Airport
Southern California Logistics Airport
(
IATA
:
VCV
,
ICAO
:
KVCV
,
FAA
LID
:
VCV
), also known as
Victorville Airport
, is a public
airport
located in the city of
Victorville
in
San Bernardino County
,
California
, approximately 50 mi (80 km) north of
San Bernardino
. Prior to its civil usage, the facility was
George Air Force Base
, from 1941 to 1992 a
United States Air Force
flight training
facility.
The airport is home to Southern California Aviation, a large transitional facility for commercial aircraft.
[1]
As a logistics airport, it is designed for business, military, and freight use. There are no commercial passenger services at this facility except for
FBO
and charter flights.
Facilities
[
edit
]
Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA) covers 2,300 acres (930 ha) and has two runways:
- Runway 17/35: 13,051 ft × 150 ft (3,978 m × 46 m), surface: asphalt/concrete
- Runway 03/21: 9,138 ft × 150 ft (2,785 m × 46 m), surface: asphalt/concrete
Southern California Logistics Center, immediately adjacent to SCLA, offers a wide variety of new warehouse and distribution facilities, ranging from 2,000 sq ft (190 m
2
) to over 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m
2
).
[2]
The SCLA
Military Operations in Urban Terrain
(MOUT) facility offers urban warfare training, and has served over 15,000 U.S. military personnel during the past ten years.
[
when?
]
History
[
edit
]
George Air Force Base in 1994
The federal government was responsible for helping the
Victor Valley
recover from the closure of George Air Force Base in 1992. The conversion of the former George Air Force Base to SCLA was designed to provide major corporations with logistics needs, access to a global
intermodal
logistics gateway to the Western United States. Located near
Interstate 15 in California
's Victor Valley, the 5,000-acre (2,000 ha) complete intermodal business complex is approximately 20 mi (32 km) north of
downtown San Bernardino
, and 23 mi (37 km) north of
San Bernardino International Airport
.
[3]
In July 2000, SCLA received
foreign trade zone
status from the
United States Department of Commerce
. The designation was intended to make it much easier for the Victor Valley Economic Development Authority to convince international carriers to use the airport as a base for shipping foreign products to Southern California. During that same period, the
Department of Transportation
approved a $4.9 million grant for the SCLA to extend its main runway from 10,050 ft (3,060 m) to 13,050 ft (3,980 m) to accommodate international jet transports. The airport authority required the 3,000 ft (910 m) extension to ensure that cargo planes could depart fully loaded in summer heat. The longer runway was also required for the efficient use of the facility as the main transportation hub for the 70,000 troops a year traveling to and from the
Army National Training Center
at Fort Irwin. At 15,050 ft (4,590 m), SCLA's runway 17/35 was the second longest public-use runway in the United States, surpassed only by that of the
Denver International Airport
16,000 ft (4,900 m) runway 16R/34L.
[3]
The runway was shortened in 2022 to 13,501 feet.
[4]
The
fiscal year
2002 military spending bill earmarked
US$1.3 million
to allow the
U.S. Army
to continue using the SCLA to transport
troops
en route to training exercises at Fort Irwin. The airport has proven to be one of the most efficient and safest locations for travel to and from the Army's National Training Center for the troops who rotate through each year. Company D of the
158th Aviation Regiment
is a general support aviation company that moved in under a five-year contract the Army signed with SCLA and the city of Victorville. The unit is part of the 244th Aviation Brigade of
Fort Sheridan, Illinois
.
[3]
Victorville's
aircraft boneyard
In late 2006, SCLA became home to Air
Tanker 910
, a heavily modified
McDonnell Douglas
DC-10
, which is on contract to the
California Department of Forestry
(CALFIRE). Tanker 910 used SCLA as its re-loading base for fires occurring anywhere in
California
.
[3]
SCLA has since stopped its servicing for such tankers like the
DC-10
and the
Calfire
Grumman S-2 Tracker
with most refueling points for Southern California wildfires being at
San Bernardino International Airport
or the former
Norton Air Force Base
and
Mojave Air and Space Port
.
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar
in storage at the airport
The
2007 Autonomous Vehicle Competition
took place on the former George Air Force Base. DARPA selected the location because its network of urban roads best simulated the type of terrain American forces operate in when deployed overseas.
[3]
N118UA, United Airlines' "Friend Ship" 747-400, arrived at the boneyard on November 9, 2017 to be stored. It was the final United 747 to carry passengers, flying its final revenue flight on November 7, 2017.
On November 2, 2018, the Presidential Plane of Mexico named TP-01 (registered as XC-MEX) of the
Mexican Air Force
arrived here to be sold off to its new owner by the order of New President of Mexico
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
.
[5]
On March 27, 2019, the first of two
747-8i
(N894BA) flew from SCLA to
Lackland Air Force Base
in
San Antonio
,
Texas
, for conversion into a presidential transport
VC-25B
. It was one of two built for the Russian airline
Transaero
, but the airline went bankrupt before taking delivery of the 747s. The cost of converting both aircraft is estimated to be $4.68B.
