Shafter Airport , also known as Minter Field and formerly known as Air Corps Basic Flying School, is a 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 ...

located east of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the " cit ...

of Shafter and 14 miles northwest of

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley (California), Central Valley r ...

, a city in

Kern County, California Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county ...

, United States. Originally a

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

primary training facility for pilots, it is currently a public airport owned by the Minter Field Airport District. This airport is included in the

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2011–2015, which

categorized Categorization is the ability and activity of recognizing shared features or similarities between the elements of the experience of the world (such as objects, events, or ideas), organizing and classifying experience by associating them to a ...

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 service ...

'' facility.

History

Lerdo Field, as the airport was initially known during

, was first opened in June 1941 when the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

(USAAC) dispatched a small garrison of airmen to open an airfield at Shafter. The name was derived from close proximity to the highway of the same name. The airfield commander utilized

Bakersfield College Bakersfield College (BC) is a public community college in Bakersfield, California. BC serves about 22,000 students each semester or 31,000 annually, and offers Associate degrees, certificate programs, and is one of fifteen California Community ...

as his headquarters, while airmen were quartered in temporary facilities from

to Wasco while barracks and other structures were being built. As construction proceeded through the rest of the year, the Minter Sub-Depot was established as a branch of the Sacramento Air Depot. In August, the first operational training units (OTUs) began arriving at Lerdo Field, the airfields mission being advanced pilot training of USAAC bomber, attack, transport and pursuit pilots. In April 1942, contracts for the construction of more than 65 on-base buildings were let, while the constantly increasing numbers of cadets were housed in a large tent city erected as temporary shelter. With the relative completion of construction in July 1942, the airfield was renamed Minter Field Army Airfield after a member of the locally prominent Minter family, First Lieutenant Hugh C. Minter. Lieutenant Minter, a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

veteran, was killed in a mid-air collision over

March Field March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

on July 8, 1932. The airfield was placed under the overall command of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

West Coast Training Center. Known sub-bases and auxiliaries of Minter Field were: *

Wasco Auxiliary Airfield Wasco Airport , also known as Wasco-Kern County Airport, is a public airport located northwest of Wasco, serving Kern County, California, USA. This general aviation airport covers and has one runway According to the International Civi ...

(No.1) – now

Wasco-Kern County Airport Wasco Airport , also known as Wasco-Kern County Airport, is a public airport located northwest of Wasco, serving Kern County, California, USA. This general aviation airport covers and has one runway. History Wasco Auxiliary Field or Was ...

Pond Auxiliary Field Minter Army Airfield auxiliary fields were a number of airfields used during World War II to support the Minter Army Airfield (now the Shafter Airport) near Shafter, California. Minter Army Airfield was also called Lerdo Field, after the nearby ...

(No. 2) – – abandoned *

Famoso Auxiliary Airfield Minter Army Airfield auxiliary fields were a number of airfields used during World War II to support the Minter Army Airfield (now the Shafter Airport) near Shafter, California. Minter Army Airfield was also called Lerdo Field, after the nearby ...

(No.3) – – abandoned *

Dunlap Auxiliary Airfield Minter Army Airfield auxiliary fields were a number of airfields used during World War II to support the Minter Army Airfield (now the Shafter Airport) near Shafter, California. Minter Army Airfield was also called Lerdo Field, after the near ...

(No.4) (AKA Jasmin Landing Field) – – abandoned *

Semi-tropic Auxiliary Airfield Minter Army Airfield auxiliary fields were a number of airfields used during World War II to support the Minter Army Airfield (now the Shafter Airport) near Shafter, California. Minter Army Airfield was also called Lerdo Field, after the nearby ...

(No.5) – – abandoned *

Poso Auxiliary Airfield Poso Airport , also known as Poso-Kern County Airport, is a county-owned public-use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) east of the central business district of Famoso, in Kern County, California, United States. It is mostly used for ...

(No.6) – now

Poso Airport Poso Airport , also known as Poso-Kern County Airport, is a county-owned public-use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) east of the central business district of Famoso, in Kern County, California, United States. It is mostly used for ...

Lost Hills Auxiliary Airfield Lost Hills Airport , also known as Lost Hills-Kern County Airport, was a public airport located northeast of the central business district (CBD) of Lost Hills, California, Lost Hills, in Kern County, California, Kern County, California, United S ...

(No.7) – now

Lost Hills Airport Lost Hills Airport , also known as Lost Hills-Kern County Airport, was a public airport located northeast of the central business district (CBD) of Lost Hills, in Kern County, California, United States. It was mostly used for general aviati ...

Coalinga Municipal Airport (Old) Coalinga Municipal Airport (Old) is a closed airport located 1 mile north of Coalinga, California. The airport was closed approximately 2000, all aviation use was moved to the New Coalinga Municipal Airport. History It was established sometim ...

(closed) – The primary aircraft flown at Minter Field was the

Vultee BT-13 Valiant The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of th ...

, which was used for f flight training. Other training aircraft included the

Cessna UC-78 Bobcat The Cessna AT-17 Bobcat or Cessna Crane is a twin-engine advanced trainer aircraft designed and made in the United States, and used during World War II to bridge the gap between single-engine trainers and larger multi-engine combat aircraft. The ...

AT-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

advanced trainer,

North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

twin-engine medium bomber, and

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

, as well as other widely used fighter, bomber and observation craft. With the end of the war in 1945, the airfield was determined to be excess by the military and turned over to the local government for civil use in March 1948. The

Gossamer Condor The MacCready ''Gossamer Condor'' was the first human-powered aircraft capable of controlled and sustained flight; as such, it won the Kremer prize in 1977. Its design was led by Paul MacCready of AeroVironment, Inc. Design and developmen ...

piloted by Bryan Allen won the first

Kremer prize The Kremer prizes are a series of monetary awards, established in 1959 by the industrialist Henry Kremer. Royal Aeronautical Society Human Powered Flight Group The Royal Aeronautical Society's "Man Powered Aircraft Group" was formed in 1959 b ...

on August 23, 1977, by completing a figure 8 course specified by the

Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Members, Fellows ...

Minter Field Minter may refer to: Places in the United States *Minter, Alabama, an unincorporated community *Minter Village, California, an unincorporated community *Minter City, Mississippi * Minter, Washington State, Hendersen Bay's northwest shore, Carr Inle ...

. California Historic Landmark #923 is located at the field to commemorate this event.

Facilities and aircraft

Shafter-Minter Field covers an area of 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 § ...

of above

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

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 concrete, as ...

s: 12/30 is with an

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 ...

surface; 17/35 is with a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most ...

surface. For the 12-month period ending November 1, 2011, the airport had 45,000

aircraft operations, an average of 123 per day. At that time there were 114 aircraft based at this airport: 77% 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 ...

, 8%

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 attribut ...

, 7%

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 ...

, 4%

jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

, and 4% multi-engine.

References

Other sources

* * Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas * Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), ''Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy'', Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC.

External links

Shafter Airport/Minter Field
official site
Minter Field Air Museum

Aerial image as of September 1994
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, ...

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 ...

'' *
{{USAAF Training Bases World War II Airports in Kern County, California San Joaquin Valley Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in California Airports established in 1941 1941 establishments in California USAAF Western Flying Training Command American Theater of World War II

History

Facilities and aircraft

See also

References

Other sources

External links