McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport

M cKellar–Sipes Regional Airport is a commercial and general aviation airport located four miles west of the central business district of Jackson, a city in Madison County, Tennessee. The airport was established by, and originally named in memory of, Kenneth Douglas McKellar, a longtime U.S. senator from Tennessee, who helped to convince the Civil Works Administration to acquire the property and construct the initial runways and buildings during the winter of 1933–1934. Later in the 1930s, the Works Project Administration (WPA) expanded the Airport and constructed additional buildings and other facilities. In April 1942, the Airport was leased by the United States Army Air Forces and became a wartime flight training school under the auspices of the Georgia Air Services, mainly utilizing PT- 17 Stearman biplanes as the primary trainer. The facility was inactivated on October 16, 1944 with the drawdown of the Army Air Forces Training Command’s pilot training program. It was declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on September 30, 1945. “The Airport stayed in operation till the end of WWII, after which it was abandoned,” recounts Executive Director, Steve Smith. “Later, it became the site of a monthly airplane auction. A guy named Grady Montgomery would buy surplus WWII aircraft and fly them, or haul them into Jackson, build good airplanes out of them, and auction them off. Jackson, Tennessee became well-known after WWII, up AT A GLANCE MCKELLAR–SIPES REGIONAL AIRPORT WHAT: A commercial and general aviation airport WHERE: Near Jackson, a city in Madison County, Tennessee WEBSITE: www.mckellarsipes.com One of the best in Tennessee es