- Mefford Field
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Mefford Field IATA: TLR – ICAO: KTLR – FAA LID: TLR Summary Airport type Public Operator City of Tulare Location Tulare, California Elevation AMSL 271 ft / 82.6 m Coordinates 36°09′23″N 119°19′34″W / 36.15639°N 119.32611°WCoordinates: 36°09′23″N 119°19′34″W / 36.15639°N 119.32611°W Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 13/31 3,914 1,193 Asphalt Mefford Field (IATA: TLR, ICAO: KTLR, FAA LID: TLR) is a public airport located three miles (3.8 km) southeast of Tulare, serving Tulare County, California, USA. This general aviation airport covers 206 acres (83 ha) and has one runway.
Contents
History
Mefford Field, a civilian airfield located in Tulare, CA, served as the temporary site for the Rankin Aeronautical Academy, a flight school to teach United States Army Air Corps flight cadets. Rankin Field was established by Tex Rankin in 1940 when he signed a contract with the War Department contract to open a school to train United States Army Air Corps flight cadets. The "Rankin Aeronautical Academy, Inc." was established and in February 1941, the school began basic (level 1) pilot training in February 1941 at Mefford Field, located about six miles west of the still under-construction Rankin Field. Classes were moved to Rankin Field in May 1941.
Rankin Field became one of the 62 civilian-owned flying schools in the U.S. that taught 1.4 million World War II Army pilots to fly. It was assigned to West Coast Training Center (later Western Flying Training Command). Its primary training aircraft was the PT-17 Stearman, of which over 200 were assigned.
As Rankin Academy moved to its permanent site, Mefford Field returned to daily operations as a civilian airfield, which it continues to do to this day.
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.- 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.
- Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas ASIN: B000NYX3PC
- FAA Airport Master Record for TLR (Form 5010 PDF)
External links
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KTLR
- ASN accident history for TLR
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures for KTLR
Army Air Forces Training CommandFlying Training Flying Schools Eastern Flying Training Command · Central Flying Training Command · Western Flying Training CommandSpecialized Schools Bombardier · Contract Flying · Glider Training · Gunnery · Navigator
Technical Training Eastern Technical Training Command · Central Technical Training Command · Western Technical Training CommandCategories:- 1941 establishments
- USAAF Contract Flying School Airfields
- Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in California
- Airports in Tulare County, California
- California airport stubs
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