Aviation View Magazine | Volume 1, Issue 4

45 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4 Oxnard was opened in 1934 with a 3,500-foot dirt runway. It had two aircraft and no place to shelter them. Shortly after that, Howard Hughes erected a tent there to shelter his H-1 racer, which he tested from the airport. In 1938 the runway was paved, and a large hangar was constructed, and the airport continued to grow, being taken over by the Army Air Corps during the Second World War. The first scheduled airline flights began in 1946 by Southwest Airlines and later Pacific Airlines, flying Douglas DC-3’s and Fokker F-27’s respectively. Pacific Airlines was replaced by Airwest Airlines in 1967, which was later purchased by the Hughes Corporation, becoming Hughes Airwest. The current terminal building opened in 1971 and has been served by commuter airlines such as Cable, Golden West, Wings West, Mesa and other small air carriers. As the years went by, a control tower was constructed, ILS and approach lighting were added, and the runway was lengthened to 5953 feet. These days it sees around 70,000 operations a year and has 128 planes based on the field. As of the publishing date, Oxnard Airport was in the midst of reconstructing the entire runway with a multi- million dollar FAA grant, on time and on budget. This essential project presented a significant interruption to the operations of the fixed wing tenants, but the airport was able to keep the control tower open and allow helicopter operations. “This is our commercial service airport,” says Nafie, “and while we don’t have an airline BE PART OF SOMETHING AMAZING BE PART OF SO ETHING A AZING We are a committed group of aviation professionals who are passionate about TBMs, a global leader in TBM sales, and operates the world's largest TBM maintenance facility with locations in Camarillo, California and Broomfield, Colorado. We are seeking passionate, highly skilled individuals that thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic, and technically demanding environment. Send resume to careers@newavex.com VENTURA COUNTY A I RPORTS (OXNARD & CAMAR I LLO)