Compton/Woodley Airport is a public airport in Compton, southern

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, southwest of Downtown Compton., effective 2007-10-25 It is the oldest continuously operating airport in the Los Angeles basin. The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2007–2011 categorized it as a

relief airport A relief airport or reliever airport is an airport that is built or designated to provide relief or additional capacity to an area when the primary commercial airport(s) requires additional capacity, on a long-term or temporary basis. Reliever ...

. It is used for

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

as an alternative to

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...

, about west.

History

Colonel C.S. Smith landed in an open field near the town of Compton in June 1924. He felt the field, owned by the local school board, would make an ideal airport location, and negotiated for the airport's founding. Between 1924 and 1936 the airport and its land passed through several hands until Earl Woodley took over the lease in 1936. He purchased land for a crosswind runway. During the war years of 1941 to 1946, civilian flying was restricted and the airport was used by the military as a truck depot. After the war, Woodley resumed operations and eventually became owner of the land. When he died in 1962, the airport was threatened with closure when it was purchased by an investment company. Pilot groups, citizens, the mayor of Compton, and the entire Compton City Council encouraged the Board of Supervisors to condemn the land and allow the county to purchase it. In June 1966 the entire airport property of 77 acres was purchased for $2,948,883.

Facilities

Compton/Woodley Airport covers and has two

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

runways (7L/25R and 7R/25L), each 3,322 x 60 ft (1,013 x 18 m). In 2012 the airport had 66,000

aircraft operations, averaging about 180 per day. 175 aircraft are based at this airport: 151 single-engine, 14 multi-engine, 1 jet, 8

helicopters 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 attribu ...

, and 1 glider.

In popular culture

The Compton Airport is mentioned in the opening bars of

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

's "Big Ego's" on his multi-platinum album ''

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

''. In ''

Airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

'' episode 46, Robin Petgrave, the founder of the flight school Tomorrow's Aeronautical Museum, gives a cast member's son a plane ride at Compton Airport with his flight school.

References

External links

City of Compton website

Los Angeles County Department of Public Works - Compton/Woodley Airport
Airports in Los Angeles County, California Compton, California Airports established in 1924 1924 establishments in California {{California-airport-stub