Airway Bulletin No.2
Descriptions of Airports and Landing Fields in the United States
Beginning as early as 1918, the U.S. Federal Government published airfield directories for pilots. Originally these directories were published by the Army Air Service for military pilots. After the transcontinental airmail airways were begun, these guides became more important and were used by commercial pilots as well. By the late 1920s these directories were being published by the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Air Commerce who continued to published these directories annually. The official designation for these directories was Airway Bulletin No.2 "Descriptions of Airports and Landing Fields in the United States" which were published by the Government Printing Office in Washington, DC.
The introduction from the 1936 edition offers an excellent description of the contents of each directory:
All airports and established landing fields in the United States of record with the Bureau of Air Commerce are described in this bulletin. These include municipal, commercial, and private airports; Department of Commerce intermediate landing fields; marked auxiliary landing fields, Army fields, and Naval air stations.
The airports and landing fields are presented alphabetically by States, and descriptions have been standardized to facilitate reference and use. While the descriptions do not include all details to be found at the airports and landing fields, they were prepared with the thought of furnishing the outstanding essential facts which are desired by airmen contemplating flights to airports and landing fields with which they may be wholly or partially unfamiliar.
In cases where hangar space, personnel for servicing, aviation fuel, and minor or complete repair facilities are available, the term "facilities for servicing aircraft" is used. Where only limited service may be obtained, that which is available is listed.
Changes, such as establishment or discontinuance of airports, extension of landing areas, addition of new facilities, and alterations of lighting or other equipment are published by the Bureau of Air Commerce in the Weekly Notices to Airmen, a bulletin distributed to airports for posting on bulletin boards. Airport managers are requested to inform the Bureau of Air Commerce of changes at their airports, in advance wherever possible, so that these may be carried in the Weekly Notices to Airmen.
Current information with regard to Bureau of Air Commerce aeronautical radio facilities, including station frequencies, radio range course bearings, weather broadcast schedules, etc., is presented in a publication entitled "Bureau of Air Commerce Radio Facilities and Broadcast Schedules." Copies of this Bulletin are available without charge upon request to the Bureau of Air Commerce, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.
In addition, through contacts with airport managers and operators, and from reports received from the Department's inspection and air navigation personnel, the Bureau at all times maintains airport and airway records in a current condition and is in a position to furnish this information without charge on equest to airmen and others interested.
A sample entry from the 1936 edition:
By the mid-1930's other sources of airfield information, besides the Federal government publications, were being published privately. These commercial airfield directories were the ancestors of the modern-day AOPA publications. But most pilots relied on the "official" government directories for their information.
I have collected a number of these directories. Over the coming year I will be scanning and uploading them here. To date, I have the following:
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
