Pryor Field Regional Airport covers an area of 200 acres (81 ha) which contains one asphalt paved runway (18/36) measuring 6,107 x 100 ft (1,861 x 30 m).[1]
For the 12-month period ending May 3, 2006, the airport had 167,701 aircraft operations, an average of 459 per day: 91% general aviation, 7% military and 2% air taxi. There are 144 aircraft based at this airport: 79% single engine, 14% multi-engine, 3% jet aircraft, 3% helicopters and 1% gliders.[1]
The Pryor Field Regional Airport receives $30,000 annually each from the cities of Athens and Decatur and from the county commissions of Morgan and Limestone.[3]
History
The airport opened in October 1941 with 4,600 by 4,600 feet (1,400 m × 1,400 m) square all-direction turf runway. It began training United States Army Air Corps flying cadets under contract to Southern Airways, Inc. and Southern Aviation Training School, Inc. It was assigned to Gulf Coast Training Center (later Central Flying Training Command) as a primary (level 1) pilot training airfield.
In addition, the school had had five local auxiliary airfields for emergency and overflow landings:
Flying training was performed with Fairchild PT-19s as the primary trainer. It also had several PT-17 Stearmans and a few P-40 Warhawks assigned. The airport was inactivated on December 28, 1944, with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program. It was declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on September 30, 1945. It was eventually discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport.
A newly built $1.8 million terminal building opened in 2008 at the north end of the field as part of a federally funded $3.3 million project. This also included lengthening the runway to 6,000 feet (1,800 m) to accommodate larger jets and improve safety.[4]
In 2007, Chris Wright was struck by a propeller as he was "hand propping" starting his plane. He received a gash to the head, but recovered.[7]
In 2009, Steven Raddatz was killed when his Van's Aircraft RV-8 collided with a Russian-made Yakovlek owned and flown by B.J. Kennamore, the latter of which landed safely after the collision.[8]
Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas OCLC71006954, 29991467
Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC. OCLC57007862, 1050653629
