Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport is a county-owned, public-use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

in Riverside County, California, United States. It is located in the southeastern Coachella Valley, 20 nautical miles (23 mi, 37 km) southeast of the central business district of

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

, in

Thermal, California Thermal is an unincorporated community within the Coachella Valley in Riverside County, California, United States, located approximately southeast of Palm Springs and about north of the Salton Sea. The community's elevation is below mean sea ...

. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

facility. Built during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and used by both the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport has had several name changes. As a civilian facility, it was called Thermal Airport from 1948 to 1998. To better reflect its regional function, the name was then changed to Desert Resorts Regional Airport. The most recent name change, to honor the pioneering aviator and

Indio Indio may refer to: Places * Indio, Bovey Tracey, an historic estate in Devon, England * Indio, California, a city in Riverside County, California, United States People with the name * Indio (musician), Canadian musician Gordon Peterson * Índio ...

resident

Jacqueline Cochran Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to br ...

, took place in 2004. The airport is one mile (1.6 km) west of the California State Route 86 expressway and six miles (10 km) south of Interstate 10 in the lower Coachella Valley of central

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Uni ...

, an area known as the ''Desert Resorts Region''. The communities of Palm Springs,

Palm Desert Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has been ...

, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage,

Cathedral City Cathedral city is a city status in the United Kingdom. Cathedral city may also refer to: * Cathedral City, California, a city in Southern California, United States * Cathedral City Cheddar, a brand of Cheddar cheese * Cathedral City High Scho ...

Coachella Coachella may refer to: * Coachella, California * Coachella Canal, in California * Coachella (festival), an annual music and arts festival in California * "Coachella – Woodstock in My Mind", a 2017 song by Lana del Rey See also

* Coachell ...

and Thermal surround the airport. The facility hosts an air show in late November, showcasing both full-scale aircraft and radio-controlled models as flown by members of the

Coachella Valley Radio Control Club The Coachella Valley Radio Control Club is based near Coachella in Riverside County, California, United States. It is one of the oldest model aircraft clubs in the United States, one of the oldest non-profit service organizations in continuous ex ...

. Due to that club's proximity to the facility, both the club and the airport work closely in mid-January to establish no-fly zones for the club's "Best In The West" national jet rally. A temporary model operational ceiling of 2000 ft (610m) is established during that time due to the size and speed of the models which participate.

History

The airport was established in August 1942 at the beginning of

, and was used as an air support command base as part of the Desert Training Center in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. The mission of the training center was to prepare United States Army ground forces in preparation for Operation Torch—the invasion of

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. The center was commanded by General George Patton. The airfield was known as Thermal Ground Support Base or Thermal Army Air Field. The facility had two runways and assigned the installation to

Fourth Air Force The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California. 4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Res ...

. Between March 1943 and May 1944, the U.S. Army Air Forces assigned the

76th Reconnaissance Group The 76th Tactical Reconnaissance Group is a disbanded United States Army Air Forces organization. It was last active in 1944 as part of the Desert Training Center at Thermal Army Air Field, California. History The group was constituted and acti ...

along with several liaison and tactical reconnaissance squadrons to the airfield. In December 1943, Thermal AAF was reassigned to the California–Arizona Maneuver Area under control of the

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in ...

. Located in the Coachella Valley below sea level, the area was named Thermal due to the area's high temperatures, with summer readings of in the shade. Summer flight operations took place from 0300 to 1300 to combat the daytime heat, with no servicing performed during the middle of the day. In addition to flying operations, the station served as a pre-embarkation training center for aviation, construction, ordnance and other units. Phased down in 1944 after most Army units had deployed overseas to combat areas, Thermal had been inactive for six months when the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

requested permission to occupy the base on December 2, 1944, with the stipulation that the Army could reoccupy with 30 days' notice. Initially known as Naval Air Bases Detachment Thermal, the base's facilities were in rather poor condition. During the first few months of the Navy's occupancy, ACORN (Aviation Construction, Ordnance and Repair - Navy) units and Seabees made extensive improvements. The airfield had a maximum capacity of 2,424 enlisted men and 264 officers. A hospital was located at the facility and had a maximum capacity of 119 patients, 68 nurses, 13 officers, and 16 enlisted men. There were approximately 254 buildings consisting of 237 military buildings built by the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

and 17 non-military buildings (present at the time of base acquisition). The airfield was improved with approximately 250 buildings, heating, lighting, telephone, sewer, water and power systems. NAB Thermal provided pilot refresher training and aircraft strength reached 115, including the

F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United States Navy's dominant fighter in the second ha ...

