The Clay Center Airport was dedicated in 1942, but operational as early as 1936. Originally it hosted grass runways, using alfalfa as its landing surface.
With the signifier of KCYW or CYW, depending on the format, it sits on 158 acres. The city-owned location has a single runway, which is 4,197 feet long and 75 feet wide, made of asphalt.
In a report from 1940 there were two runways, one running north to south was 2,480 feet and one running east to west was 2,600 feet.
Listed as 17 on one end and 35 on the other, the weight-bearing cap is 12,000 pounds for a single-wheel aircraft and 15,000 for a double-wheel.
In 1936, nearly $19,000 worth of damage was caused when an electric lightbulb exploded and landed on spilled gasoline on the airport floor. (More than $431,000 today.)
There was an initial explosion followed by a fire. Four men were working in the hanger at the time, but escaped without injury. William Purves, the airport caretaker and filling station manager was present at the time.
In total, a plane, three trucks, and photography equipment were damaged in the incident.
It cost $590 in building materials to repair, and the city voted to approve repairs. (About $13,400 today.)
Of the damages, $5,000 was for the cost of the plane, while $10,000 was for the photography equipment. At the time, employees were working on an aerial map for the Department of Agriculture for soil erosion work.
The remaining damages were toward privately owned trucks.
Pilots flying over Clay County were given some extra direction with a WPA Project in 1936. With it, seven-foot-tall letters told the direction of north, mileage to the airport, along with a symbol and arrow showing which way to the Clay Center Airport. A similar sign project was awarded to Oak Hill. They were two of 300 towns in the state to receive such signs.
The letters were painted with supplies and labor paid by the WPA on the roof of the W.W. Smith & Sons building, 518 Lincoln, which now houses the Clay County Museum.
From 1972 to 2016 the location was managed by pilot Mike Spicer who ran a full-service airport, including FAA-certified inspectors and flight instructors, commercial pilots, sightseeing, aerial photography, and more.
Research via Susan Hammond.
