Fort Stockton–Pecos County Airport Explained

Fort Stockton–Pecos County Airport
Iata:FST
Icao:KFST
Type:Public
Location:Pecos County, near Fort Stockton, Texas
Elevation-F:3,011
Elevation-M:917.8
Pushpin Map:Texas
Pushpin Mapsize:250
Pushpin Map Caption:Location
Pushpin Label:KFST
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
R1-Number:12/30
R1-Length-F:7,508
R1-Length-M:2,288
R1-Surface:Asphalt
R2-Number:3/21
R2-Length-F:4,399
R2-Length-M:1,341
R2-Surface:Asphalt
R3-Number:7/25
R3-Length-F:4,961
R3-Length-M:1,512
R3-Surface:Turf
R4-Number:16/34
R4-Length-F:3,981
R4-Length-M:1,213
R4-Surface:Turf
R5-Number:11/29
R5-Length-F:3,348
R5-Length-M:1,020
R5-Surface:Turf

Fort Stockton–Pecos County Airport is two miles NW of Fort Stockton, Texas; it is owned and operated by Pecos County, Texas.

History

The airport opened as Gibbs Field , or Fort Stockton Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base during World War II.

Opened on 1 June 1942 with two 2,500' turf runways. Began training United States Army Air Corps flying cadets under contract to Pacific Air School Ltd. Assigned to United States Army Air Forces Gulf Coast Training Center (later Central Flying Training Command) as a primary (level 1) pilot training airfield. had two local auxiliary airfields for emergency and overflow landings. Flying training was performed with Fairchild PT-19s as the primary trainer. Also had several PT-17 Stearmans and a few P-40 Warhawks assigned.

Inactivated on 12 March 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program. Declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on 30 September 1945. Eventually discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport.

Airline flights (Trans-Texas DC-3s) ended in 1960.

See also

References