Airport type Public 17/35 5,506 Code WLD | Elevation AMSL 1,160 ft / 354 m 5,506 1,678 Serves Kansas | |
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Strother Field (IATA: WLD, ICAO: KWLD, FAA LID: WLD) is a public airport in Cowley County, Kansas. It is six miles southwest of Winfield and north of Arkansas City; it is owned by both cities. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation facility.
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History
An airport, jointly owned by Arkansas City and Winfield, was under construction in April 1942 when the United States Army Air Forces indicated a need for the airfield as a training airfield by the Army Air Forces Flying Training Command, Gulf Coast Training Center. Strother Army Airfield was rushed to completion with the first class of cadets scheduled to arrive for basic training in the BT-13 on December 14, 1942.
The military use of Strother Field ended in October 1945 and it was turned over for civil use. Today, the site is Strother Field and Industrial Park. Remaining wartime structures include 2 hangars, 2 link training buildings, 1 tetrahedron wind cone, 2 ruins sites, 1 building of unknown original use and runways.
The airport is named for Donald Root Strother, the first Army Air Corp pilot from Cowley County, Kansas to lose his life in World War II. His older brother Dean C. Strother became a four-star general in the United States Air Force.
Facilities
Strother Field covers 1,530 acres (619 ha) at an elevation of 1,160 feet (354 m). It has two asphalt runways: 17/35 is 5,506 by 100 feet (1,678 x 30 m) and 13/31 is 3,137 by 75 feet (956 x 23 m).
Strother field's industrial park includes a jet engine maintenance and manufacturing facility for GE Aviation.
In the year ending November 19, 2008 the airport had 6,500 general aviation aircraft operations, average 17 per day. 18 aircraft were then based at the airport: 83% single-engine, 11% ultralight, and 6% multi-engine.