Blythe Airport

Blythe Airport
IATA: BLH ICAO: KBLH
Summary
Airport type	Public
Location	Blythe, California
Elevation AMSL	399 ft / 122 m
Coordinates	33°37′09.0″N 114°43′00.8″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 8/26 6,543 1,994 Asphalt 17/35 5,800 1,768 Asphalt

Blythe Airport (IATA: BLH, ICAO: KBLH) is a public airport located six miles (9.7 km) west of Blythe, serving Riverside County, California, USA. The airport has two runways and is mostly used for general aviation.

Facilities

Blythe Airport has two runways:

• Runway 8/26: 6,543 x 150 ft (1,994 x 46 m). Surface: Asphalt
• Runway 17/35: 5,800 x 100 ft (1,768 x 30 m). Surface: Asphalt

History

Prior to World War II, Blythe Airport was established by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in the late 1930s as an emergency landing field on the Los Angeles to Phoenix airway. A commercial airport was opened in April 1940. During World War II the airfield was known as Blythe Army Air Base (also known as Bishop Army Airfield) and was used by the United States Army Air Forces.

The field was built for the I Troop Carrier Command but was given up by that command, without ever occupying it, to the Fourth Air Force as part of the United States Army Desert Training Center (DTC) was established by General George S. Patton shortly after the outbreak of the war, Blythe was the only air field with construction already under way. For six months, the air field served as the sole air support base for the Army maneuvers under way at the DTC.

The 46th Bombardment Group and later the 85th Bombardment Group occupied the field during the CAMA days and flew a variety of planes including A-31 Vengeances and A-36 Apaches. Once air fields were established at three new locations within the DTC (Thermal, Rice and Desert Center), Blythe field was no longer required for the Army's desert exercises. After General Patton was sent to North Africa, the name of the training center was changed to the California-Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA). The 46th and 85th Bomb Groups were reassigned elsewhere and Blythe's mission was changed to the training of combat air crews prior to shipment overseas.

Four-engined B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators replaced the dive bombers as part of the Second Air Force 16th Bombardment Training Wing 358th Combat Crew Training School.

Known units assigned to Blythe Army Airfield were:

• 46th Bombardment Group (Light) 23 May 1942-November 1942. A-20 Havoc
• 85th Bombardment Group (Light) 23 May 1942-November 1942. A-20 Havoc
• 85th Bombardment Group (Dive) 2 November-11 December 1942 A-24 Dauntlesses
• 34th Bombardment Group (Heavy) 15 December 1942-April 1944. B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators
• 398th Bombardment Group (Heavy) April 1943 B-17 Flying Fortresses

At its peak in December, 1943, the base had a population just short of 8000 uniformed and civilian personnel. This was twice the population of the city of Blythe, the only community within a one hundred mile radius. By April, 1944 only a housekeeping force was assigned to the base, now downgraded from Air Base to Air Field status. By July 1944 the field was abandoned by the Army and declared surplus. 126 airmen were killed in Blythe Army Air Base-related accidents.

Blythe Army Air Field later became a sub-base of Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base) on 30 June 1945, and was inactivated on 18 October 1945, although during October-December 1946, the 477th Composite Group (Medium) used the airfield for desert maneuvers, flying B-25 Mitchells. The War Assets Administration returned the airfield to civil control in 1947.

Today a modern airport has been built on the site of the former wartime airfield; however most of the area of what was Blythe Army Air Base has been abandoned to the natural landscape being empty and undeveloped. Deteriorating abandoned runways and concrete parking ramps are clearly visible in aerial photography.

See also

• California World War II Army Airfields

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
• Mauer, Mauer (1969), Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Air Force Historical Studies Office, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. ISBN 0892010975
• Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
• Airport Master Record (FAA Form 5010), also available as a printable form (PDF)

External links

• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for BLH
  • AirNav airport information for KBLH
  • ASN accident history for BLH
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures