Strother Field is a public airport in

Cowley County, Kansas Cowley County (county code CL) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 34,549. Its county seat is Winfield, and its most populous city is Arkansas City. History For millennia, the l ...

, six miles southwest of Winfield and north of Arkansas City. The airport is jointly owned by the two cities. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a

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 ...

facility.

History

An airport, jointly owned by Arkansas City and Winfield, was under construction in April 1942 when 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 ...

indicated a need for a training airfield by the Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, Gulf Coast Training Center. Strother Army Airfield was rushed to completion with the first class of cadets scheduled to arrive for basic training in

Vultee BT-13 Valiant 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 ...

aircraft on December 14, 1942. Military use of Strother Field ended in October 1945 and it was turned over for civil use. Today, the site is Strother Field and Industrial Park. Remaining wartime structures include the runways, two hangars, two link training buildings, a tetrahedron wind cone, two ruins sites and a building of unknown original use. The airport is named for Donald Root Strother, the first Army Air Corps pilot from Cowley County, Kansas to lose his life in World War II. His older brother Dean C. Strother became a four-star general in the United States Air Force.Strother Army Air Field Winfield had scheduled Central Airlines flights in 1950–53. on Bonanzas, then DC-3s.

Facilities

Strother Field covers 1,530 acres (619 ha) at an elevation of 1,160 feet (354 m). It has two asphalt runways: 17/35 is 5,506 by 100 feet (1,678 x 30 m) and 13/31 is 3,137 by 75 feet (956 x 23 m). Strother field's industrial park includes a jet engine maintenance and manufacturing facility for

GE Aviation GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. GE Aviation is among the top aircraft engine suppliers, and offers engines for the majority of commercial aircraft. GE Aviation is part of t ...

. In the year ending November 19, 2008 the airport had 6,500

aircraft operations, average 17 per day. 18 aircraft were then based at the airport: 83% single-engine, 11%

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 ...

, and 6% multi-engine.

References

External links

Strother Field Industrial Park, Winfield, Kansas

Historical building inventory of Strother Field, 2008

Aerial image as of March 1996
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, WLD Airports in Kansas Buildings and structures in Cowley County, Kansas 1942 establishments in Kansas Airports established in 1942