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Palm Springs International Airport is a public airport two miles (3 km) east of downtown Palm Springs, California. The airport covers and has two runways. The airport is highly seasonal, with most flights operating during the winter. The airport was named one of "America's Most Stress-Free Airports" by ''Smarter Travel''.〔http://www.smartertravel.com/photo-galleries/editorial/americas-most-stress-free-airports.html?id=74〕 ==History== PSP was built as a United States Army Air Corps emergency landing field in 1939 on land owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians due to its clear weather and its proximity to March Field and the Los Angeles area. In March 1941 the War Department certified improvements to the existing airport in Palm Springs as essential to National Defense. The airport was approved to serve as a staging field by the Air Corps Ferrying Command 21st Ferrying Group in November 1941. Land was acquired to build a major airfield one half miles from the old airfield site. The new airfield, Palm Springs Army Airfield was completed in early 1942, and the old air field was then used only as a backup. ((Aerial pic ) of the old airfield at , looking ENE) Many of the field's Air Transport Command 560th Army Air Forces Base Unit personnel stayed at the comfortable Lapaz Guest Ranch nearby. Training conducted at the airfield was by the 72d and 73d Ferrying Squadrons in long-distance over-water flying and navigation. Later, training was also provided to pursuit pilot training by IV Fighter Command 459th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron. Training was in P-51 Mustangs, P-40 Warhawks and P-38 Lightnings. On June 1, 1944, training moved to Brownsville Army Airfield, Texas, and the airfield was used for Army and Navy transport flights until the end of April 1945. The auxiliary field or backup field was declared surplus on May 12, 1945, and the main airfield was declared excess and transferred to the War Assets Administration for disposal in 1946 and it was sold to private buyers. The City of Palm Springs purchased the land in 1961 and converted it to Palm Springs Municipal Airport. Western Airlines flights began in 1945–46 and Bonanza Airlines in 1957–58; American appeared in winter 1967–68 and TWA in 1978–79. Scheduled nonstops did not reach beyond Southern California, Las Vegas, and Phoenix until the winter of 1969–70 when American Airlines started a Chicago nonstop route. In the 1970s, American started Douglas DC-10 wide body flights, the largest airliner ever scheduled to PSP. On December 30, 2006 a U.S. Air Force Presidential Boeing VC-25 (the USAF military version of the Boeing 747), departed Palm Springs International Airport with the body of the 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford and delivered to Washington, D.C., for memorial services. Although a true international airport, PSP does have customs for general aviation aircraft only, and immigration facilities; all inbound commercial international flights are from Canadian cities that have pre-clearance facilities. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Palm Springs International Airport」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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