Rickenbacker International Airport (Rickenbacker International Airport)
Rickenbacker International Airport is a civil-military public airport 10 mi south of downtown Columbus, near Lockbourne in southern Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The south end of the airport extends into Pickaway County. The base was named for flying ace and Columbus native Eddie Rickenbacker. It is managed by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which also operates John Glenn Columbus International Airport and Bolton Field. Rickenbacker International is primarily a cargo airport for the city of Columbus, although since 2012 it has served an increasing number of passenger flights as well as charter carriers.
The United States Air Force maintains a presence in the form of the Ohio Air National Guard's 121st Air Refueling Wing, Rickenbacker International is also home of the Ohio Army National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility No. 2 and the headquarters for the Ohio Military Reserve, one of the state defense forces of Ohio.
The facility opened in June 1942 as Lockbourne Army Airfield (named after the nearby village of Lockbourne). It was then named the Northeastern Training Center of the Army Air Corps, and provided basic pilot training and military support. In addition, the training center provided B-17 flight training to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), and training for glider pilots in the CG-4A Waco glider. After the war, flight-training activities were halted and the airfield was used as a development and testing facility for all-weather military flight operations. The primary unit at the base was the all-Black 447th Composite Group, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
During the Cold War the facility was Lockbourne Air Force Base and was assigned to the USAF Strategic Air Command. Lockbourne AFB was redesignated Rickenbacker Air Force Base on May 18, 1974, by Department of the Air Force Special Order GA-11 of March 6, 1974, to honor Columbus native Eddie Rickenbacker, the leading American fighter pilot of World War I.
The base was transferred from the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to the Air National Guard and redesignated Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base on April 1, 1980.
The base was recommended for closure by the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, but as a result of a proposal by the State of Ohio, the 1993 Commission recommended that Rickenbacker ANGB be realigned rather than closed. The Commission decided to retain the 121st Air Refueling Wing and the 160th Air Refueling Group of the Ohio Air National Guard in a military cantonment area at Rickenbacker ANGB instead of realigning to Wright-Patterson AFB. The Air National Guard would continue to operate as tenants of the Rickenbacker Port Authority (RPA) on the RPA's airport and the military facilities were realigned as Rickenbacker Air National Guard Station on September 30, 1994, by the 1991 Congressional Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
In August 2001 construction started on a new, consolidated Navy and Marine Corps Air Reserve Center at Rickenbacker International Airport. The $10 million center, scheduled for completion in early 2003, will be located at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Club Street adjacent to the Air National Guard facility at Rickenbacker. Being developed by the Navy Reserve, the project will consolidate the Naval Air Reserve Center at Rickenbacker with the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center currently located on Yearling Road in Columbus. When completed, the nearly 1,000 Navy and Marine Corps reservists currently located at the two existing reserve centers will shift their activities to this new facility. Once the new center opens, the site of the existing Naval Air Reserve Center at Rickenbacker will be redeveloped by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which operates the 5000 acre airport.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines such as Emirates, Korean Air, and Etihad have serviced the airport with passenger aircraft converted to transport loose cargo while demand for air travel wanes and freight continues to rise. On April 1, 2021, Rickenbacker and the CRAA celebrated the 500th arrival of a converted passenger plane: Emirates flight 2501 from Copenhagen.
The United States Air Force maintains a presence in the form of the Ohio Air National Guard's 121st Air Refueling Wing, Rickenbacker International is also home of the Ohio Army National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility No. 2 and the headquarters for the Ohio Military Reserve, one of the state defense forces of Ohio.
The facility opened in June 1942 as Lockbourne Army Airfield (named after the nearby village of Lockbourne). It was then named the Northeastern Training Center of the Army Air Corps, and provided basic pilot training and military support. In addition, the training center provided B-17 flight training to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), and training for glider pilots in the CG-4A Waco glider. After the war, flight-training activities were halted and the airfield was used as a development and testing facility for all-weather military flight operations. The primary unit at the base was the all-Black 447th Composite Group, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
During the Cold War the facility was Lockbourne Air Force Base and was assigned to the USAF Strategic Air Command. Lockbourne AFB was redesignated Rickenbacker Air Force Base on May 18, 1974, by Department of the Air Force Special Order GA-11 of March 6, 1974, to honor Columbus native Eddie Rickenbacker, the leading American fighter pilot of World War I.
The base was transferred from the Strategic Air Command (SAC) to the Air National Guard and redesignated Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base on April 1, 1980.
The base was recommended for closure by the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, but as a result of a proposal by the State of Ohio, the 1993 Commission recommended that Rickenbacker ANGB be realigned rather than closed. The Commission decided to retain the 121st Air Refueling Wing and the 160th Air Refueling Group of the Ohio Air National Guard in a military cantonment area at Rickenbacker ANGB instead of realigning to Wright-Patterson AFB. The Air National Guard would continue to operate as tenants of the Rickenbacker Port Authority (RPA) on the RPA's airport and the military facilities were realigned as Rickenbacker Air National Guard Station on September 30, 1994, by the 1991 Congressional Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
In August 2001 construction started on a new, consolidated Navy and Marine Corps Air Reserve Center at Rickenbacker International Airport. The $10 million center, scheduled for completion in early 2003, will be located at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Club Street adjacent to the Air National Guard facility at Rickenbacker. Being developed by the Navy Reserve, the project will consolidate the Naval Air Reserve Center at Rickenbacker with the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center currently located on Yearling Road in Columbus. When completed, the nearly 1,000 Navy and Marine Corps reservists currently located at the two existing reserve centers will shift their activities to this new facility. Once the new center opens, the site of the existing Naval Air Reserve Center at Rickenbacker will be redeveloped by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which operates the 5000 acre airport.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines such as Emirates, Korean Air, and Etihad have serviced the airport with passenger aircraft converted to transport loose cargo while demand for air travel wanes and freight continues to rise. On April 1, 2021, Rickenbacker and the CRAA celebrated the 500th arrival of a converted passenger plane: Emirates flight 2501 from Copenhagen.
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Map - Rickenbacker International Airport (Rickenbacker International Airport)
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