Daniel Field

Daniel Field
2006 USGS airphoto
IATA: DNL ICAO: KDNL FAA LID: DNL
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Augusta-Richmond County
Serves	Augusta, Georgia
Elevation AMSL	423 ft / 129 m
Coordinates	33°27′59″N 082°02′22″W / 33.46639°N 82.03944°W / 33.46639; -82.03944Coordinates: 33°27′59″N 082°02′22″W / 33.46639°N 82.03944°W / 33.46639; -82.03944
Website	www.augustaga.gov/...
Map
DNL Location of airport in Georgia
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 5/23 4,002 1,220 Asphalt 11/29 3,738 1,139 Asphalt
Statistics (2010)
Aircraft operations 29,000 Based aircraft 48
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Daniel Field (IATA: DNL, ICAO: KDNL, FAA LID: DNL) is a public use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) west of the central business district of Augusta, a city in Richmond County, Georgia, United States. It is owned by the City of Augusta and operated by the General Aviation Commission. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.

The origins of Daniel Field begin in 1924, when the City of Augusta leased 302 acres (1.22 km²) for an airport and a municipal golf course. About 35,000 people attended the airport's dedication on October 29, 1927. Against the Mayor's wishes, the City Council named the airport Daniel Field. for Mayor Raleigh Daniel, who was a major proponent of the city leasing the land in the early 1920s.

On December 1, 1931, Eastern Air Transport began passenger service, but discontinued it five months later due to unprofitability. Eastern resumed service in November 1932 after obtaining a mail contract. The same year, Delta Air Lines began serving Atlanta and Charleston, S.C. from Augusta. In 1938, the Works Progress Administration began a project that added paved runways, drainage and other improvements.

Alarmed by the fall of France in 1940, Congress funded an increase in the strength of the United States Army Air Corps from 29 to 54 combat groups and increased pilot training to 7,000 per year. The quickest way for the Air Corps to obtain additional bases was to utilize existing civil airports. On September 21, 1940, the Air Corps announced a $1.5 million project to build facilities at Daniel Field to support 100 to 110 pursuit aircraft and 2000 men. Because of technicalities in the land transfer, construction did not begin until March 1941. Once begun, a large construction program was needed to turn the civil airport into a military airfield. Construction involved runways and airplane hangars, with three concrete runways, several taxiways and a large parking apron and a control tower. Several large hangars were also constructed. Buildings were ultimately utilitarian and quickly assembled. Most base buildings, not meant for long-term use, were constructed of temporary or semi-permanent materials. Although some hangars had steel frames and the occasional brick or tile brick building could be seen, most support buildings sat on concrete foundations but were of frame construction clad in little more than plywood and tarpaper