Gillespie Field

Gillespie Field

FAA airport diagram
IATA: SEE – ICAO: KSEE – FAA LID: SEE
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner County of San Diego
Serves San Diego, California
Location El Cajon, California
Elevation AMSL 388 ft / 118 m
Coordinates 32°49′34″N 116°58′21″W / 32.82611°N 116.97250°W / 32.82611; -116.97250Coordinates: 32°49′34″N 116°58′21″W / 32.82611°N 116.97250°W / 32.82611; -116.97250
Website co.san-diego.ca.us/dpw/...
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
9L/27R 5,342 1,628 Asphalt
9R/27L 2,738 835 Asphalt
17/35 4,145 1,263 Asphalt
Statistics (2005)
Aircraft operations 209,345
Based aircraft 964

Gillespie Field (IATA: SEE, ICAO: KSEE, FAA LID: SEE) is a county-owned public airport 10 miles (16 km) northeast of downtown San Diego, in El Cajon, San Diego County, California.[1]

History

Section reference dates.[2]

In 1942 the United States Marine Corps chose a site with 688 acres (278 ha) 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 256 foot 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 MCCAF Gillespie were VMSB-141, Air Warning Squadron 10 and the Navy's TBM-3 Avenger torpedo squadron VT-37.[5][4][6]

Grumman TBF Avenger on the tarmac at the 2012 Wings Over Gillespie airshow

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 180 acres (73 ha) 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 70 acres (28 ha) 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 758 acres (307 ha) and has three asphalt runways:[1]

In 2012 the airport had 184,512 aircraft operations, average 548 per day: 99.9% general aviation, <1% air taxi and <1% military. 699 aircraft are based at the airport: 88% single-engine, 5% multi-engine, 4% helicopter, 2% jet and <1% glider.[1]

San Diego Air & Space Museum Gillespie Field Annex

Atlas 2E ballistic missile on display at the San Diego Aerospace Museum

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] and has an Atlas ICBM rocket as its gate guard, replica of the Spirit of St. Louis, and a recently restored F-102A Delta Dagger with drop tanks. 32°49′42″N 116°57′58″W / 32.828421°N 116.966146°W / 32.828421; -116.966146

See also

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 FAA Airport Master Record for SEE (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-10-25
  2. ↑ Gillespie Field (San Diego County web page)
  3. ↑ Shettle(200):97
  4. 1 2 "San Diego Metropolitan Area during World War II". California State Military Museum. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  5. 1 2 Shettle(200):98
  6. ↑ "Aircraft History Card N5260V General Motors - Eastern Aircraft Division TBM-3E Avenger U.S. Navy Bu. No. 91726" (PDF). Mid America Flight Museum. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  7. 1 2 Gehlkin, Michael (July 6, 2013). "Sports site No. 8: Cajon Speedway". The San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  8. ↑ Staff writers (August 22, 2005). "Cajon Speedway Will Become Hangars for Gillespie Field". Motocross Action Magazine. Hi-Torque Publications Inc. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  9. ↑ SDASM Gillispie Field Annex Restoration Facility
  10. ↑ "sandiegoairandspace.org". sandiegoairandspace.org. July 15, 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Dawid Hampel Photography - Gillespie Field Annex - Aircraft photographs". Retrieved 15 May 2016.
Bibliography
  • Shettle Jr., M. L. (2001). United States Marine Corps Air Stations of World War II. Bowersville, Georgia: Schaertel Publishing Co. ISBN 0-9643388-2-3. 

External links

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