Zamperini Field

Zamperini Field
FAA airport diagram
IATA: TOAICAO: KTOAFAA LID: TOA
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of Torrance
Location Torrance, California
Elevation AMSL 103 ft / 31 m
Website www.ci.torrance.ca.us/...
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
11L/29R 5,000 1,524 Asphalt/Concrete
11R/29L 3,000 914 Asphalt/Concrete
Helipads
Number Length Surface
ft m
HI 110 34 Asphalt
Statistics (2005)
Aircraft operations 173,027
Based aircraft 499
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Zamperini Field (IATA: TOAICAO: KTOAFAA LID: TOA) is a city-owned public-use airport located three miles (5 km) southwest of the central business district of Torrance, in Los Angeles County, California, United States.[1]

The airport, one of the busiest general aviation airports in the state and once known as Torrance Municipal Airport, was renamed in honor of local sports and war hero Louis Zamperini.

Contents

Facilities and aircraft

Zamperini Field covers an area of 506 acres (205 ha) which contains two asphalt and concrete paved runways: 11L/29R measuring 5,000 x 150 ft (1,524 x 46 m) and 11R/29L measuring 3,000 x 75 ft (914 x 23 m). It also contain one asphalt paved helipad measuring 110 x 110 ft (34 x 34 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending May 31, 2005, the airport had 173,027 aircraft operations, an average of 474 per day: 99% general aviation, 1% military and <1% air taxi. There are 499 aircraft based at this airport: 89% single-engine, 8% multi-engine, 2% helicopter and <1% glider.[1]

Terminal

Zamperini Field has a small terminal building equipped with a vending machine, conference room, bathroom, and flight planning room. Also, there is an outside patio which has small tables. Inside the main room of the terminal are historical papers related to the airport on the wall, and a security post.

Helicopter operations

The helipad for a neighboring hospital, the Torrance Medical Center, is located at the north-west corner of the Zamperini Field airfield.

Manufacturing

Zamperini Field is the home of Robinson Helicopter Company. Their entire production, assembly, and testing facilities are located on the southeast side of the airfield, and are the largest buildings at the airport.

Museum

Zamperini Field is the new home of the Western Museum of Flight, which was previously in Hawthorne, California.

Accidents and incidents

History

The airport was built by the United States Army Air Force about 1942, and was known as Lomita Flight Strip. It was an emergency landing airfield for military aircraft on training flights. It was closed after World War II, and was turned over for local government use by the War Assets Administration (WAA).

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

  1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Master Record for TOA (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-10-25

External links

Los Angeles portal
Aviation portal
World War II portal