Donaldson Center Airport

Donaldson Field Airport (IATA: GDC, ICAO: KGYH, FAA LID: GYH) is a public airport 6 mi (9.7 km) south of the central business district of Greenville, a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. It is located at the Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park and is owned by the City and County of Greenville.[1]

Donaldson Field Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerGreenville City/County
ServesGreenville, South Carolina
Elevation AMSL956 ft / 291 m
Coordinates34°45′30″N 082°22′35″W / 34.75833°N 82.37639°W / 34.75833; -82.37639
Websitewww.sc-tac.com
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
5/23 8,000 2,438 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Aircraft operations54,643
Based aircraft54

Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, Donaldson Field Airport is assigned GYH by the FAA and GDC by the IATA.[2]

History

edit

Greenville Army Air Base opened in 1942 during World War II. It was later known as Greenville Air Force Base. In 1951 it was renamed Donaldson Air Force Base, in honor of Captain John O. Donaldson, a World War I flying ace. The U.S. Air Force announced Donaldson's closure in 1962. The City and County of Greenville took title of the facilities in 1964 and named it Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park.[3]

Facilities and aircraft

edit

Donaldson Field Airport covers an area of 1,300 acres (530 ha) which contains one runway designated 5/23 with 8,000 x 150 ft (2,438 x 46 m) concrete pavement.

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2022, the airport had 54,643 aircraft operations, an average of 150 per day: 71% general aviation, 21% air taxi and 7% military. At that time there were 54 aircraft based at this airport: 30 single-engine, 7 multi-engine, 3 jet, 1 helicopter, 12 military, and 1 ultra-light.[1]

The site is also home to an Army Aviation Support Facility of the South Carolina Army National Guard which opened on February 19, 2014.[4]

The fixed-base operators (FBO) located on the field are Avserve and Donaldson Jet Center which is the other operation along with Greenville Jet Center which is located at KGMU.[clarification needed]

In 2019, Lockheed Martin established production of the F-16 at a hangar at the airport.[5]

Airlines and destinations

edit

Cargo

edit
AirlinesDestinations
Aeronaves TSM Laredo, Shreveport

Accidents

edit
  • On December 16, 1948, a USAF Fairchild C-82 Packet crashed 5 km S of then Greenville AFB on a local flight. Four out of the 7 on board were killed.[6]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c FAA Airport Form 5010 for GYH PDF, effective 2023-08-10
  2. ^ Great Circle Mapper: GDC / KGYH - Greenville, South Carolina (Donaldson Field Airport)
  3. ^ Donaldson Center: History
  4. ^ "SC National Guard cuts ribbon on new aviation support facility". DVIDS. December 25, 2016.
  5. ^ "Lockheed Martin Inaugurates F-16 Production Line In Greenville, South Carolina". Lockheed. April 23, 2019.
  6. ^ Accident description for 44-23042 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on August 24, 2023.
edit