There is anecdotal evidence that Tehachapi Airport was used during World War II by the Army Air Corps (after 1942, Army Air Forces) as an alternative landing field when fog closed Minter Field. There is written evidence that the Army Air Forces had expressed an interest in 1941 in using all airfields and airports in the Kern County system. In the period after World War II, there is anecdotal evidence for ad hoc use as an alternative landing field by the Marine Corps Air Station in Mojave, and for limited use for refueling military planes during the Cold War period. Neither the
Army Air Corps/Army Air Forces nor the Marine Corps made any improvements to the site. Two underground storage tanks which were installed for refueling unspecified military planes in 1978 have been removed.
Site Name: Tehachapi Airport, also known as Tehachapi-Kern County Airport No.4; Tehachapi County Airport; Tehachapi Municipal Airport; and County Landing Field, Tehachapi.
Location: Tehachapi Airport is located in the city of Tehachapi, eastern Kern County, California.
Site History: A landing field was established at Tehachapi in 1927 on a site owned by the Ramina Corporation. The site was acquired by Kern County in 1938 and improvements made to the
landing field. Kern County operated the site as a public airport until 1980 when ownership and operation were transferred to the City of Tehachapi, which continues its operation as a public
airport. The airport has primarily been used for commuter flights within the Kern County system of airports. There is anecdotal evidence that the Army Air Corps/Army Air Forces used Tehachapi Airport during World War II (WWII) as an alternative landing field when fog closed fields in the San Joaquin Valley. During WWII, US. Army troops in transit camped overnight on the site. In the period following WWII there is anecdotal evidence for limited, ad hoc use of Tehachapi Airport for refueling unspecified military planes and as an alternative landing field for pilots from the Marine Corps Air station in Mojave. Refueling was manual until the installation of two underground storage tanks in the mid 1950s. All underground storage tanks have been removed and refueling is now from a mobile fuel truck.
There is no evidence that the Army Air Corps or Marine Corps made any improvements to the site nor stored or used explosives there. Two underground storage tanks were installed during the Cold War, ca. 1978, for refueling unspecified military planes.
