- Gillespie Field
-
Coordinates: 32°49′34″N 116°58′21″W / 32.82611°N 116.9725°W
Gillespie Field 
FAA airport diagram IATA: SEE – ICAO: KSEE – FAA LID: SEE Summary Airport type Public Owner County of San Diego Serves San Diego, California Location El Cajon, California Elevation AMSL 388 ft / 118 m Website Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 9L/27R 5,342 1,628 Asphalt 9R/27L 2,738 835 Asphalt 17/35 4,145 1,263 Asphalt Statistics (2005) Aircraft operations 209,345 Based aircraft 964 Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] Gillespie Field (IATA: SEE, ICAO: KSEE, FAA LID: SEE) is a county-owned public-use airport located 10 miles (16 km) northeast of the central business district of San Diego, in El Cajon, San Diego County, California, United States.[1]
Contents
History
- Section reference dates.[2]
In 1942 the United States Marine Corps chose a 688-acre (2.78 km2) site east of San Diego to conduct parachute training for the newly forming Parachute battalions. In September 1942 Camp Gillespie was completed and named in honor of Lieutenant Archibald H. Gillespie, a Marine officer who played a prominent role in the effort to separate California from Mexico in the 1840s.[3]
In February 1944, the camp was commissioned as Marine Corps Auxiliary Airfield Gillespie falling under the command of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. MCAAF Gillespie soon became responsible for Camp Pendleton Outlying Air Field. Among the units that transited and trained at MCCAF Gillespie were VMSB-141, Air Warning Squadron 10 and the Navy's VT-37.[4]
In 1946, the airfield was turned over to San Diego County and was turned into a general aviation facility.[4] In 1952, the County granted ownership of the facility by the federal government. In 1971, the County Sheriff stationed ASTREA, a helicopter law enforcement base at the airport. And in 1993, the San Diego Aerospace Museum located its restoration operations and a special exhibit at the field.Facilities and aircraft
Gillespie Field covers an area of 852 acres (345 ha) which contains three asphalt paved runways:[1]
- Runway 9L/27R: 5,342 x 100 ft (1,628 x 30 m)
- Runway 9R/27L: 2,738 x 60 ft (835 x 18 m)
- Runway 17/35: 4,145 x 100 ft (1,263 x 30 m)
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2005, the airport had 244,475 aircraft operations, an average of 669 per day: 99.9% general aviation, <1% air taxi and <1% military. There are 739 aircraft based at this airport: 90% single-engine, 4% multi-engine, 4% helicopter, 1% jet and 1% glider.[1]
San Diego Air & Space Museum Gillespie Field Annex
Gillespie is also the home of the restoration facility Gillespie Field Annex[5] for the San Diego Air and Space Museum (formerly San Diego Aerospace Museum).[6] It is open to the public and has on display many vintage and modern aircraft;[7] and has an Atlas ICBM rocket as its gate guard, replica of the Spirit of St. Louis, and a recently restored F-102A Delta Dagger with drop tanks. 32°49′42″N 116°57′58″W / 32.828421°N 116.966146°W
According to the FAA, in 2010 Gillespie Field was the 44th busiest airport in terms of traffic in the United States.[8]
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ a b c d FAA Airport Master Record for SEE (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-10-25
- ^ Gillespie Field (San Diego County web page)
- ^ Shettle(200):97
- ^ a b Shettle(200):98
- ^ SDASM Gillispie Field Annex Restoration Facility
- ^ San Diego Air and Space Museum Official Site
- ^ Gillespie Field Annex Layout and Aircraft[dead link]
- ^ [1] Official Site
- Bibliography
- Shettle Jr., M. L. (2001). United States Marine Corps Air Stations of World War II. Bowersville, Georgia: Schaertel Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-964-33882-3.
External links
- Gillespie Pilots Association
- Gillespie Field at County of San Diego website
- Unofficial Gillespie Field with a complete list of Gillespie Field Businesses, Museums, and Weather
- San Diego Air & Space Museum Gillespie Field Annex
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective 20 October 2011
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KSEE
- ASN accident history for SEE
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures for KSEE
- Administrators Fact Book
Categories:- Airports in San Diego County, California
- Aerospace museums in California
- Museums in San Diego County, California
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