F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contracts ...

, TBM Avenger,

SB2C Helldiver The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver is a dive bomber developed by Curtiss-Wright during World War II. As a carrier-based bomber with the United States Navy (USN), in Pacific theaters, it supplemented and replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless. A few surv ...

, and

SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive ...

. Station aircraft consisted of a J4F, an

N2S The North to Shore Festival (aka North to Shore Arts and Ideas Festival, North to Shore, North2Shore, or N2S) is an annual three-week-long music, comedy, film and technology festival in New Jersey. The event is hosted in June by three New Jerse ...

, an NE, and a GB. The Navy closed Thermal on November 1, 1945, returning the field to the Army two months later. The site was declared surplus effective November 16, 1945, and transferred to the War Assets Administration (WAA) on January 23, 1947. The War Assets Administration turned the military airfield to civil control during 1947 and 1948. Approximately were deeded on June 20, 1947, to United Date Growers of California. Approximately were deeded on September 2, 1947, to Coachella Valley County Water District. On December 21, 1948, it was returned to the County of Riverside via quitclaim deed for use as a municipal airport.

Current era

Today, Thermal is a municipal airport serving

. Thole, Lou (1999), Forgotten Fields of America : World War II Bases and Training, Then and Now – Vol. 2. Publisher: Pictorial Histories Pub, It is divided into 17 parcels totaling of land owned by both public and private entities. Approximately are owned by the County of Riverside for use as a municipal airport. The balance is used for agriculture and airpark development. Approximately of the property transferred from the DoD to the County of Riverside were subsequently transferred to private parties.

Facilities and aircraft

Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport covers an area of 1,850 acres (749 ha) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of 115 feet (35 m) ''below''

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

. It has two

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

paved

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

s: 17/35 is 8,500 by 150 feet (2,591 x 46 m) and 12/30 is 4,995 by 100 feet (1,522 x 30 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2010, the airport had 76,500 aircraft operations, an average of 209 per day: 98%

, 1%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

, and 1%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. At that time there were 55 aircraft based at this airport: 64% single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

, 16% multi-engine, 6% jet, 6%

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

, and 9%

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

. There are three fixed base operators (FBO) on the field: Thermal Aviation, the only self-serve; and two full-service FBOs, Desert Jet Center, and Ross Aviation. Desert Jet also provides (Part 135) Private Jet Air Charter services, Aircraft Management solutions, and the only FAA Certified Part 145 Repair Station in the Coachella Valley, performing onsite aircraft maintenance, repair, and inspections. Desert Jet Maintenance also provides AOG (Aircraft on Ground) support to Palm Springs (KPSP) and Bermuda Dunes (KUDD) airports with their mobile unit. Affordable Avionics operates out of Ross Aviation and is the only avionics company on the airport. Coachella Valley Youth Aviation Education Program operates out of Thermal Aviation and is a non-profit organization that trains local kids, during the summer, on aviation from pilot to ground crew. The local EAA chapter 1116 is based at Thermal Aviation where they have meetings and do Young Eagle flights during the winter.

References

Other sources

* * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Maurer, Maurer (1969), Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Air Force Historical Studies Office, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. * 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.

External links

Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport

Riverside County Airport Land Use Commission

Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport Airshow

Signature Flight Services
fixed-base operator (FBO)
Thermal Aviation
fixed-base operator (FBO)
Desert Jet and Desert Jet Center
aircraft charter and maintenance provider, fixed-base operator (FBO)
Aerial image as of May 2002
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to pro ...

'' *
{{Authority control Airports in Riverside County, California Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in California Coachella Valley Colorado Desert Military in Riverside County, California World War II airfields in the United States Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in California