Catalina Island Airport Reopens with New Runway | Aviation International News

Catalina Island Airport Reopens with New Runway

The three-month project was viewed by the U.S. military as a training project for constructing runways in remote and difficult areas.

A World War II-vintage DC-3 was chosen to make the first ceremonial landing at the ACE Clearwater Airfield at Catalina Island's newly-reopened Airport in the Sky. The airplane was converted from a war-surplus C-47 in 1947 by Philip and Helen Wrigley, who helped establish the Catalina Island Conservancy and later donated much of their property on the island to it. The twin-engine transport changed hands several times until it was reacquired by the Wrigley's granddaughter Alison Rusack and her husband Geoff, and restored to its 1947 appearance.

By Curt Epstein • Business Aviation Services Editor

May 7, 2019

The three-month long runway replacement project at California’s Catalina Island Airport was completed and celebrated last week in a reopening ceremony that included a landing by a World War II-vintage Douglas DC-3. The project replaced the “Airport in the Sky’s” crumbling 3,000-foot asphalt airstrip, which cost the Catalina Island Conservancy, the airport’s custodian since 1972, an average of $250,000 a year to repair.

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