Ainsworth Army Air Field
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The Ainsworth Army Air Field, completed on November 30, 1942, was a satellite
of Rapid City Army Air field and under the command of the second Air Force. The Field was on
of eleven Army Air Forces training bases built in Nebraska during World War II. The 2,496 acre
field included three 7,300 X 150 foot concrete runways, a hanger, warehouses, repair and machine
shops, link and bomb trainers, Norden bombsight vaults, and a barracks for over 600 officers and
enlisted men. the base's primary mission was to provide proficiency training for P-39 and P-47 pilots
of the 364th and 53rd fighter squadron, and for B-17 crews of the 540th and 543rd bombardment
squadrons before deployment to the European Theater of Operations. Aircraft camouflage
experiments were also conduced on the site.
Today the Ainsworth Airport Authority still maintains two runways (Rwy 12-30, 5500'X75' and
Rwy 17-35, 6800'X110') a 50'X50' helipad and five of the original WWII buildings. The facility
has a accommodated Lear, Falcon, Challenger, and Gulfstream Jet aircraft and occasionally
aircraft as large as a C-130 as well as Military and Civilian Helicopters. The Authority sells
approximately 8000 gallons of jet fuel and 30,000 gallons of 100LL (piston aircraft fuel) annually.
The largest single sale of jet fuel was 2,135 gallons to a Gulfstream II.
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