Southern California Logistics Airport

Aerial photo taken July 2009

ICAO: KVCV

Summary

Airport type

Public

Operator

United States Air Force

Serves

Victorville, California

Elevation AMSL

2,885 ft / 879 m

Coordinates

Runways

Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
17/35	15,050	4,587	asphalt/concrete
3/21	9,138	2,785	asphalt/concrete

Southern California Logistics Airport (United States Air Force base.

The airport is home to Southern California Aviation, a large transitional facility for commercial aircraft.^[1]

Facilities 1
Airport overview 2
Southern California Logistics Airport in popular culture 3
References 4
External links 5

Facilities

Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA) covers 2,300 acres (930 ha) and has two runways:

Runway 17/35: 15,050 ft × 150 ft (4,587 m × 46 m), Surface: asphalt/concrete
Runway 03/21: 9,138 ft × 150 ft (2,785 m × 46 m), Surface: asphalt/concrete

Southern California Logistics Centre, immediately adjacent to SCLA, offers a wide variety of new warehouse and distribution facilities, ranging from 2,000 sq ft (190 m²) to over 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m²).^[2]

The SCLA Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) facility offers urban warfare training, and has served over 15,000 U.S. military personnel during the past ten years.

Airport overview

George Air Force Base in 1994

The federal government is responsible for helping the intermodal logistics gateway to the Western United States. Located near Interstate 15 in California's Victor Valley, the 5,000-acre (2,000 ha) complete intermodal business complex is approximately 20 mi (32 km) north of downtown San Bernardino, and 23 mi (37 km) north of San Bernardino International Airport.

In July 2000, SCLA received foreign trade zone status from the United States Department of Commerce. The designation was intended to make it much easier for the Victor Valley Economic Development Authority to convince international carriers to use the airport as a base for shipping foreign products to Southern California. During that same period, the Department of Transportation approved a $4.9 million grant for the SCLA to extend its main runway from 10,050 ft (3,060 m) to 13,050 ft (3,980 m) to accommodate international jet transports. The airport authority required the 3,000 ft (910 m) extension to ensure that cargo planes could depart fully loaded in summer heat. The longer runway was also required for the efficient use of the facility as the main transportation hub for the 70,000 troops a year traveling to and from the Army National Training Center at Fort Irwin. At 15,059 ft (4,590 m), SCLA's runway 17/35 is the second longest public-use runway in the United States, surpassed only by that of the Denver International Airport 16,000 ft (4,900 m) runway 16R/34L.

The Fiscal Year 2002 military spending bill earmarked US$1.3 million to allow the U.S. Army to continue using the SCLA to transport troops en route to training exercises at Fort Irwin. The airport has proven to be one of the most efficient and safest locations for travel to and from the Army's National Training Center for the troops who rotate through each year. Company D of the 158th Aviation Regiment is a general support aviation company that moved in under a five-year contract the Army signed with SCLA and the city of Victorville. The unit is part of the 244th Aviation Brigade of Fort Sheridan, Illinois.

Victorville's aircraft boneyard.

In late 2006, SCLA became home to Air Tanker 910, a heavily modified McDonnell Douglas DC-10, which is on contract to the California Department of Forestry (CALFIRE). Tanker 910 is the only wide-body jet currently in fire service (The Evergreen 747 Air tanker is stored in Arizona as of 2013 and awaits scrapping, following Evergreen's recent bankruptcy) and uses SCLA as its re-loading base for fires occurring anywhere in California.

On August 9, 2007, the