Pinal Airpark

Coordinates: 32°30′41″N 111°19′34″W / 32.511282°N 111.326094°W / 32.511282; -111.326094
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Pinal Airpark
16 May 1992
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorPinal County
Elevation AMSL1,892 ft / 577 m
Coordinates32°30′35″N 111°19′31″W / 32.50972°N 111.32528°W / 32.50972; -111.32528
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 6,850 2,088 Asphalt

Pinal Airpark (IATA: MZJ, ICAO: KMZJ) is an airport located in Pinal County, seven miles (11 km) northwest of the central business district (CBD) of Marana, a city in Pima County, Arizona, USA.

Its main purpose is to act as a "boneyard" for civilian commercial aircraft. Old airplanes are stored there with the hope that the dry desert climate will prevent any form of corrosion in case the aircraft is pressed into service in the future. Even so, many aircraft which are brought there wind up being scrapped. Nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force Base provides the same service to the U.S. military.

The majority of the aircraft at Pinal Airpark formerly belonged to Northwest Airlines, though many other airlines are represented as well.

Facilities

Pinal Airpark covers 2,080 acres (8.4 km²) and has one runway.

Marana became the headquarters of all CIA air operations during the Vietnam War years, when it was the primary facility of Intermountain Airlines/Airways/Aviation a wholly owned CIA "front" company which was used to supply covert operations in Southeast Asia and elsewhere.

Intermountain was quite famous for its thinly veiled CIA special ops which included development and use of the Fulton Skyhook, but its cover was its non-scheduled freight and maintenance operations.

Marana was the principal continental United States maintenance base for Southeast Asia CIA operations ops: Air America, Continental Air Services, etc.

Current usage

Pinal Airpark is the home of Evergreen Aircraft Maintenance Facility and Silverbell Army Heliport (SAHP).

The Western Army National Guard Aviation Training Site (WAATS) and other numerous National Guard units are located inside SAHP. The WAATS and is used principally for all ARNG AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter training by the 'Gunfighter University'. It is also extensively used by the British Army for 'Conversion To Role' training for Apache combat operations in Afghanistan.

Pinal Airpark also hosts the U.S. Special Operations Command's Parachute Training and Testing Facility.[1]

History

Built in 1942 by the Sundt & Del Webb Construction Companies and opened in March, 1943, the facility was known as Marana Army Air Field. During World War II, the airfield was under the command of the 389th Army Air Force Base Unit, AAF West Coast Training Center and used as a training base, as part of the 50,000 Pilot Training Program.

Marana conducted basic flight training & the training of transport pilots in instrument flying & navigation, being the home of the 3024th (Pilot School, Basic). Chinese pilots were also trained there. Five satellite airfields were established for Marana during WW2: Picacho Aux #1, Rillito Aux #2 (currently reused as Marana Northwest Regional Airport), Coronado Aux #3, Avra Aux #4, and Sahuaro Aux #5 (currently El Tiro Gliderport).

The infrastructure installed at Marana during World War II was extensive. This included water, sewer, and gas systems that were still used until some problems developed in the 1990s. There was also a massive storm drain system. The airfield also had a railroad spur line & railroad station.

Marana was closed after World War II and in 1948, Pinal County accepted a deed to the property, subsequent to the Air Force's disposal of most of the buildings, waterlines, gas lines, and electrical lines. From 1948-51, Pinal County leased the property to multiple tenants, and from 1951-56, Marana was reused as a contractor-operated USAF flying school, operated by Darr Aeronautical Technical Company.

Marana became the headquarters of all Central Intelligence Agency air operations during the Vietnam War years, when it was the primary facility of Intermountain Airlines, a wholly owned CIA "front" company which was used to supply covert operations in Southeast Asia & elsewhere. Intermountain was infamous for its thinly veiled CIA special ops which included development & use of the Fulton Skyhook, but its cover was its non-scheduled freight & maintenance operations. Marana was the principal continental United States maintenance base for Southeast Asia CIA operations including Air America and Continental Air Services.

Two of the more notable aircraft assigned to Marana during its CIA years was a Lockheed/Vega B-17G Flying Fortress, AAF Serial 44-85531. 531 was registered Sept 1957 to Western Enterprises, Inc. of Taiwan (founded by the CIA in 1951). In late 1957 missions were staged from Kurmitola Air Field in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to parachute agents into Tibet. The aircraft was disassembled for parts at Clark Air Base, Philippines between March and Oct 1958, and it is believed that this plane was eventually scrapped. The serial number 44-85531 appeared again as registered on another B-17G, Sep 1, 1960 registered to Atlantic General Enterprise, Washington DC (another CIA front) as N809Z. These registration numbers were then changed to the true numbers of 44-83785. Based again at Marana, this aircraft later flew black operations over Vietnam and was used to retrieve two American agents from an abandoned Soviet scientific base in the Arctic using the Fulton Sky Hook in Operation Coldfeet.

See also

References

  1. ^ Arizona Daily Star (Tucson), September 7, 2008, p. 1.

External links

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