French Frigate Shoals Airport

French Frigate Shoals Airport has one runway designated 06/24 with a coral surface measuring 3,000 by 200 feet (914 x 61 m) at an elevation of six feet (2 m) above mean sea level. The runway is closed, except for emergencies, or with prior permission from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The station had parking spaces for 18-22 small aircraft at that time, and was a refueling stop between Midway and Hawaii. ==History==

The Seabees in 1942 constructed the airfield. They built a x runway and a ramp area sufficient for 24 single-engine aircraft, dredging coral to expand the island. Of the area of the expanded island, the airfield took up . The Navy designated this airfield as Naval Air Facility French Frigate Shoals, an auxiliary of Naval Station Pearl Harbor. The 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake generated a tsunami that swept clean Tern Island, and the Navy closed the naval air facility. During WW2 reconnaissance flights were flown from the base each day. The aircraft was losing altitude with one engine out, and was down to an altitude of about 200 feet when it was near. In 1952, the United States Coast Guard built a Long Range Navigation (LORAN) beacon tower on the island alongside a 20-man supporting facility. The Coast Guard used the airfield for a weekly mail-and-supply flight. The Coast Guard installation continued in operation until 1979. After WW2 until the 1960s it was also used for flights for commercial fishing. In 2010 there were 11 flights to the French Frigate Shoals airstrip. In 2012 a typhoon struck the French Frigate Shoals. The NFWS facilities were damaged, and the permanent field station was closed down, leaving the airstrip to the elements. ==List of aircraft that utilized Tern (WW2)==

Many aircraft had to land at the airstrip during WW2 such a need for fuel, mechanical issues, or bad weather. Types of aircraft that landed at the base during the war include: • SBD • F4F • F6F • PBY-5A • R5O • R4C • R4D • PV-1 • B-25 == References ==