Riddle Field

Airglades Airport Riddle Field
2006 USGS airphoto
1943 image of Riddle Field
IATA: none ICAO: none FAA LID: 2IS
Summary
Airport type	Public use
Owner	Hendry County
Serves	Clewiston, Florida
Elevation AMSL	20 ft / 6 m
Coordinates	26°44′06″N 081°03′04″W / 26.73500°N 81.05111°W / 26.73500; -81.05111Coordinates: 26°44′06″N 081°03′04″W / 26.73500°N 81.05111°W / 26.73500; -81.05111
Map
2IS Location of Airglades Airport
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 13/31 5,950 1,814 Asphalt
Statistics (2002)
Aircraft operations 11,532 Based aircraft 21
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

Airglades Airport (FAA LID: 2IS) is a county-owned public-use airport in Hendry County, Florida, United States. It is located 5 miles (8.0 km) west of the central business district of Clewiston, Florida.

The airport has a lighted 5950-foot runway (13-31) and ample aircraft tie-down space, Avfuel ® aviation and jet fuel, and repair facilities for visiting aircraft and locally based aircraft owners. Unicom is on 123.05. Rental are available, as well as a local taxi service for easy travel around the area.

In 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made an urgent appeal to the United States to provide war materials and pilot training for defense against a superior German air power which bombarded England during the Battle of Britain. President Franklin Roosevelt responded by implementing the Lend Lease Act, which called for the construction of six British Flying Training Schools in California, Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas and the British Flying Training School (BFTS) #5 at Riddle Field near the town of Clewiston, Florida, which trained more than 1,700 cadets in the Royal Air Force.

The airfield was opened on 12 November 1942 by the United States Army Air Forces. Assigned to USAAF Southeast Training Center (later Southeast Flying Training Command). It conducted contract basic flying training by Riddle-McKay Aero College (which was at the time one of six divisions of the Embry-Riddle School of Aviation), under the jurisdiction of the 75th Flying Training Detachment (Contract Pilot School)

Daily life at Riddle Field consisted of Primary flight training in the Stearman PT-17, Basic flying training in the Vultee BT-13, through to completion of the Advanced flying course in the Harvard AT-6. The cadets also received extensive training in formation flying, acrobatic maneuvers, armaments and instrument navigation. More than 1,300 cadets earned their wings at Riddle Field and returned to England to face their two greatest enemies, the Nazis, and the weather.