35°20′23″N 099°12′02″W / 35.33972°N 99.20056°W
Clinton-Sherman Airport | |||||||||||||||
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| File:OK Airpark from the air.jpg | |||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | City of Clinton | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Clinton, Oklahoma | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Burns Flat, Oklahoma | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,922 ft / 586 m | ||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2006) | |||||||||||||||
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Clinton-Sherman Airport (IATA: CSM, ICAO: KCSM, FAA LID: CSM) is a general aviation airport located at Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark, near the town of Burns Flat in Washita County, Oklahoma, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of the city of Clinton, Oklahoma.
Clinton-Sherman Airport covers an area of 1,690 acres (684 ha) which contains two concrete paved runways: 17R/35L measuring 13,503 x 150 ft. and 17L/35R measuring 5,193 x 75 ft. (1,583 x 23 m). For the 12-month period ending May 2, 2006, the airport had 49,500 aircraft operations, an average of 135 per day: 98% military and 2% general aviation.[1]
The airport is located on the site of the former Clinton Naval Air Station (1942-1946), which later became Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base (1955-1969).
At the beginning of World War II, the United States Navy established a naval air station on 5,000 acres (20 km²) at this location in 1942 by condemnation at Burns Flat, Oklahoma for a naval airfield. The site was named the Clinton Naval Air Station (NAS). Four runways and numerous installation support facilities were built. The mission of Clinton NAS was to naval aviators. After the war ended, the naval air station was closed and the site was temporarily turned into a civilian airport.
With the end of the war in 1945, Clinton NAS was closed. On 27 January 1949, the United States of America (acting by and through the War Assets Administration) conveyed the installation to the City of Clinton, Oklahoma.
A portion of the airfield was leased by Sherman Iron Works for use in salvaging surplus combat aircraft and parts from thousands of surplus aircraft from the war.
The military returned in 1954 and converted the site into an Air Force facility known as Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base. The name is derived from the nearby city of Clinton and the Sherman Iron Works. The Air Force built the long runway to support B-52 bombers. The base was closed at the end of 1969, although the military still intermittently uses the airport for training purposes, such as touch-and-go landings of tankers and cargo aircraft.