Western Nebraska Regional Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Western Nebraska Regional Airport
nativename = William B. Heilig Field
nativename-a =
nativename-r =


image-width =
caption =
IATA = BFF
ICAO = KBFF
type = Public
owner =
operator = Airport Authority of
Scotts Bluff County
city-served =
location =
elevation-f = 3,967
elevation-m = 1,209.1
coordinates = Coord|41|52|26|N|103|35|44|W|type:airport_region:US|display=inline,title
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 5/23
r1-length-f = 8,002
r1-length-m = 2,439
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 12/30
r2-length-f = 8,279
r2-length-m = 2,523
r2-surface = Asphalt
stat-year =
stat1-header =
stat1-data =
stat2-header =
stat2-data =
footnotes =

Western Nebraska Regional Airport Airport codes|BFF|KBFF, also known as William B. Heilig Field, is a public airport located three miles (5 km) east of the central business district (CBD) of Scottsbluff, a city in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, USA. The airport covers convert|1806|acre|km2|0 and has two runways. It is served by one commercial airline, with service subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

Airline and destination

* Great Lakes Airlines (Denver)

History

Western Nebraska Regional Airport was built in the fall of 1942 by the United States Army Air Force at a cost of 5.5 million dollars. Twenty-eight farms were vacated so construction could begin. Some convert|600000|cuyd|m3 of concrete for three runways was poured in forty-five days. There were approximately 108 buildings on the ground including barracks, mess halls, officers' quarters, warehouses, a hangar, a camouflage instruction building, and a bombsight storage building.

Scottsbluff Army Airfield

Scottsbluff AAF was one of eleven United States Army Air Force training bases in Nebraska during World War II. The base was under the command of Second Air Force Headquarters, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The 4190th Army Air Force Base Unit was the host organization at Scottsbluff, and the first troops arrived in early December 1942.

Scottsbluff initially provided air and ground crews of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators bombers based at Casper AAF Wyoming final training at Scottsbluff.

All training aircraft at the airfield were assigned to the 4190th AAFBU.

In 1944 Scottsbluff AAF became a satellite of the Alliance AAF and the First Troop Carrier Command, training Douglas C-47 Skytrain and glider crews. Aircraft and radio maintenance personnel also trained here.

Civil Use

The airfield closed on 31 December 1945. The War Department handed over control of the airport to the City of Scottsbluff in 1947, and in 1970, Scotts Bluff County took control and has had it ever since.

In the summer of 2003, the county created an Airport Authority Board which has since made major improvements on and around the airport property. New improvements include a new terminal building, wildlife fence, fire equipment, and remodeling the fire station. Future projects include runway lighting and resurfacing. The board is currently working with local law enforcement and the TSA for security screening.

See also

* Second Air Force
* United States Army Air Force
* Nebraska World War II Army Airfields

References

*FAA-airport|ID=BFF|use=PU|own=PU|site=12915.*A
* [http://www.flyscottsbluff.com/ Western Nebraska Regional Airport] (official web site)
* [http://armyairforces.com ArmyAirForces.Com]
* Maurer Maurer, "Air Force Combat Units Of World War II", Office of Air Force History, 1983

External links

*FAA-diagram|00383
* [http://www.airnav.com/airport/BFF Western Nebraska Regional Airport at www.airnav.com]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Scottsbluff,+NE&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&z=13&ll=41.877102,-103.585625&spn=0.054961,0.165482 Western Nebraska Regional Airport at Google Maps]