Atkinson Municipal Airport is a public use airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located three nautical miles (6 km) northwest of the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 of Pittsburg

Pittsburg, Kansas

Pittsburg is a city in Crawford County, in southeastern Kansas, United States. It is the most populous city in Crawford County and in southeastern Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 20,233.-History:...

, a city in Crawford County

Crawford County, Kansas

Crawford County is a county located in southeastern Kansas in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 39,134. Its county seat is Girard, and its most populous city is Pittsburg. The county was named in honor of Samuel J. Crawford, Governor of Kansas...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is owned by the City of Pittsburg.

Facilities and aircraft

Atkinson Municipal Airport covers an area of 742 acres (300.3 ha) at an elevation

Elevation

The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....

 of 950 feet (290 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt

Asphalt

Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...

 paved runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

s: 16/34 measures 5,500 by 100 feet (1,676 x 30 m) and 4/22 is 4,001 by 75 feet (1,220 x 23 m).

For the 12-month period ending September 11, 2007, the airport had 23,600 aircraft operations, an average of 64 per day: 99.6% general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 and 0.4% military

Military aviation

Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...

. At that time there were 41 aircraft based at this airport: 68% single-engine

Aircraft engine

An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...

, 7% multi-engine, 17% jet

Jet aircraft

A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...

, 2% helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

 and 5% ultralight.

History

Established as Pittsburg Airport in April 1940. Taken over by the United States Army Air Force on 25 May 1942 as a basic (level 1) pilot training airfield. Assigned to USAAF Gulf Coast Training Center (later Central Flying Training Command). Conducted contract basic flying training by McFarland Flying Service. Fairchild PT-19

Fairchild PT-19

|-See also:-Bibliography:* Mondey, David. American Aircraft of World War II . London: Bounty Books, 2006. ISBN 978-0-7537-1461-4....

s were the primary trainers used. Also had several PT-17 Stearmans and a few P-40 Warhawks assigned. Flight school also operated two auxiliary airfields in the local area. Unpowered glider pilot training was also performed by 21st Army Air Forces Glider Training Detachment from May 1942 until February 1943

Inactivated 20 October 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program and was declared surplus in 1946. Responsibility for it was given to the War Assets Administration and was eventually acquired by City of Pittsburg.

See also

• Kansas World War II Army Airfields
  Kansas World War II Army Airfields
  During World War II, Kansas was a major United States Army Air Force training center for pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers. Kansas was a favored because it has excellent, year-round flying conditions...
  
  

External links

• Aerial photo as of 30 September 1991 from USGS The National Map