Fort Stockton–Pecos County Airport is two miles NW of

Fort Stockton, Texas Fort Stockton is a city in and the county seat of Pecos County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, future Interstate 14, U.S. Highways U.S. Route 67 in Texas, 67, U.S. Route 285 in Texas, 285, and U.S. ...

; it is owned and operated by

Pecos County, Texas Pecos County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 15,193. The county seat is Fort Stockton. The county was created in 1871 and organized in 1875.. By Glenn Justice and John Leffler. Re ...

History

The airport opened as Gibbs Field , or Fort Stockton 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 ...

as a training base during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Opened on 1 June 1942 with two 2,500' turf runways. Began training United States Army Air Corps flying cadets under contract to Pacific Air School Ltd. Assigned to United States Army Air Forces Gulf Coast Training Center (later

Central Flying Training Command Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa ...

) as a primary (level 1) pilot training airfield. had two local auxiliary airfields for emergency and overflow landings. Flying training was performed with

Fairchild PT-19 The Fairchild PT-19 (company designation Fairchild M62) is an American monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces, Royal Air Force, RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF during World War II. Design ...

s as the primary trainer. Also had several

PT-17 Stearman The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is an American biplane formerly used as a military Trainer (aircraft), trainer aircraft, of which at least 10,626 were built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary o ...

s and a few

P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...

s assigned. Inactivated on 12 March 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program. Declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on 30 September 1945. Eventually discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport. Airline flights (Trans-Texas DC-3s) ended in 1960.

References

* 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.
AirNav.Com – Fort Stockton–Pecos County Airport (KFST)
* Thole, Lou (1999), ''Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now'' – Vol. 2. Publisher: Pictorial Histories Pub,

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Stockton-Pecos County Airport Buildings and structures in Pecos County, Texas Fort Stockton, Texas Transportation in Pecos County, Texas Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in Texas Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Texas USAAF Contract Flying School Airfields Defunct airports in Texas

History

See also

References

External links