New Century AirCenter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
New Century AirCenter
New century view.jpg
IATA: JCI – ICAO: KIXD – FAA: IXD
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Johnson County Arpt Comm
Serves Olathe, Kansas
Location Gardner, Kansas
Elevation AMSL 1,087 ft / 331 m
Coordinates 38°49′51″N 094°53′25″W / 38.83083°N 94.89028°W / 38.83083; -94.89028
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
4/22 5,130 1,564 Asphalt
18/36 7,339 2,237 Asphalt
Statistics (2004)
Aircraft operations 53,593
Based aircraft 193
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]
FAA diagram: New Century AirCenter

New Century AirCenter (IATA: JCI, ICAO: KIXD, FAA LID: IXD), formerly known as Naval Air Station Olathe, Flatley Field and Johnson County Industrial Airport, is a general aviation airport located four miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of Olathe, a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States.[1]

Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, New Century AirCenter is assigned IXD by the FAA and JCI by the IATA (which assigned IXD to Bamrauli Airport in Allahabad, India). The airport's ICAO identifier is KIXD. [2] [3]

The airport’s codes were derived from its name of Johnson County Industrial Airport. The county originally sought the “IND” designation for its “industrial” name but that identifier went to Indianapolis International Airport. The county then sought an “IJC” code based on the Johnson County name but that was rejected as too similar to the OJC code of the neighboring Johnson County Executive Airport (which was an auxiliary field for the Naval Station Olathe). The airport wound up with the closest available industrial code "IXD." The previous FAA code for Naval Air Station Olathe was NUU and the ICAO code KNUU.

Contents

[edit] History

The airport opened as Naval Air Station Olathe on October 1, 1942 and was referred locally as the Gardner, Kansas Navy Base because it was to be used for the Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) and Naval Air Primary Training Command (NAPTC) which had been operating out of Fairfax Airport.[4][5]

Future astronaut John Glenn was in the first class to be trained at the base and he was to make his first solo flight in a military plane from the base.[6]

Glenn described the airport in its early days:

It was a sea of mud and we made our way from building to building on wooden 'duck boards'.

After World War II NAS Olathe was used for flight operations by units of the Naval Air Reserve and Marine Air Reserve, as well as a naval air technical training center for active duty enlisted personnel. During the Korean War, NAS Olathe-based Naval Reserve Fighter Squadron 774 (VF 774) was recalled to active duty for two years, including six months of action aboard USS Boxer (CV-21).[7]

NAS Olathe's runways were lengthened in 1951 to accept the first jets, North American FJ-1 Furys, to be based at NAS Olathe. By 1954, a Jet Transition Training Unit (JTTU) was established at Olathe for propeller pilots transitioning to jet aircraft. F4D Skyray fighters later operated at NAS Olathe by Naval Air Reserve and Marine Air Reserve squadrons until 1966.[8]

From 1950 to 1955, the Air Force Reserve's 442d Troop Carrier Wing was temporarily based at NAS Olathe prior to its relocation to Grandview Airport, Missouri, later renamed Richards-Gebaur AFB. In 1959, NAS Olathe was also used as a site for the U.S. Army's Nike-Hercules Missile program.

World War II hero, then-Captain, later Vice Admiral James H. Flatley, Jr., commanded NAS Olathe for about a year. The base was to be renamed NAS Olathe (Flately Field) for him in 1962.

For over 20 years, Naval Air Reservists from across the Midwst honed their skills and maintained their readiness with squadrons and support units at NAS Olathe. However, budgetary pressures of the Vietnam War forced NAS Olathe to close. The base was decommissioned on October 29, 1969 and the air station was officially closed in July 1970 with the understanding that the Navy could retain thirteen buildings for non-flying Naval Reserve aviation programs as Naval Air Reserve Center Olathe.[9]

The airport was acquired by Johnson County in 1973 and renamed Johnson County Industrial Airport to reflect a new mission of being an industrial park (including the Fred Allenbrand Criminal Justice Complex for Johnson County). On September 28, 1994 the name was changed to New Century AirCenter so as not to minimize its aviation component. In 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) voted to close NAVAIRESCEN Olathe and consolidate its units and functions at other Naval Air Reserve activities, [10] with all Navy activities ceasing in 1996.

The base was featured in a segment on the A&E Network entitled “Haunted America” in which it is claimed the base is the site of paranormal activity after a pilot crashed into an aircraft hangar next to the airport control tower in the 1950s. According to the report: security guards hear voices, whistles, footsteps on the floor and on overhead catwalks. Locks refuse to stay locked and doors open and close without wind or human intervention and an occasional apparition makes an appearance. [11]

[edit] Facilities and aircraft

Aerial view of NAS Olathe in the 1940s

New Century Aircenter Airport covers an area of 2,600 acres (1,052 ha) which contains two runways:[1]

  • Runway 4/22: 5,130 x 100 ft (1,564 x 30 m), Surface: Asphalt
  • Runway 18/36: 7,339 x 150 ft (2,237 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt

For 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 58,114 aircraft operations, an average of 159 per day: 55% transient general aviation (32,150), 39% local general aviation (22,697), 4% air taxi (2,179) and 2% military (1,088). There are 130 aircraft based at this airport: 73% single engine (95), 21% multi engine (27), 6% jet aircraft (8) and 12% military (16).[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Master Record for IXD (Form 5010 PDF), retrieved 10/15/2008
  2. ^ Great Circle Mapper: JCI / KIXD - Olathe, Kansas (New Century AirCenter)
  3. ^ Great Circle Mapper: IXD / VIAL - Allahabad, India (Bamrauli Airport)
  4. ^ Kansas State Historical Society profile of airport
  5. ^ Kancoll.org profile of airport
  6. ^ A Century of Kansas City Aviation History - The Dreamers and the Doers - By George R. Baurer - Historic Preservation Press - 1999 - ISBN 0965876128
  7. ^ Wings at the Ready, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, c1991, pp. 134-136, ISBN 1-55750-750-3
  8. ^ Wings at the Ready, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, c1991, p. 136, ISBN 1-55750-750-3
  9. ^ Wings at the Ready, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, c1991, p. 136, ISBN 1-55750-750-3
  10. ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pnav/is_199506/ai_1402145814
  11. ^ Global Security.org profile of Olathe

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Century_AirCenter"