Desert Center Airport (California)

is a former airport located at the end of a unnamed road, one mile east of Route 177, 5 miles northeast of the town of Desert Center, California, 127 miles northeast of San Diego.

World War II Use

Desert Center Army Airfield was built in the early 1940s was a subbase of Thermal Army Airfield and served as a support base for the Air Technical Services Command. It was officially opened in April 1943

It was located within the Desert Center Division Camp,which encompassed over 34,000 acres. Desert Center was one of the areas included in the California Arizona Maneuver Area, used during 1942-44 to train General Patton's armored forces for desert combat prior to it deploying to North Africa.

Desert Center Army Airfield was first known as the Desert Center Airdrome. According to a history of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Airdrome Detachments, a detachment of the 475th Base Headquarters & Air Base Squadron was the first flying unit stationed at Desert Center, arriving in 1/15/43. It was described as having 5,500' runways. The field also had taxiways & a parking apron. More than 40 buildings were constructed at the airfield, including an operations building, power house, Link Trainer building, hangar and various supply buildings.

When the training area closed in 1944, the airfield was assigned to the 4th Air Force, and operational activities decreased greatly. The airfield remained open, however, and was used by B-24 Liberator crews flying training missions from March Field.

Civil Use

Following the end of World War II, the Desert Center airfield was turned over to Riverside County & reused as a civil field, although most of the buildings were dismantled. In 1946, the airfield was turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers, and the buildings were auctioned off to the public.

It was listed as "Desert Center CAA Site 17" in the "Aerodromes" table on the 1955 San Diego Sectional Aeronautical Chart. It described the field as having two 5,000' bituminous runways. The airfield was listed among active airports in the 1962 AOPA Airport Directory, under the name of "FAA Site 17". It was described as having two 5,000' bituminous runways: 13/31 & 4/22, and the operator was listed as the FAA. It was closed in the mid 1960s, but listed as an emergency airfield.

The airport was reopened as a civil airport (owned by Riverside County) at some point between 1966-2002. However, as of 2002 it was all but abandoned. There were no aircraft based at the field, and the Airport Facility Directory data listsed total of a mere 150 takeoffs & landings per year. The sole remaining maintained runway is 5/23, which consists of a 4,200' asphalt strip which was overlaid over remains of the original military runway. Two buildings were still standing.

Today, there are remains of Patton’s army all around the airport including foundations from the old buildings and pieces of discarded equipment mixed in with the remains of old agriculture & vandalism. The abandoned Runway 13/31 is barely discernible, covered with sand & bushes. There are no historic buildings left, although there are numerous foundations & a concrete parking ramp.

In 2003, the airfield was being used to fly unmanned aircraft. The hangar had been converted to a workshop & an inclined launching ramp was constructed, but in 2004, the airfield was again put up for sale Riverside County.

See also

* California World War II Army Airfields

References

* 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

* [http://www.desertusa.com/airports/airport_dc.html Desert Center USA]