Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Palm Springs International Airport lies on the northern edge of the city of Palm Springs, California, at the base of the San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountains. It began life as a wartime Army airfield and today mixes airline, general aviation, corporate and military traffic on two parallel hard-surfaced runways, making it a busy but manageable destination for visiting VFR pilots who need to respect the surrounding terrain.
Palm Springs International Airport (KPSP) sits two miles east of downtown Palm Springs, California, and is owned and operated by the City of Palm Springs Aviation Department. It began as a US Army Air Corps emergency landing field and grew into a full-service airport handling airline, corporate, general aviation and military traffic side by side, which gives it an interesting and varied traffic mix for a simulator pilot to work into. The airfield's setting, ringed by mountains on the edge of the Coachella Valley, adds a scenic but demanding element to any approach or departure.
The airport is located on the northern side of the city of Palm Springs, California, close to terrain formed by the San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountains, which the FAA notes pilots need to be especially aware of when operating in the vicinity. Palm Springs is a medium-sized, multi-use airport with a traffic mix of general and corporate aviation, air carriers and military aircraft, and the FAA describes it as a challenging field for both pilots and controllers because of this combination of traffic and terrain.
Palm Springs has two physical runways. The main runway, 13R/31L, is hard-surfaced and lit, with a length of 8,510 ft available from the 31L threshold and 7,009 ft from the 13R threshold. The parallel secondary runway, 13L/31R, is also hard-surfaced and lit and measures 4,951 ft in each direction. Field elevation is 427 ft. There is no ILS at the airport. The runway layout consists of parallel runways with staggered thresholds, and the taxiway system provides access to businesses, terminals and hangars located on both the east and west sides of the field.
Air traffic control is provided at Palm Springs, with a control tower operating on 119.7 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF. Ground movements are handled on 121.9 MHz, and approach and departure services are available on 126.7 MHz. The ATIS broadcasts on 118.25 MHz, and Riverside Radio can be reached on 115.5 MHz. A UNICOM frequency of 122.95 MHz is also listed. There is no ILS approach published for the airport.
Palm Springs International Airport originated as a United States Army Air Corps emergency landing field established in 1939 on land owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, chosen for its clear weather and proximity to March Field and the Los Angeles area. In March 1941 the War Department certified improvements to the airport as essential to national defense, and later that year the Air Corps Ferrying Command's 21st Ferrying Group approved its use as a staging field. A new airfield, Palm Springs Army Airfield, was built a half mile from the original site and completed in early 1942, after which the old field became a backup. The 72d and 73d Ferrying Squadrons trained long-distance over-water flying and navigation there, and pursuit pilot training in P-51 Mustangs, P-40 Warhawks and P-38 Lightnings was later conducted by the IV Fighter Command's 459th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron. Training moved to Brownsville Army Airfield, Texas, on 1 June 1944, after which the airfield supported Army and Navy transport flights until the end of April 1945. The auxiliary field was declared surplus in May 1945, and the main airfield was declared excess in 1946 and sold to private buyers. The City of Palm Springs purchased the land in 1961 and converted it into Palm Springs Municipal Airport. Scheduled passenger service dates back to 1934, when Palm Springs Air Lines flew Ford Trimotors to the Union Air Terminal in Burbank, and the airport went on to see decades of service from carriers including Western Airlines, Bonanza Air Lines, American Airlines, Trans World Airlines and their successors, with jet types up to the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 appearing in the 1970s. On 30 December 2006 a USAF VC-25 departed Palm Springs carrying the body of President Gerald R. Ford.
Palm Springs International Airport today operates year-round, with most flight activity occurring in the fall, winter and spring, and continues to handle a mix of airline, corporate, general aviation and military traffic. The airport covers 940 acres and has been upgraded over the years to handle aircraft as large as the Boeing 747, though scheduled commercial service is limited to aircraft up to the size of the Boeing 767 because of terminal constraints.