| La Junta Municipal Airport La Junta Army Air Field |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 USGS aerial photo | |||
| IATA: none – ICAO: KLHX – FAA LID: LHX | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner/Operator | City of La Junta | ||
| Serves | La Junta, Colorado | ||
| Location | Otero County, near La Junta, Colorado | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 4,229 ft / 1,289 m | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 8/26 | 6,849 | 2,088 | Asphalt |
| 12/30 | 5,803 | 1,769 | Asphalt/Concrete |
| Helipads | |||
| Number | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| H1 | 145 | 44 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2006) | |||
| Aircraft operations | 6,900 | ||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||
La Junta Municipal Airport (ICAO: KLHX, FAA LID: LHX) is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) north of the central business district of La Junta, in Otero County, Colorado, United States. It is owned and operated by the City of La Junta.[1]
Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, La Junta Municipal Airport is assigned LHX by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA.[2]
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La Junta Municipal Airport covers an area of 4,200 acres (1,700 ha) at an elevation of 4,229 feet (1,289 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways: 8/26 with a 6,849 x 75 ft (2,088 x 23 m) asphalt surface and 12/30 with a 5,803 x 60 ft (1,769 x 18 m) asphalt/concrete surface. It also has one helipad designated H1 and measuring 145 x 145 ft (44 x 44 m). For the 12-month period ending April 21, 2006, the airport had 6,900 aircraft operations, an average of 18 per day: 95% general aviation and 5% military.[1]
The history of La Junta Municipal Airport begins in 1935 with initial development by the Civil Aeronautics Authority. In 1940, the War Department leased the facility for civilian pilot training of British RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force pilots in 4-engine aircraft.
In 1942, the airport was taken over by the United States Army Air Force and assigned to the Western Flying Training Command (WFTC) and the airfield was expanded to accommodate a large number of aircraft and training flights. Three asphalt runways were constructed in a triangle layout, 8000x150(NE/SW), 8000x150(E/W), 8000x150(NW/SE) along with a large aircraft parking apron, taxiways, landing aids and several large aircraft hangars. In addition, four auxillary airfields were constructed to accommodate training flights and emergency landings:
La Junta Army Airfield and activated on 2 November 1942. It was designated as an advanced twin-engine flying school, under the jurisdiction of the 83d Flying Training Wing (Advanced, Twin-Engine), Douglas Army Airfield, Arizona. It operated B-25 Mitchell two engine bombers; Cessna AT-17, Curtiss AT-9 twin-engine, and BT-15 Valiant, BT-13 Valiant single-engined trainers.
In March 1944, the Advanced Twin Engine School was re-designated as the 402d Army Air Force Base Unit. In March 1945, the unit was re-designated as the 249th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Army Air Forces Pilot School, Specialized Four Engine) and jurisdiction was transferred to Second Air Force in June. The mission of La Junta AAF now became the training of replacement heavy bomber pilots flying AT-17 Flying Fortress trainers.
The 50th and 358th Fighter groups were assigned to La Junta in late 1945 (August - November) for inactivation.
La Junta AAF received notice from Second Air Force it would be inactivated on 28 February 1946. It was returned to the local government for civil use.[3]
More airport, city, and county history can obtained from the Otero Museum and the Otero County Historical Society.[4]
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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