- Childress Municipal Airport
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Childress Municipal Airport 
IATA: CDS – ICAO: KCDS Summary Airport type Public Owner City of Childress, Texas Operator 1,954 Serves City of Childress, Texas Location Childress, Texas Elevation AMSL 595.6 ft / 182 m Coordinates 34°26′01.6104″N 100°17′16.7704″W / 34.433780667°N 100.287991778°WCoordinates: 34°26′01.6104″N 100°17′16.7704″W / 34.433780667°N 100.287991778°W Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 17/35 5,949 1,813 Asphalt 4/22 4,425 1,349 Asphalt 
Childress MAPLocation of Childress Municipal Airport, TexasChildress Municipal Airport (IATA: CDS, ICAO: KCDS) is a commercial airport located within city limits, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of central Childress, Texas.
It is owned and operated by the city of Childress, Texas.
Contents
History
AAF Bombardier School patch, 1943
The airport was opened in October 1942 as Childress Army Airfield and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base.
Childress AAF operated as a bombardier-training school under the Central Flying Training Command. It occupied an area of 2,474 acres (10.01 km2). Construction of the field was announced on 2 May 1942, and began immediately thereafter. An activation ceremony was held in October 1942, and Col. John W. White assumed command on 24 November.
The first class of cadets began training in February 1943 and graduated in May. Members of this class were dubbed the "Valentine of Steel" class, in reference to a dummy bomb that Mrs. White decorated as a Valentine to Hitler. Subsequent classes arrived at three-week intervals through the rest of the war and participated in an initial training program of eighteen weeks, later increased to twenty-four. Those who completed the work were designated flight officers or commissioned as second lieutenants.
The base produced the first classes qualified in both precision bombing and dead-reckoning navigation. In 3½ years Childress AAF graduated thirty-five classes of bombardier-navigators; its 4,791 graduates made a tenth of the total World War II air force bombardier production.
The first "All-American Precision Bombing Olympics" was held at Childress in May 1943 with seven air fields participating. Such meets were held there and at other training bases at three-week intervals thereafter until April 1944. A special practice feature was skip-bombing on Lake Childress.
A redeployment program for veteran bombardiers was instituted at the field to give retraining in line with development of bombing techniques. The War Department also established a prisoner of war camp at the base. Childress was renamed the 2512th Army Air Forces Base Unit on July 1, 1944.
After the field was closed on December 21, 1945, it was given to the city and transformed into a municipal airport.
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
USA Georgia
- 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
- AirNav.Com - Childress Municipal Airport (KCDS)
- Thole, Lou (1999), Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now - Vol. 2. Publisher: Pictorial Histories Pub, ISBN 1575100517
External links
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KCDS
- ASN accident history for CDS
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KCDS
- FAA current CDS delay information
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:- 1942 establishments
- Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Texas
- Airports in Texas
- Buildings and structures in Childress County, Texas
- USAAF Gulf Coast Training Center
- USAAF Bombardiers School
- Transportation in Childress County, Texas
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