Hale County Airport

Hale County Airport (IATA: PVW, ICAO: KPVW, FAA LID: PVW) is a public airport about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-southwest of Plainview, Texas.

From 1942 to 1944, the Hale County Airport consisted of an all-way turf airfield with a 2,700' x 2,700' landing/takeoff area. Glider training was provided to the United States Army Air Forces by Clint Breedlove Aerial Service. They primarily used C-47 Skytrains and Waco CG-4 unpowered gliders. There were possibly two auxiliary landing airfields. The mission of the school was to train glider pilot students in proficiency in operation of gliders in various types of towed and soaring flight, both day and night, and in servicing of gliders in the field.

The airport was inactivated during 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program. It was declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on 30 September 1945. It was eventually discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport in April 1946.

Three commercial airlines served Plainview between 1948 and 1963. Pioneer Air Lines began service in January 1948 and ended on April 1, 1955, when the carrier merged into Continental Airlines. Continental then served the airport until 1959 when Central Airlines began service. During 1962, Central operated 516 flight departures but only boarded 148 passengers. Service ended in 1963. All three carriers operated Douglas DC-3 aircraft and provided flights to Amarillo and Lubbock. The Pioneer and Continental flights continued on from Lubbock to Midland/Odessa, San Angelo, Austin, and Houston Hobby Airport. Central Airlines flights continued northbound from Amarillo to Wichita and Kansas City with several stops en route.^[1]

• Texas World War II Army Airfields
• 31st Flying Training Wing (World War II)
• List of airports in Texas

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas OCLC 71006954, 29991467
• Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites, History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC. OCLC 57007862, 1050653629

• FAA Terminal Procedures for PVW, effective August 8, 2024
• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for PVW
  • AirNav airport information for PVW
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for PVW

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Army Air Forces Training Command

Flying training

Flying schools	Eastern Flying Training Command Central Flying Training Command Western Flying Training Command
Specialized schools	Bombardier Contract Flying Glider Training Gunnery Navigator

Technical training

• Eastern Technical Training Command
• Central Technical Training Command
• Western Technical Training Command