User:Narthring/EDIT Perrin Field

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North Texas Regional Airport

Perrin Field
AMSL
749 ft / 228 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
13/31 2,300 701 Asphalt
17L/35R 9,000 2,743 Concrete

North Texas Regional Airport (IATA: GYI, ICAO: KGYI), formerly Perrin Air Force Base and also Perrin Field and Grayson County Airport, is an airport located in Denison, Texas. The airport originally had three runways, but one 8,000'(2,438m) runway is closed and is used solely as a taxiway. The airport has an operational Category I instrument landing system (ILS) to Runway 17L. In Nov 2007, the airport was renamed "North Texas Regional Airport at Perrin Field.",[1] The former USAF control tower resumed operations in mid-2008.

The airport is used entirely for general aviation purposes. Several of the buildings are occupied by businesses, Grayson County government agencies, as well as

Grayson County College
.

As a general aviation reliever airport, unconfirmed reports suggest that the airport might potentially (in the distant future) serve as a third airport for the

Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex to handle travelers from its growing northern suburbs. If this occurs, commercial traffic would be focused on regional jet airline operations. A planned extension of State Highway 289 would pass the airport on the west side.[citation needed
]

History of Perrin Field

Established

Perrin Air Force Base began as an Army Air Field and was the first, basic flying training school to become operational after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941.[citation needed]

In the spring of 1941, Grayson County leaders began to discuss the possibilities of a

U.S. Army Air Corps
basic flying school to be built in Grayson County. In March 1941 Grayson County Judge Jake J. Loy went to [Washington, DC] to further the project idea. After his visit to Washington, Judge Loy returned to Sherman and began to work on the project with county commissioners and a tract of land was subsequently selected that was suitable for use as a flying field.

On 16 Jun 1941, the Office of the Chief of the Air Corps drew up a program for construction. A tentative authorized strength of 199 officers, 422 cadets, 1730 enlisted men, and funds in the amount of $3,966,833.00 were ordered and set aside for the construction of the airfield. The lease was signed by the United States Government and Grayson County on 1 Jul 1941 and the Army Corps of Engineers started construction on the newly established Grayson Basic Flying school the same week.[2]

World War II

On 9 Aug 1941, Major Robert J. Warren was the first person to report to duty at the partially constructed airfield, assuming duties as project officer and temporary Commanding Officer. Ten days later, five enlisted men arrived from San Angelo, TX to assist Maj Warren in the development of the airstrip, hangars, barracks and field headquarters building. On 21 Aug 1941, the first aircraft, a

BT-14
arrived at the newly constructed Grayson Basic Flying School. On 12 Nov 1941, Lieutenant Colonel Donald G. Stitt was assigned to the airfield and assumed command on 19 November 1941, with Maj Warren remaining as project officer. Lt Col Stitt was, in effect, the first commander of the field.

On 7 Dec 1941, the strength of the airfield stood at 90 officers and 545 enlisted men, with the first class of cadets expected by the end of December. In Jan 1942, the installation was renamed Perrin Field in memory of the late Lt Col Elmer D Perrin, a native Texan who had been killed in a 21 Jun 1941 crash during an acceptance test of a

Baltimore, MD
.

Normal manpower strength at base occurred in early 1943, averaging 2500 enlisted men and 300 officers. Training aircraft used at Perrin Field included approximately 250

BT-13s and AT-6s
, with approximately 550 maintenance personnel working 24 hour shifts. Pilot cadet classes numbered between 300 and 400 students. Perrin Field hosted the 32nd Flying Training Wing from Sep 1943 to Oct 1945, graduating over 10,000 pilots, including cadets from Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Philippines and Ecuador. The airfield also maintained a branch prisoner of war camp, holding about 200 German POWs.

Basic pilot training was discontinued at the base in late 1945 and qn instructor school was established to maintain instructor proficiency and provide refresher training for oversea returnees and behind-the-line pilots, but the base was deactivated in Nov 1946. Perrin became a storage facility for aircraft such as the

C-47
.

Cold War

On 1 Apr 1948, Perrin Field was reactivated under the newly established

A-26 Invader
medium bomber training was transferred and conducted at Perrin.

Beginning in 1951, NATO/Allied students began pilot training at Perrin, which continued until 1962 when this role was transferred to the flying training wing at

F-86 Sabre
that arrived in Dec 1952.

During the 1950s to early 1960s, Perrin host wing, the 3555th, went through several name changes, being known as the 3555th Flying Training Wing (fighter [Jun 1952 - Sep 1954]), the 3555th Combat Crew Training Wing (advanced interceptor [Sep 1954 - Aug 1958]), and the 3555th Flying Training Wing (advanced interceptor [Aug 1958 to Jul 1962]).

In July 1962, Perrin was transferred from ATC to the

U.S. Air Force and became the only F-102 replacement training base within the Air Defense Command. In Oct 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis
, a number of Perrin aircraft were placed on alert, while others were deployed to bases in Florida for alert and air defense missions.

The 4780th had two flying squadrons, the 4781st and 4782nd Combat Crew Training Squadrons. In 1964, the 4780th Air Defense Wing was chosen to host the Air Defense Command Life Support School at the nearby Lake Texoma. The school was initiated to give life support and ejection training to aircrews flying ADC aircraft and Air National Guard units that supported the ADC mission. Prior to the school's establishment, ADC had a twenty-two percent aircraft mishap fatality rate, but after the first year it fell to five percent.

The school trained and graduated over 11,000 aircrew members including forty-nine United States astronauts, several USAF F-102s having been bailed to the

T-37 Tweet
instructors.

Deactivated

On 3 Mar 1971, it was announced that Perrin AFB would close. On 13 May 1971, the last graduating class flew its F-102s in formation over Sherman and Denison as a farewell to its two host cities. A few days later, the last of the F-102 Delta Daggers left the base and the 4780th Air Defense Wing was deactivated. T-37 instructor pilot training transferred to

Randolph AFB
, also in Texas.

The closing of Perrin on 30 Jun 1971 was due mainly to a change in pilot training requirements and the crowded airways from the opening of the new

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
. The base that then consisted of over 1875 acres was given to the Grayson County Community College and to the County of Grayson. The name of the field was changed to Grayson County Airport and is home to a small industrial park and civilian flight operations.

Since the base's closure, a small group of local Sherman and Denison citizens have held the memory of Perrin together, hosting nine Perrin Field reunions since the early 1980s. The Perrin AFB Research Foundation was established in 1998. Today, in addition to serving as a general aviation airport, several businesses, as well as a juvenile detention center/boot-camp and adult probation center are built upon former barracks and nearby areas. There is a small museum dedicated to the former Perrin Air Force Base at the airport and

Grayson County College uses several of the buildings for its course offerings. The college also operates the former base golf course
.

North Texas Regional Airport

Current operations

Future

See also

References

  1. ^ North Texas Regional Airport/Perrin Field
  2. ^ [1]

External links

  • Perrin Air Force Base Turner Publishing (2004) 106 pages
    ISBN 1563119625
    , 9781563119620

Category:Airports in Texas Category:Grayson County, Texas Category:Closed facilities of the United States Air Force


Scratchpad

Named after Lt. Col. Elmber D Perrin

link trainer

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