Gillespie Field Explained

Gillespie Field
Iata:SEE
Icao:KSEE
Faa:SEE
Type:Public
Owner:County of San Diego
City-Served:San Diego, California
Location:El Cajon, California
Elevation-F:388
Elevation-M:118
Coordinates:32.8261°N -116.9725°W
Website:co.san-diego.ca.us/dpw/...
Pushpin Map:USA California#USA
Pushpin Label:SEE
Pushpin Label Position:right
R1-Number:9L/27R
R1-Length-F:5,342
R1-Length-M:1,628
R1-Surface:Asphalt
R2-Number:9R/27L
R2-Length-F:2,738
R2-Length-M:835
R2-Surface:Asphalt
R3-Number:17/35
R3-Length-F:4,145
R3-Length-M:1,263
R3-Surface:Asphalt
Stat-Year:2016
Stat1-Header:Aircraft operations
Stat1-Data:226887
Stat2-Header:Based aircraft
Stat2-Data:547
Footnotes:Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

Gillespie Field is a county-owned public towered airport 11.5miles northeast of downtown San Diego, in El Cajon, San Diego County, California, United States.[1]

History

Section reference dates.[2] In 1942 the United States Marine Corps chose a site with 688acres east of San Diego for parachute training for the newly forming Parachute battalions. In September 1942 Camp Gillespie was completed and named in honor of Lieutenant Archibald H. Gillespie, a Marine officer who played a prominent role in the effort to separate California from Mexico in the 1840s.[3] Three high towers were built from which the paratroopers practiced their jumps.[4]

In February 1944, the camp was commissioned as Marine Corps Auxiliary Airfield Gillespie under the command of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. MCAAF Gillespie soon became responsible for Camp Pendleton Outlying Air Field. Among the units that transited and trained at MCAAF Gillespie were VMSB-141, Air Warning Squadron 10 and the Navy's TBM-3 Avenger torpedo squadron VT-37.[5] [4] [6]

In 1946 the airfield was turned over to San Diego County and became a general aviation facility.[5]

In 1952 the County was granted ownership of the facility by the federal government.

In 1955, the County granted a 50-year lease for 180acres of land adjacent, to the south, of the airport, which became the Cajon Speedway by 1961.[7] The last race was run in 2004, and the County started expansion of the airport onto 70acres of this land in 2005.[7] [8]

In 1971 the County Sheriff stationed ASTREA, a helicopter law enforcement base at the airport, and in 1993 the San Diego Aerospace Museum located its restoration operations and an exhibit at the field.

Facilities and operations

Gillespie Field covers 758acres and has three asphalt runways:[1]

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2016 the airport had 226,887 aircraft operations, average 622 per day: 99.8% general aviation, <1% air taxi and <1% military. At that time there were 547 aircraft are based at the airport: 86% single-engine, 7% multi-engine, 3% helicopter, 3% jet and 1% glider.[1]

San Diego Air & Space Museum Gillespie Field Annex

Gillespie is the home of the restoration facility Gillespie Field Annex[9] for the San Diego Air and Space Museum (formerly San Diego Aerospace Museum).[10] It is open to the public and has on display many vintage and modern aircraft.[11] It has an Atlas ICBM rocket as its gate guard, a recently restored F-102A Delta Dagger with drop tanks and AIM-4A Falcon missiles, and a Grumman F-14A Tomcat used in the Top Gun movie sequel.32.8284°N -116.9661°W

Accidents and incidents

On September 12, 1988, a US Navy F-14 with mechanical problems crashed into two hangars at Gillespie Field. Three persons on the ground and the two crew were injured, and 19 aircraft and 13 vehicles were damaged or destroyed.[12]

On December 27, 2021, a Learjet 35 aircraft on a repositioning flight from John Wayne Airport crashed into a neighborhood east of El Cajon during an approach to Runway 27R.[13] [14] All four occupants were killed.[15]

See also

References

Notes
Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. , effective 2016-12-31
  2. http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/dpw/airports/gillespie.html Gillespie Field
  3. Shettle(200):97
  4. Web site: San Diego Metropolitan Area during World War II. California State Military Museum. 15 July 2016.
  5. Shettle(200):98
  6. Web site: Aircraft History Card N5260V General Motors - Eastern Aircraft Division TBM-3E Avenger U.S. Navy Bu. No. 91726 . Mid America Flight Museum . 15 July 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160817074150/http://www.midamericaflightmuseum.org/Avenger1.pdf . 17 August 2016 . dead .
  7. News: Sports site No. 8: Cajon Speedway . Gehlkin . Michael . . July 6, 2013 . 2 July 2016.
  8. News: Cajon Speedway Will Become Hangars for Gillespie Field . Staff writers . Motocross Action Magazine . Hi-Torque Publications Inc. . August 22, 2005 . 2 July 2016.
  9. http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/about_the_museum/gillespie_field_annex.php SDASM Gillispie Field Annex
  10. Web site: sandiegoairandspace.org . sandiegoairandspace.org . July 15, 2013 . 19 July 2013.
  11. Web site: Dawid Hampel Photography - Gillespie Field Annex - Aircraft photographs . 15 May 2016.
  12. News: Frammolino . Ralph . Fritsch . Jane . Navy Jet Crashes Into Gillespie Field Hangars . Los Angeles Times . September 13, 1988 .
  13. News: Riggins . Alex . NTSB report sheds new light on Learjet crash that killed 4 in East County . April 3, 2022 . . January 11, 2022.
  14. NTSB Aviation Accident Preliminary Report - WPR22FA068 . . April 3, 2022 .
  15. Web site: 2021-12-28. Small jet plane crashes in neighborhood near El Cajon: authorities. 2021-12-28. FOX 5 San Diego. en-US.