Mesa Del Rey Airport is a public airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located one mile (1.6 km) northeast of King City

King City, California

King City is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. King City is located on the Salinas River southeast of Salinas, at an elevation of 335 feet . It lies along U.S. Route 101 in the Salinas Valley of the Central Coast of California. King City is a member of the Association of...

, serving Monterey County

Monterey County, California

Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County. As of 2010, the population was 415,057. The county seat and largest city is Salinas...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The airport is mostly used for general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

.

Facilities

Mesa Del Rey Airport covers 112 acre (0.45324832 km²) and has one runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

:

• Runway 11/29: 4,485 x 100 ft (1,367 x 30 m), Surface: Asphalt
  Asphalt
  Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
  
  

History

Opened in April 1940 as Palo Alto Airport or King City Airport. Originally had 4,570' NW/SE hard surfaced runway. It was used for most of World War II by the United States Army Air Forces

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

 as a primary (level 1) contract pilot training airfield. It also had four local auxiliary airfields for emergency and overflow landings. Pilot training contractor was Palo Alto Airport, Inc. Flying training was performed with Fairchild PT-19

Fairchild PT-19

|-See also:-Bibliography:* Mondey, David. American Aircraft of World War II . London: Bounty Books, 2006. ISBN 978-0-7537-1461-4....

s as the primary trainer. It also had several PT-17 Stearmans as well.

Military control of the airport was transferred to the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 in April 1945. It was known as King City Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS). The Navy declared airport surplus on 30 September 1945. Eventually it was discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport.

See also

• California World War II Army Airfields
  California World War II Army Airfields
  During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces established numerous airfields in California for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers.-Overview:...