La Junta Municipal Airport is three miles north of La Junta, in Otero County, Colorado, 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. Many U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tarif ...

, but this airport is LHX to the FAA and has no IATA code.

History

The history of the airport began in 1935 with initial development by the Civil Aeronautics Authority. In 1940 the War Department leased the facility for civil pilot training of British RAF and

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

pilots in four-engine aircraft. In 1942 the airport was taken over 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 ...

and assigned to the Western Flying Training Command (WFTC) and the airfield was expanded to accommodate a large number of aircraft and training flights. Three asphalt runways were constructed in a triangle layout, 8000x150 (NE/SW), 8000x150 (E/W), 8000x150 (NW/SE) along with a large aircraft parking apron, taxiways, landing aids and several large aircraft hangars. In addition, four auxiliary airfields were constructed to accommodate training flights and emergency landings:
Rocky Ford Aux #1

* La Junta Aux #3

La Junta Army Airfield was activated on November 2, 1942 and was designated as an advanced twin-engine flying school under the jurisdiction of the 83d Flying Training Wing (Advanced, Twin-Engine),

Douglas Army Airfield Bisbee Douglas International Airport is a county-owned airport northwest of Douglas and east of Bisbee, both in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, that was formerly known as Douglas Army Airfield (Douglas AAF). The FAA's National Plan ...

, Arizona. It operated

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 ...

twin-engine bombers and

Cessna AT-17 The Cessna AT-17 Bobcat or Cessna Crane is a twin-engine advanced trainer aircraft designed and made in the United States, and used during World War II to bridge the gap between single-engine trainers and larger multi-engine combat aircraft. Th ...

Curtiss AT-9 The Curtiss-Wright AT-9 Jeep was a twin-engined advanced trainer aircraft used by the United States during World War II to bridge the gap between single-engined trainers and twin-engined combat aircraft. The AT-9 had a low-wing cantilever monop ...

twin-engine, and BT-15 Valiant and BT-13 Valiant single-engined trainers. In March 1944 the Advanced Twin Engine School was re-designated as the 402d Army Air Force Base Unit. In March 1945, the unit was re-designated as the 249th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Army Air Forces Pilot School, Specialized Four Engine) and jurisdiction was transferred to

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 ...

in June. The mission of La Junta AAF then became the training of replacement heavy bomber pilots in AT-17 Flying Fortress trainers for eventual assignment to B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. The 50th and 358th Fighter groups were assigned to La Junta in late 1945 (August - November) for inactivation. La Junta AAF received notice from Second Air Force that it would be inactivated on 28 February 1946, and it was returned to the local government for civil use.

Historical airline service

La Junta received service by

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started ...

with

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper versi ...

aircraft from 1944 through 1957. The airport was one of several stops on a route between Denver and Tulsa which included stops at Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Wichita. More airport, city, and county history can be obtained from the Otero Museum and the Otero County Historical Society.Otero Museum
/ref> The airport was used as a filming location for the 1973 film by Terrence Malick titled ''Badlands''.

Facilities

The airport covers 4,200

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

s (1,700 ha) at an elevation of 4,229 feet (1,289 m). It has two runways: 8/26 is 6,849 by 75 feet (2,088 x 23 m) and 12/30 is 5,803 by 60 feet (1,769 x 18 m). It has one helipad, H1, 145 by 145 feet (44 x 44 m). In 2010 the airport had 6,900 aircraft operations, average 18 per day: 95%

and 5% military. 15 single-engine aircraft were then based at the airport.

References

;Bibliography * Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas * 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. Publisher: Pictorial Histories Pub,

External links

La Junta Airport
at City of La Junta website
La Junta Municipal Airport (LHX)
at

Colorado DOT The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT, pronounced See Dot) is the principal department of the Colorado state government that administers state government transportation responsibilities in the state of Colorado. CDOT is responsible f ...

airport directory
Aerial image as of June 1998
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, ...

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 ...

'' * ; Historic links
Freeman: ''Abandon Airfields of Colorado''

Colorado ''AvAr'' Site Investigations of La Junta, Las Animas, Rocky Ford and Arlington Airfields''

{{USAAF Training Bases World War II Airports in Colorado Transportation buildings and structures in Otero County, Colorado Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Colorado Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in Colorado

History

Historical airline service

Facilities

See also

References

External links