[6]
In 2019
Southwest Airlines
used the airport to store its fleet of
Boeing 737 MAX
after the airplane was
grounded by the FAA
.
[7]
[8]
On 14 February 2020, the
Guinness World Record
for the longest-distance
wheelie
in an airplane was set in a
Cessna 172
on the airport's runway 17. The pilot kept the plane's nose wheel from touching the asphalt surface for a distance of 14,319 feet (4,364 m).
[9]
[10]
In response to the sharp drop in air travel during the
COVID-19 pandemic
, several airlines contracted with
aircraft boneyard
operator ComAv to store aircraft and to keep them clean and in working order while they are in storage.
[11]
By late March 2020, about 275 airliners were in storage at SCLA.
[12]
As of 30 March 2020, Southwest Airlines had parked 50 active
Boeing 737-700
aircraft at Victorville.
[13]
The Australian airline
Qantas
began to move its entire
Airbus A380
fleet into storage at the facility in July 2020, due to the lack of international demand for flights.
[14]
Aircraft storage
[
edit
]
Aircraft maintenance and storage company ComAv Technical Services operates a 240-acre (97 ha) open storage facility at SCLA with a capacity of over 500 aircraft, plus hangars that can be used to maintain several more. The dry desert environment at SCLA is conducive to long-term preservation of aircraft.
[12]
Automobile storage
[
edit
]
In the aftermath of the 2015
emissions scandal
, German automaker
Volkswagen
leased 134 acres (54 ha) of land at the SCLA to store 21,000 cars it had reacquired from customers.
[15]
Accidents and incidents
[
edit
]
- 7 June 2001: The copilot of a
Learjet 24A
, registration number N805NA, inadvertently induced a lateral oscillation and lost directional control of the aircraft during
touch-and-go landing
practice with the
yaw damper
disengaged. After dragging the right-hand
tip tank
on the runway, the aircraft
landed hard
, collapsing the main
landing gear
and sliding off the runway. The aircraft was substantially damaged but its three occupants were not injured. The accident was attributed to the copilot's inadvertent loss of control and the
pilot in command
's failure to adequately supervise the copilot.
[16]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
- Movies (since 1996)
[17]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Pae, P. (15 March 2009).
"As travel declines, aircraft 'boneyard' in Victorville fills up"
.
The Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
21 January
2011
.
- ^
"Southern California Logistics Airport"
.
Global Access Victorville Masterplan
. Retrieved
26 January
2011
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA)"
. Retrieved
22 April
2020
.
- ^
Freeze, Christopher.
"Southern California Logistics Airport runway shortened"
. LinkedIn
. Retrieved
21 November
2023
.
- ^
Pascus, Brian; Zhang, Benjamin (December 3, 2018).
"Take a look inside the $218 million Boeing Dreamliner private jet the new president of Mexico is selling because it's 'too lavish'
"
.
Business Insider
. Retrieved
6 February
2019
.
- ^
"The first of two 747-8is marked to become the next Air Force One aircraft has been flown to Kelly Field Annex in San Antonio to begin conversion"
. 27 March 2019
. Retrieved
22 April
2020
.
- ^
"
"Airplane boneyards" are more than places where planes go to die"
.
www.marketplace.org
. Retrieved
2019-05-08
.
- ^
"Southwest Moves 737 MAX Aircraft To Victorville For Storage"
.
CBS Los Angeles
. 25 March 2019
. Retrieved
26 March
2019
.
- ^
Tulis, David.
"CFI sets longest-distance aircraft 'wheelie'
"
. AOPA
. Retrieved
26 February
2020
.
- ^
Martinez, Arlene.
"Pilot wheelies his way into the Guinness Book of World Records"
.
USA Today
. Retrieved
26 February
2020
.
- ^
Estacio, Martin (24 March 2020).
"Coronavirus: As air travel drops, demand for plane storage jumps at Southern California Logistics Airport"
.
Daily Press
. Victorville, California
. Retrieved
27 March
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Martin, Hugo (2020-03-24).
"Here is where airlines are parking all those grounded planes as travel dries up"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
22 April
2020
.
- ^
Arnold, Kyle (30 March 2020).
"Southwest Airlines CEO: We're parking more planes and cutting spending as COVID-19 challenge grows"
.
The Dallas Morning News
. Dallas, Texas
. Retrieved
30 March
2020
.
- ^
Platt, Craig (2020-09-30).
"Last Qantas A380 makes final flight ahead of desert storage"
.
Traveller
. Retrieved
2020-10-23
.
- ^
"Why 300,000 Volkswagens Are Being Stored In These Massive Auto Boneyards"
.
NPR
. 2018-03-29
. Retrieved
2023-07-23
.
- ^
"NTSB Aviation Accident Final Report LAX01TA204"
.
National Transportation Safety Board
. Retrieved
31 March
2020
.
- ^
"SCLA Filming"
. Retrieved
22 April
2020
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Primary and secondary schools
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Other education
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Landmarks
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History
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This list is incomplete.
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Commercial airports
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Towered general aviation airports
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Non-towered general aviation airports
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Military airports
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Defunct airports
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