Gillespie Field facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gillespie Field
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FAA airport diagram
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | County of San Diego | ||||||||||||||||||
| Serves | San Diego, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | El Cajon, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 388 ft / 118 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 32°49′34″N 116°58′21″W / 32.82611°N 116.97250°W | ||||||||||||||||||
| Website | co.san-diego.ca.us/dpw/... | ||||||||||||||||||
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Location in California
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Location in the United States
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Source: Federal Aviation Administration
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Gillespie Field (IATA: SEE, ICAO: KSEE, FAA LID: SEE) is a public airport located in El Cajon, San Diego County, California, United States. It's about 11.5 miles (18.5 km) northeast of downtown San Diego. The airport is owned by the County of San Diego and has an air traffic control tower.
Contents
History of Gillespie Field
Gillespie Field has an interesting past! It started during World War II in 1942. The United States Marine Corps chose a large area of land (about 688 acres or 278 hectares) east of San Diego. They wanted to use it for parachute training. This was for the new "Paramarines," who were special Marine paratroopers.
The camp was finished in September 1942 and was named Camp Gillespie. It honored Lieutenant Archibald H. Gillespie, a Marine officer important in California's history. To help paratroopers practice, three tall towers, each 256 feet (78 meters) high, were built for training jumps.
In February 1944, Camp Gillespie became a proper military airfield called Marine Corps Auxiliary Airfield Gillespie. It was a busy place where different military aircraft units trained. One type of plane that trained there was the Grumman TBF Avenger, a torpedo bomber used by the Navy.
After the war, in 1946, the airfield was given to San Diego County. It then became a place for general aviation, meaning it was used by private planes and smaller commercial flights. In 1952, the federal government officially gave ownership of the airport to the County.
Later, in 1955, the County leased some land next to the airport. This land became the Cajon Speedway, a race track, by 1961. The last race was in 2004. After that, the County started using part of this land to expand the airport in 2005.
In 1971, the County Sheriff's department set up ASTREA, their helicopter law enforcement base, at the airport. Also, in 1993, the San Diego Aerospace Museum (now the San Diego Air & Space Museum) opened a place at the field to restore old aircraft and show exhibits.
Airport Facilities and Operations
Gillespie Field is quite large, covering about 758 acres (307 hectares). It has three runways, which are long strips where planes take off and land. All the runways are made of asphalt:
- Runway 9L/27R: 5,342 feet (1,628 meters) long and 100 feet (30 meters) wide.
- Runway 9R/27L: 2,738 feet (835 meters) long and 60 feet (18 meters) wide.
- Runway 17/35: 4,145 feet (1,263 meters) long and 100 feet (30 meters) wide.
In 2016, the airport had over 226,000 aircraft operations. An "operation" means one takeoff or one landing. This averaged about 622 flights per day! Most of these flights (99.8%) were "general aviation," which includes private planes, flight training, and business jets. A small number were "air taxi" (small charter flights) or "military" flights.
At that time, 547 aircraft were based at Gillespie Field. Most of these were single-engine planes (86%), followed by multi-engine planes, helicopters, jets, and gliders.
San Diego Air & Space Museum Gillespie Field Annex
Gillespie Field is home to a special part of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. This is called the Gillespie Field Annex. It's where the museum restores old airplanes and rockets. It's also open to the public, so you can visit and see many cool vintage and modern aircraft on display!
Some of the amazing things you can see there include:
- An Atlas ICBM rocket, which stands like a guard at the entrance.
- A recently restored F-102A Delta Dagger jet with extra fuel tanks and missiles.
- A Grumman F-14A Tomcat jet, which was even used in the Top Gun movie sequel!
Accidents and Incidents
While airports are generally safe, sometimes incidents happen. On September 12, 1988, a US Navy F-14 jet experienced mechanical problems and crashed into two hangars at Gillespie Field. This caused damage to buildings and aircraft, and some people were injured.
On December 27, 2021, a Learjet 35 aircraft was on its way to land at Gillespie Field when it crashed into a neighborhood east of El Cajon. This was a very sad event.
See also
In Spanish: Gillespie Field para niños
- Gillespie Field (San Diego Trolley station)
- List of airports in California
- List of United States Marine Corps installations
- AirShow San Diego, an annual airshow formerly known as "Wings Over Gillespie"
