 1949. All but a few of the original Kingman Army Airfield buildings have been removed. The property was formerly used as a support facility for aircraft training and has been redeveloped into a civil airport and industrial park. Today, large numbers of civilian airliners are stored there and remarketed or recycled into spare parts and into their base metals. The Kingman Army Airfield Historical Society was established, creating a museum to preserve the field's history with artifacts, photos, and displays. It also includes recognition of all conflicts in which Americans have served. The airport has a significant aircraft bone-yard. Of the aircraft stored there, several belonged to DHL and

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...

Environmental contamination

Soldiers trained by shooting clay pigeons made with coal tar pitch, which contained

(PAHs). Debris from these targets and lead from the projectiles remained in the area until 2014. A 2010 site inspection of the former gun training range of about 75 acres showed "soil samples ..contained PAHs concentrations 1,000 times higher than permitted under 2007 Arizona residential risk-based screening levels and 10,000 times higher than the updated 2012

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon pro ...

residential risk-based screening levels". Lead from the projectiles could travel nearly 900 feet. From 2013 until July 2014, the top two feet of soil and landscaping on 55 residential lots were removed and replaced. Starting October 2014 through October 2016, 284 residential properties were scheduled to be soil tested.

Facilities and aircraft

Kingman Airport covers an area of 4,200

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

s (1,700 ha) 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 § Vert ...

of 3,449 feet (1,051 m) above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...

. It has two

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 with

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 ...

surfaces: 3/21 is 6,827 by 150 feet (2,081 x 46 m); 17/35 is 6,725 by 75 feet (2,050 x 23 m). For the 12-month period ending January 1, 2016, the airport had 28,478 aircraft operations, an average of 120 per day: 91%

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 ...

, 4% scheduled commercial, 4%

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 ...

, and <1%

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 ...

. At that time there were 56 aircraft based at this airport: 43 single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

, 10 multi-engine, 2

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

, and 1

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 ...

Airline and destination

The airport lost Essential Air Service due to exceeding the per passenger subsidy requirement. Great Lakes Airlines was the last operator out of Kingman, offering service to Phoenix.

Cargo

References

Literature

* * Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), ''Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy'', Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC. * Thole, Lou (1999). Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now – Vol. 2. Pictorial Histories Publishing Co. Inc * Thole, Lou (2003). Forgotten Fields of America, Volume III. Pictorial Histories Publishing Co. Inc * Essential Air Service documents
Docket DOT-OST-1996-1899
from the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

: *
Order 2005-3-16 (March 9, 2005)
selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to provide essential air service at Kingman, Prescott, Page, and Show Low for a new two-year period, at a combined first-year subsidy of $3,840,959, and a combined second-year subsidy of $3,854,958. *
Order 2007-6-10 (June 13, 2007)
selecting Mesa Air Group, Inc. d/b/a Air Midwest to provide subsidized essential air service at Kingman and Prescott, Arizona, for two years, beginning when the carrier inaugurates full service. Service will consist of three round trips a day (18 per week) with 19-seat Beech 1900D aircraft over a Kingman – Prescott – Phoenix or Prescott – Kingman – Las Vegas routing, at a total annual subsidy of $1,798,489 for both communities. *
Order 2008-6-11 (June 10, 2008)
selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to provide essential air service at Kingman and Prescott, Arizona, for a two-year period beginning when the carrier inaugurates full service at both communities at a combined annual subsidy of $2,898,490. *
Memorandum (April 8, 2009)
regarding a temporary alternate service pattern at Kingman, Arizona. Great Lakes is currently unable to serve Las Vegas, but it plans to do so in the future. Instead, it plans to inaugurate service to Ontario, California, effective April 7, 2009. *
Order 2011-3-4 (March 1, 2011)
re-selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to provide essential air service at Kingman, Page, Prescott, and Show Low, Arizona for the two-year period from May 1, 2011, to April 30, 2013, for a combined annual subsidy of $5,596,114. Established a subsidy rate for Kingman of $1,163,390, for service consisting of 12 nonstop round trips to either Phoenix or Las Vegas using 19-passenger

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general aviati ...

aircraft. *
Order 2012-11-5 (November 6, 2012)
approving the request of Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to change Kingman's hub from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and/or Las Vegas McCarran International Airport to include Los Angeles International Airport effective November 4, 2012. *
Order 2013-6-1 (June 3, 2013)
re-selecting Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. to provide Essential Air Service at Kingman, Page, Prescott, and Show Low, Arizona, for the two-year period from May 1, 2013, through April 30, 2015, for a combined annual subsidy of $7,873,533. Subsidy for Kingman: $1,635,180. Scheduled Service: 12 weekly nonstop round trips to Los Angeles or Phoenix. Aircraft: 19-passenger Beechcraft 1900D. *
Order 2014-1-18 (January 28, 2014)
: approving the alternate service pattern requested by

Great Lakes Aviation Great Lakes Airlines was an American regional airline operating domestic scheduled and charter services. Corporate headquarters were in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with a hub at Denver International Airport. As of November 2013, Great Lakes Airlines ...

, Ltd., to serve Kingman, Arizona, from the hubs of Denver (via Telluride, Colorado), Los Angeles, and Phoenix effective January 31, 2014 through April 30, 2015. *
Order 2014-4-26 (April 24, 2014)
directing interested persons to show cause as to why the Department should not terminate the eligibility ... under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program based on criteria passed by Congress in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (Public Law No. 112-95). We find that Kingman is within 175 miles of a large or medium hub,

McCarran International Airport Harry Reid International Airport is an international airport in Paradise, Nevada, and is the main government airport for public use in the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada, about south of Downtown Las Vegas. ...

in Las Vegas (LAS), a large hub, and, thus, is subject to the 10-enplanement statutory criterion. We also find that during fiscal year 2013, Kingman generated a total of 1,661 passengers (inbound plus outbound). Consistent with the methodology described above, that results in an average of 2.7 enplanements per day, below the 10-enplanement statutory criterion necessary to remain eligible in the Essential Air Service program.

External links

Kingman Airport & Industrial Park

Kingman Airport (IGM)
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
A Trip Through Kingman Army Airfield

AAFCollection.info
Kingman Army Air Field base activities booklet and postcards

SW Aviator Online
Photo of scrapped aircraft
at

Airliners.net Airliners.net is an aviation website that includes an extensive photo database of aircraft and airports, as well as a forum catering to aviation enthusiasts. Created by Johan Lundgren, Jr., the site originated in 1996 as ''Pictures of Modern Air ...

Aerial image as of 3 July 1997
from

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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 Airports in Mohave County, Arizona Kingman, Arizona Post-World War II aircraft storage facilities Reconstruction Finance Corporation disposal facilities Former Essential Air Service airports Aircraft boneyards Del E. Webb buildings World War II airfields in the United States