Willows-Glenn County Airport - Willows, CA
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member NW_history_buff
N 39° 31.418 W 122° 13.122
10S E 567153 N 4375178
Willows Airport has some neat history going back to WWII.
Waymark Code: WMTDXK
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 11/08/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member bluesnote
Views: 4

An old airway beacon brought me to this airport. I found out that this beacon's original light at the top was replaced with a newer light many years ago. I don't know if this beacon still functions (my guess is no). There is apparently a benchmark disk in the center of its base as well as the original concrete direction arrow (used in the old airmail routes before WWII) near the base. The ground was covered with dirt and bark and I didn't have time to dig around to see if the arrow and benchmark were still there. I discovered a nice historical writeup on this airport form the Nancy's Airport Cafe website and it reads:

WILLOWS-GLENN COUNTY AIRPORT HISTORY

The Willows-Glenn Airport was initially a grassy field. The property for the present airport was obtained when the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District released various parcels to the City of Willows and to Glenn County for use in developing a community airport. The government agencies turned the project over to the Veterans of Foreign Wars who formed an airport committee in conjunction with the Achaean Club, a local service organization. The Northern California Air Show Association was formed in 1931 to generate money for the purchase of the airport property. Later, the U.S. Government, through the Civil Aeronautics Administration, became involved in the airport and built runways, a beacon and a large syphon under the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation Canal to properly drain the airport.

The City of Willows deeded its property on the airport to Glenn County on December 21, 1940. On April 25, 1942, the County leased the airport to the United States Government. Runway 13-31 was constructed during the winter 1941-42. Jimmy Doolittle began the final training of his B-25 crews for the bombing raid on Japan at this airport. The U.S. Forest Service also used the airport for a base of operations for aerial forest firefighting.

Type: Municipal

ICAO Airport Code: KWLW

IATA Airport Code: WLW

FAA Identifier: WLW

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