Historic California
Posts, Camps, Stations and Airfields
Lemoore Emergency Landing Field
(Coalinga Municipal Airport, Coalinga
Emergency Landing Field)
The original airport for the town of Coalinga
was located adjacent to the northwest side of the town. The date
of construction of the former small general aviation airport
is unknown.
The earliest depiction which has been
located of the Coalinga Airport was on the 1929 Rand-McNally
Air Trails Map of California. It described Coalinga as a
municipal airport operated by the Chamber of Commerce, and the
field was said to measure 2,000' x 1,400'.
The Standard Oil Company's 1929 Airplane
Landing Fields of the Pacific West described Coalinga Airport
as having an irregularly shaped 2,750' x 2,100' landing area.
According to K.O. Eckland, in 1936 Coalinga
had two runways, with the longest being a 4,200' northwest/southeast
strip.
The Airport Directory Company's 1937
Airports Directory described Coalinga Municipal as having
two oiled runways, with the longest being a 4,200' northwest/southeast
strip.
It was also described as having a hangar,
with "Coalinga" painted on the roof.
The December 1941 San Francisco Sectional
Chart depicted Coalinga as a commercial or municipal airport.
The Coalinga Airport was apparently taken
over by the Army in 1942 and "Coalinga, Army" was listed
in the 1944 US Army/Navy Directory of Airfields. It was
described as having a 3,600' runway. 1945 aeronautical chart
depicted Coalinga as an auxiliary airfield.
Coalinga Municipal was listed among active
airports in the 1962 AOPA Airport Directory, with two paved runways,
and the operator listed as "Crumpton Flying Service".
The runway at Coalinga had evidently been
lengthened by 1976, as the 1976 Pilot's Guide to California
Airports depicted Coalinga Municipal as having two paved
runways: 5,280' Runway 12/30 & 4,120' Runway 1/19. Several
taxiways led to a ramp at the southeast corner of the field,
where Coalinga Air Service & West Hills Aviation (a crop
dusting service) were located.
In the 1982 AOPA Airport Directory,
Coalinga was described as having two asphalt runways (12/30:
5,280' & 1/19: 4,120'), and the operator was listed as Kiwi
Kopters.
In the late 1990s, the New Coalinga Municipal
Airport (a few miles to the east) was built to replace the original
airport. Both fields were still depicted as active airports on
1998 aeronautical charts, but the original Coalinga Airport has
since closed (at some point between 1998-2002