Historic California Posts, Camps,
Stations and Airfields
Napa Army Air Field
(Napa Flight Strip, Naval Outlying
Field Napa)
A sub-base of Hamilton Field, It also
was a Naval Outlying Field under Naval Air Station Alameda. Now
Napa County Airport; operational from after construction in 1942
through 1943; civil 1944 onwards.
Wikipedia
History (2015)
The airport was built by the United States Army Air Forces about
1942, and was known as Napa Flight Strip. It was an emergency
landing airfield for military aircraft on training flights. It
was expanded later in the war and renamed Napa Army Airfield,
becoming an auxiliary airfield of the Fourth Air Force's Hamilton
Field. 4th Air Force used the base to train replacement fighter
pilots, primarily flying P-38 Lightnings before being deployed
overseas.
After World War II the property was deeded
to Napa County by the War Assets Administration for civil use.
The airport soon became a business hub for what was once a rural,
sparsely populated area in the south end of the county. Jonesy's
Restaurant opened for business in 1946 at the airport and was
a longtime favorite. The restaurant remained in business for
63 years before closing in 2010. By 1947 half a dozen small businesses
had opened at the facility but only Bridgeford Flying Service
remained open past the first year and remains in business today.
In 2012 the name was changed from Bridgeford Flying Service to
Napa Jet Center. In 1971 International Air Services Company (IASCO)
and Japan Airlines opened a flight training school at the airport.[6]
In June 2010 Japan Airlines announced that it would be closing
its training facility as part of a bankruptcy reorganization
plan. In February 2012 IASCO announced that it would be moving
its training facility to Redding, California in early March.
In June 2014, International Airline Training Academy signed an
agreement to lease space at the airport to train pilots for a
five-year period.
The control tower sustained minor damage
in the 2014 Napa earthquake. On May 22, 2015, Surf Air started
flying regular service to the airport.
Extract,
US Army Air Field Directory of Airfields (January 1945)
Napa County Airport
circa 2007
Extract, War
Department Inventory of Owned, Sponsored and Leased Facilities,
December 1945
Capacity:
Enlisted:
Permanent:
Mobilization (Quartermaster Corps 700-Series
or Corps of Engineers 800-Series):
Theater of Operations:
Hutments:
Tents:
Total:
Officers:
Station Hospital:
Acreage
Owned:
Leases:
640
Total:
640
Storage:
Covered:
Open:
Cost to Government Since 1 July 1940:
Land:
Construction:
$1,238,323.00
Total: $1,238,323.00
Remarks:
Inactive
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