Blythe Airport is seven miles west of Blythe, in Riverside County, California, United States. 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

Blythe Airport was established by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in the late 1930s as an emergency landing field on the Los Angeles to Phoenix airway. A commercial airport opened in April 1940. The airport was leased by the United States Army in 1942. Between 1942 and 1944, the U.S. War Department acquired 4,248.12 acres in fee from various private parties, 6.54 acres of public domain land by transfer, 282.61 acres by lease from the County of Riverside, a 1.98-acre easement, and a 0.63-acre permit. The Army encroached on another 20.18 acres, increasing the total acquisition for Blythe Army Air Field to 4,560.06 acres. Over 650 buildings and other types of military facilities and improvements were constructed at this airfield, including hangars, office buildings, barracks, warehouses, runways and taxiways, water and sewer systems, a hospital, and fuel and ordnance storage. The base was advertised as the "World's Healthiest Air Base". In addition to the main facility at Blythe, several auxiliary airfields were built. * Gary Field : Now W R Byron Airport * Desert Center AAF : Now Desert Center Airport 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 airfield was known as Blythe Army Air Field and 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 ...

. The use of the site began on May 14, 1942. Blythe AAB was built for the I Troop Carrier Command but was given up by that command, without ever occupying it, to the

Fourth Air Force The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California. 4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Res ...

as part of the United States Army

Desert Training Center The Desert Training Center (DTC), also known as California–Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA), was a World War II training facility established in the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert, largely in Southern California and Western Arizona in 1942. It ...

(DTC) The DTC was established by General George S. Patton shortly after the outbreak of the war. At the time, Blythe was the only air field with construction already under way. For six months, the air field served as the sole air support base for the Army maneuvers under way at the DTC. The 46th Bombardment Group and later the 85th Bombardment Group occupied the field during the CAMA days and flew a variety of planes including A-31 Vengeances and

A-36 Apache The North American A-36 (listed in some sources as "Apache" or "Invader", but generally called Mustang) was the ground-attack/dive bomber version of the North American P-51 Mustang, from which it could be distinguished by the presence of rectang ...

s. Once air fields were established at three new locations within the DTC (

Thermal A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

and Desert Center), Blythe field was no longer required for the Army's desert exercises. After General Patton was sent to

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, the name of the training center was changed to the California-Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA). The 46th and 85th Bomb Groups were reassigned. The Army Air Forces then used Blythe as a heavy bombardment crew training base for the

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defende ...

16th Bombardment Training Wing HV-016 is a former military unit of Norway, that was a part of the Home Guard. It was established after 1985 to "stop terror- or sabotage actions that could weaken or paralyze Norway's ability to mobilize its military and its ability to resist". ...

358th Combat Crew Training School. The field's mission was changed to the training of combat air crews prior to shipment overseas. The 85th Bombardment Group and the 390th Bombardment Group were active at Blythe AAF in 1942 and 1943. Up to 75 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses were flown and maintained at the base. During 1943 and 1944, Blythe AAF was used for squadron pilot training, then in December 1944 reverted to an active heavy bombardment base with Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Known units assigned to Blythe Army Airfield were: *

390th Bombardment Group 39 may refer to: * 39 (number), the natural number following 38 and preceding 40 * one of the years: ** 39 BC ** AD 39 ** 1939 ** 2039 * ''39'' (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa * "'39", a 1975 song by Queen * "Thirty Nine", a song ...

(Heavy) April 1942 – 1943. B-17 Flying Fortresses were active at Blythe AAF in 1942 and 1943. * 46th Bombardment Group (Light) May 23, 1942 – November 1942. A-20 Havoc * 85th Bombardment Group (Light) May 23, 1942 – November 1942. A-20 Havoc * 85th Bombardment Group (Dive) November 2 – December 11, 1942 A-24 Dauntlesses * 34th Bombardment Group (Heavy) December 15, 1942 – April 1944. B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators *

398th Bombardment Group 398th may refer to: *398th Air Expeditionary Group, provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe *398th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit last assigned with the 92d Operations ...

(Heavy) April 1943. B-17 Flying Fortresses At its peak in December 1943, the base had a population just short of 8000 uniformed and civilian personnel. This was twice the population of the city of Blythe, the only community within a one hundred mile radius. By April 1944, only a housekeeping force was assigned to the base. By July 1944, the field was abandoned by the Army and declared surplus. 126 airmen were killed in Blythe Army Air Base-related accidents. Blythe Army Air Field later became a sub-base of Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base) on June 30,1945, and was inactivated on October 18, 1945, although during October–December 1946, the 477th Composite Group (Medium) used the airfield for desert maneuvers, flying

North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

s. The airfield was declared surplus effective as of July 30, 1946, and was reported to the General Service Administration for disposal. On September 10, 1948, the entire 4,560-acre site was transferred to the County of Riverside via quitclaim deed dated September 10, 1948. Today a modern airport has been built on the site of the former wartime airfield; however most of the area of what was Blythe Army Air Field has been abandoned to the natural landscape being empty and undeveloped. Abandoned runways and concrete parking ramps are visible in aerial photography.

Historical airline service

Blythe was served by

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 ...

with

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 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 ...

), Phoenix, Tucson and other cities. Bonanza merged with

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 ...

and West Coast Airlines to form Air West which continued to operate F-27s from the airport. Air West was then renamed

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 in turn eventually ceased all F-27 passenger service from Blythe. Several commuter airlines operated flights into the airport in the past as well.

Cochise Airlines Cochise Airlines was a commuter airline which was founded in 1971 in Tucson, Arizona. It operated until the early 1980s. Cochise linked small cities in Arizona with Phoenix, Arizona and Tucson, Arizona and also served southern California and Ne ...

served Blythe during the early 1980s with

Cessna 402 The Cessna 401 and 402 are a series of 6 to 10 seat, light twin-piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplane ...

flights nonstop to LAX and also to Yuma, Imperial and Phoenix. Desert Sun Airlines flew

Piper Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin America Latin Ameri ...

s on a LAX-Riverside-Blythe routing in 1985. In 1989, Air L.A. served Blythe with direct service to LAX.http://www.timetableimages.com, October 3, 1989 Air L.A. system timetable Although this air carrier never served Blythe,

Pacific Southwest Airlines Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a regional U.S. airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1998. It was the first large discount airline in the United States. PSA called itself "The World's Friendliest Airl ...

(PSA) conducted jet training flights from the Blythe Airport on occasion. PSA was based in San Diego; thus, Blythe was a convenient location for such training flights.

Facilities

Blythe Airport covers 3,904 acres (1,580 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 § Ver ...

of 399 feet (122 m). It has two

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 ...

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: 8/26 is 6,543 by 150 feet (1,994 x 46 m) and 17/35 is 5,800 by 100 feet (1,768 x 30 m). In 2010 the airport had 25,150 aircraft operations, average 68 per day: 99%

and 1% military. Five aircraft were then based at this airport, three single-engine and two multi-engine.

Airlines and destinations

Cargo

References

Other sources

* * * * Shaw, Frederick J. (2004). ''Locating Air Force Base Sites: History’s Legacy''. Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004. *

External links

Aerial image as of May 2002
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 ...

'' * * – giving
{{authority control Airports in Riverside County, California Blythe, California Colorado Desert Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in California Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in California Military facilities in the Mojave Desert Former Essential Air Service airports Military in Riverside County, California World War II airfields in the United States