Victoria Regional Airport

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Victoria Regional Airport

IATA: VCT - ICAO: KVCT - FAA: VCT
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		County of Victoria
Serves		Victoria, Texas
Elevation AMSL		115 ft (35.1 m)
Coordinates		28°51′09″N, 96°55′07″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
12L/30R	9,101	2,774	Asphalt
12R/30L	4,643	1,415	Concrete
17/35	4,899	1,493	Asphalt
6/24	4,200	1,280	Asphalt
Helipads
Number	Size		Surface
Number	ft	m	Surface
H1	60	18	Asphalt

A twelve-ship formation over the Guadalupe River in the vicinity of Foster Field, Texas, Summer 1942

Victoria Regional Airport (IATA: VCT, ICAO: KVCT, FAA LID: VCT), formerly Foster Air Force Base, is a public airport located five miles (8 km) northeast of the central business district (CBD) of Victoria, in Victoria County, Texas, USA. The airport covers 1,766 acres (715 ha) and has four runways and one helipad. It is mostly used for general aviation, but is also served by two commercial airlines. Service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

1 Airline and destinations
2 History
3 See Also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Airline and destinations

Continental Airlines
- Continental Connection operated by Colgan Air (Houston-Intercontinental)
Southern Skyways (Dallas/Fort Worth [begins April 7], Dallas-Love Field [begins April 7]

[edit] History

Foster Field was a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) that was established in 1941 as an advanced single-engine flying school for fighter pilots. Originally known as Victoria Field, it was renamed in 1942 in memory of Lt. Arthur L. Foster, a United States Army Air Corps instructor killed in a crash at Brooks Field in 1925. Built at a cost of over $4 million, it was considered a major economic asset to the city of Victoria.

The first class of cadets served under Lt. Col. Warren R. Carter. Cadets used the North American AT-6 "Texan" and Curtiss P-40 trainers to drill in aerial gunnery, though actual practice took place on ranges located on Matagorda Island and Matagorda Peninsula.

After World War II, Foster Field was deactivated and the site was returned to its private owners.

The Air Force retained a recapture right which it exercised here and at many other former bases to accommodate the Korean War training surge. Foster Field was designated Foster Air Force Base on an inactive status on September 1, 1952, by Department of the Air Force General Order No. 38 of August 29, 1952. The base was activated on January 1, 1953 by Department of the Air Force General Order No. 33 of August 20, 1953.

In 1954, Foster AFB became the location of Headquarters Nineteenth Air Force.

On August 28, 1957, despite the fact that President Dwight D. Eisenhower appropriated funds for new construction at the base, the base was ordered closed by the spring of 1959 with the resident 450th and 322nd Day Fighter Wings to inactivate.

During World War II it also served as a medical evacuation facility for injured veterans. There were several housing facilities located on the base. Today Victoria has several hospitals that have eventually branched off the medical facilities located on the base. It estimated that approximately 1583 troops were housed in the critical care facilities during the years of 1952 - 1958. The numbers of deaths resulted from the war are unknown

At great cost to the local economy, the base closed in December 1958. It was formally inactivated on January 1, 1959 by Department of the Air Force General Order No. 7 of February 9, 1959.