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MCAS El Toro

MCAS El Toro
El Toro Marine base 2011 Photo D Ramey Logan (cropped).jpg
MCAS El Toro in 2010
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator United States Marine Corps
Location Orange County, California
Built 1942
In use 1943–1999
Occupants 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Elevation AMSL 383 ft / 117 m
Coordinates 33°40′34″N 117°43′52″W / 33.67611°N 117.73111°W / 33.67611; -117.73111
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
3/21 3,900 1,189 Asphalt
7L/25R 8,000 2,438 Asphalt
7R/25L 8,000 2,438 Asphalt
16L/34R 10,000 3,048 Concrete
16R/34L 10,000 3,048 Concrete

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro (ICAO: KNZJFAA LID: NZJ) was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located near Irvine, California.

Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the 4,682 acres (19 km2) home of Marine Corps aviation on the West Coast. Designated as a Master Jet Station, its four runways (two of 8,000 feet (2,400 m) and two of 10,000 feet (3,000 m)) could handle the largest aircraft in the U.S. military inventory. While it was active, all U.S. Presidents in the post-World War II era landed in Air Force One at this airfield. The El Toro "Flying Bull" patch was designed by Walt Disney Studios in 1944. It survived virtually unchanged until the close of the Air Station.

The land area originally taken by the air station is planned to be converted into a large recreational center, the Orange County Great Park.

The site is currently used as a filming location, including the test track for the United States version of BBC's Top Gear franchise.

In May 1942, Lieutenant Colonel William Fox was directed to select the sites for all of the Marine Corps' West Coast air stations. Fox sought the most expeditious and low cost option and thus chose the already existing airports of El Centro, Mojave and Santa Barbara. For the fourth station he chose land that had previously been looked at by the Navy for a blimp base. The Marine Corps gave the owner of the land, a farmer named James Irvine Sr., $100,000 for 4,000 acres (20 km2) including 1,600 acres (6.5 km2) designated for a blimp base. Construction of MCAS El Toro began on August 3, 1942 on land previously owned by the Irvine Company. The company greatly resisted the station's construction at this site, which at the time contained the largest lima bean field in North America, which was the company's prime source of revenue. The name El Toro came from the nearby small community which in 1940 only had a population of 130 people.


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