Central Nebraska Regional Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Central Nebraska Regional Airport
nativename =
nativename-a =
nativename-r =


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IATA = GRI
ICAO = KGRI
type = Public
owner =
operator = Hall County Airport Authority
city-served =
location = Grand Island, Nebraska
elevation-f = 1,847
elevation-m = 563
coordinates = Coord|40|58|03|N|98|18|34|W|type:airport|display=inline,title
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 17/35
r1-length-f = 7,002
r1-length-m = 2,134
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 13/31
r2-length-f = 6,608
r2-length-m = 2,014
r2-surface = Concrete
stat-year =
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stat1-data =
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Central Nebraska Regional Airport Airport codes|GRI|KGRI is a public airport located three miles (5 km) northeast of the central business district (CBD) of Grand Island, a city in Hall County, Nebraska, USA. The airport covers convert|2435|acre|ha|0|lk=on and has two runways. It is served by one commercial airline, with service subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

Air Midwest, operating as US Airways Express, commenced service on October 29, 2006, with two daily flights to Omaha Eppley Airfield and one daily flight to Kansas City International Airport. Air Midwest ended service in May 2008, and Island Air planned to take over service, but then backed out. An airline has yet to be selected to replace the lost service.

Central Nebraska Regional Airport was selected to be the site of a new Chinook Helicopter Base. The Nebraska National Guard has been on site since 2004, with ground scheduled to be broken in 2006 and the base opening in 2008.

History

During World War II the airport was known as Grand Island Army Airfield, and it was one of eleven United States Army Air Force training bases in Nebraska during World War II. The base was under the command of Second Air Force Headquarters, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The base's primary mission was to train pilots and aircrews of Boeing B-29 Superfortreses prior to their deployment to the South Pacific.

Known units that trained at Grand Island AAF were:

* 6th Bombardment Group (18 May - 19 November 1944)
Deployed to Twentieth Air Force, Tinian (B-29)
* 502d Bombardment Group (26 September 1944 - 7 April 1945)
Deployed to Twentieth Air Force, Guam (B-29)
* 449th Bombardment Group (8 September 1945 - 4 August 1946)
B-29 Group assigned to Strategic Air Command at Grand Island. Deactivated.
* 28th Bombardment Group (4 August 1946 - 6 October 1946)
Redesignated from 449th Bomb Group, transferred to Elmendorf AAF Alaska.

Wartime groups that deactivated at Grand Island AAF were:

* 376th Bombardment Group (25 June - 10 November 1945)
Returned from Fifteenth Air Force, Italy (B-24)

The 242nd (Operational Training Unit, Very Heavy) of the 17th Bombardment Training Wing commanded the support elements at Grand Island AAF as part of Air Technical Service Command.

With the departure of the B-29s in late 1946, the USAAF closed Grand Island Army Airfield and the facility was turned over to local authorities to develop as a civil airport. However the military use of the base did not end entirely. During the 1960s, Grand Island Regional Airport was utilized by Convair F-106 Delta Darts of the 328th Fighter Wing, 326th FIS (Air Defense) of Aerospace Defense Command as a dispersal base. These aircraft were deployed from Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base outside of Kansas City, Missouri. These dispersal flights ended in 1968.

Airlines and destinations

* Allegiant Air (Las Vegas)

See also

* Second Air Force
* United States Army Air Force
* Nebraska World War II Army Airfields

References

* [http://www.flygri.com/ Central Nebraska Regional Airport] (official web site)
* [http://armyairforces.com ArmyAirForces.Com]
* Maurer Maurer, "Air Force Combat Units Of World War II", Office of Air Force History, 1983
*FAA-airport|ID=GRI|use=PU|own=PU|site=12743.*A
*Notes:

External links

* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Grand+Island,+NE&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=40.968234,-98.309011&spn=0.027868,0.082741&t=k&om=1 Central Nebraska Regional Airport on Google Earth]

*FAA-diagram|00173