El Tiro Gliderport , formally Marana Auxiliary Army Airfield No. 5 ( Sahuaro Field), is marked on the Phoenix

sectional chart In United States aviation, a sectional aeronautical chart, often called a sectional chart or a sectional for short, is a type of aeronautical chart designed for air navigation under visual flight rules (VFR). In Australia, Canada and some other ...

is a non-towered private use gliderport northwest of

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, United States. The airport property is leased from the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

and has been operated by the Tucson Soaring Club, Inc. (a chapter of the

Soaring Society of America The Soaring Society of America (SSA) was founded at the instigation of Warren E. Eaton to promote the sport of soaring in the USA and internationally. The first meeting was held in New York City in the McGraw–Hill Building on February 20, 193 ...

) since 1983. Marana Auxiliary Army Airfield No. 5 (aka Sahuaro Field) was one of five auxiliary fields that served

Marana Army Air Field Pinal Airpark , also known as Pinal County Airpark, is a non-towered, county-owned, public-use airport located northwest of the central business district of Marana, in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. Silverbell Army Heliport is co-loc ...

(now

Pinal Airpark Pinal Airpark , also known as Pinal County Airpark, is a non-towered, county-owned, public-use airport located northwest of the central business district of Marana, in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. Silverbell Army Heliport is co-l ...

) and is one of many

Arizona World War II Army Airfields During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) established numerous airfields in Arizona for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers. Most of these airfields were under the command of Fourth Air Force or the Ar ...

. Sahuaro Field first appeared on the Phoenix

in 1945. The airfield was originally described as a " square-shaped property having a square

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 ...

landing mat." After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

there is evidence of the airfield being used by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

in 1957 for pilot training in

North American T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...

and

T-28 Trojan The North American Aviation T-28 Trojan is a radial-engine military trainer aircraft manufactured by North American Aviation and used by the United States Air Force and United States Navy beginning in the 1950s. Besides its use as a trainer, ...

aircraft. From 1958 the airport was reportedly abandoned until Tucson Soaring Club leased the property.

Facilities

* 8L/26R measuring ,

dirt Dirt is any matter considered unclean, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Du ...

* 8L/26R measuring ,

superimposed Superimposition is the placement of one thing over another, typically so that both are still evident. Superimpositions are often related to the mathematical procedure of superposition. Audio Superimposition (SI) during sound recording and repro ...

on 8L/26R * 8/26 measuring , dirt center * 8R/26L measuring , dirt * 17L/35R measuring , dirt/treated * 17R/35L measuring , dirt/treated

Old runways

* 4L/23R , asphalt * 4R/23L , asphalt * 13L/32R , asphalt * 13R/32R , asphalt

Gallery

File:Marana_Army_Air_Field_1945_Phoenix_Sectional_Chart.jpg, 1945 Phoenix sectional chart shows El Tiro Gliderport as Marana Auxiliary Army Airfield No. 5 (aka Sahuaro Field). File:United States Geological Survey topo map of Marana Auxiliary Airfield No. 5.jpg, 1957 USGS topo map of Marana Auxiliary Airfield No 5 File:Glider and tow plane at El Tiro Gliderport AZ.jpg,

Grob G103 Twin Astir The Grob G 103 Twin Astir is a glass-reinforced plastic two-seat sailplane that was developed in Germany in the 1970s by Grob Aircraft AG as a counterpart to the single-seat G 102 Astir, then in production. Construction throughout is similar, ...

glider preparing to launch in tow by the

Piper PA-25 Pawnee The PA-25 Pawnee is an agricultural aircraft produced by Piper Aircraft between 1959 and 1981. It remains a widely used aircraft in agricultural spraying and is also used as a tow plane, or tug, for launching Glider aircraft, gliders or for towin ...

tow plane at El Tiro in 2020

References

External links

{{Arizona during World War II Airports in Pima County, Arizona Aviation in Arizona

Facilities

Old runways

Gallery

See also

References

External links