20th century In mid-December 1942, during
World War II,
Allentown, Pennsylvania, was the site for the production of the
TBY-2 Sea Wolf torpedo bomber used by
U.S. Navy. The bomber was manufactured at
Mack Trucks' Plant 5C.
Consolidated Vultee built present-day Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport, which included an office building, hangar, the airport, and a highway that linked the plant to the new airport complex. Mack Trucks initially was reluctant to give up Plant 5C because they considered it essential for wartime truck production; however, the
War Production Board and the U.S. Navy overruled them.
Convair Field, as the airfield was originally named, was dedicated on October 10, 1943. When the plant reached full production, it employed several thousand people, over half of whom were women. Consolidated Vultee became Allentown's second-largest industry, handling over $100 million in World War II contracts. Along with the airfield and manufacturing facilities, a new neighborhood of homes was built for the aircraft workers and their families. In December 1943, the National Housing Center approved the construction of 250 units for Vultee workers on a tract bounded by 12th, 14th, Harrison, and Wyoming streets and included Liberator Avenue, Catalina Avenue, and Vultee Street. The neighborhood, established by the Allentown Housing Authority, still exists in the city. By 1943, the facility was producing components for the
BT-13 Valiant trainer and
B-24 Liberator bomber. In September 1943, Consolidated Vultee received an order to build 1,100 TBY-2 Sea Wolf torpedo bombers for the Navy. There were production delays lasting nearly a year, but the first aircraft were delivered to the Navy on November 7, 1944. By this time, the usefulness of the plane became limited as the
Grumman TBF Avenger was the primary torpedo bomber in combat, equipping all Navy torpedo squadrons. Subsequently, only 180 TBY-2s were produced and none were used in combat. With the end World War II in 1945, aircraft production at the facility ceased, and Plant 5C was returned to Mack Trucks. The remainder of the facility was declared surplus by the
War Assets Administration. On July 10, 1947, ownership of Convair Field was transferred from the
U.S. federal government to the City of
Allentown. As part of the transfer, Allentown agreed to keep the airport open as an emergency landing field. The following year, in 1948, the
Pennsylvania Air National Guard signed a lease to take over the aviation facilities for flight training in support of the
148th Fighter Squadron at Reading Airport. During the 1950s, a series of training exercises was carried out at Convair Field. Due to budgetary cutbacks the Reserve Training Center at Reading was inactivated on May 1, 1950, and reassigned to
New Castle County Airport in
Delaware. The
U.S. Air Force subsequently closed its facilities at Reading Airport and returned it to civil control. In 1951, the Air National Guard facilities in Allentown were turned over to
Air Products and Chemicals. Air Products paid $12,000 annually in rent, which was used for the airport's maintenance.
21st century The airport is owned and operated by the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority (LNAA), which bought it from the City of Allentown in 2000. LNAA also manages Lehigh Valley International Airport and
Braden Airpark. In 2006, Allentown Queen City Municipal Airport was awarded "General Aviation Airport of the Year" by the
Federal Aviation Administration. In 2013, the City of Allentown stated that it sought to purchase a portion of the airport from LNAA, including the
World War II-era hangar, which is now used to garage city vehicles. A large warehouse is proposed to be built on the airport site, which would not interfere with the airport's runways and taxiways that must be left intact for general aviation use under the FAA's aviation clause. == Facilities==