Rentschler Heliport | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Private | ||||||||||
Owner | Raytheon Technologies Corp. | ||||||||||
Location | East Hartford, Connecticut | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 48 ft / 15 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 41°45′12″N072°37′42″W / 41.75333°N 72.62833°W | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Helipads | |||||||||||
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Source: Federal Aviation Administration [1] |
Rentschler Heliport( FAA LID : CT88) is a private heliport for the exclusive use of Raytheon Technologies, located 2 miles southeast of East Hartford, Connecticut.
From 1933 to about 1997, Rentschler Field was an airfield used by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II as a fighter base.
This former airfield was located only a few miles northeast of still-operational Hartford Brainard Airport. It was the former factory airfield for the Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine company.
The airfield, which began operations in 1931, was named after Frederick Brant Rentschler, who founded the aircraft arm of Pratt & Whitney and later founded its current parent company, United Technologies. The earliest reference to the field which has been located was in the Airport Directory Company's 1933 Airports Directory, describing Rentschler Field as consisting of a 2,700' x 2,500' turf landing area and the operator was American Airways, which provided scheduled transport along the New York - Boston route.
During World War II, Rentschler Field was used by the Army Air Force to provide fighter coverage for the area. In 1999, it was decommissioned as an airport and donated to the state of Connecticut by United Technologies in 1999. A portion of the former airport was redeveloped as Rentschler Field, the University of Connecticut's new football stadium, which opened in 2003.
As of 2006, the only remaining aviation use on the site was the Rentschler Heliport, a private facility operated by Pratt & Whitney.
Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut. The company is the world's second largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer, with a 35% market share as of 2020. In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures gas turbine engines for industrial use, marine propulsion, and power generation. In 2017, the company reported that it supported more than 11,000 customers in 180 countries around the world.
East Hartford is a town in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney. It is also home to Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field, a stadium used mainly for soccer and football with a capacity of 40,000 people.
Bradley International Airport is a public international airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States. Owned and operated by the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), it is the second-largest airport in New England.
The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed in 1929, when William Boeing of Boeing Airplane & Transport Corporation teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney to form a large, vertically integrated, amalgamated firm, uniting business interests in all aspects of aviation—a combination of airframe and aircraft engine manufacturing and airline business, to serve all aviation markets, both civil aviation and military aviation.
Greater Hartford is a region located in the U.S. state of Connecticut, centered on the state's capital of Hartford. It represents the only combined statistical area in Connecticut defined by a city within the state, being bordered by the Greater Boston region to the northeast and New York metropolitan area to the south and west. Sitting at the southern end of the Metacomet Ridge, its geology is characterized by land of a level grade along the shores of Connecticut River Valley, with loamy, finer-grained soil than other regions in the state. Greater Hartford, had a total population of 1,213,531 at the 2020 United States census.
Frederick Brant Rentschler was an American aircraft engine designer, aviation engineer, industrialist, and the founder of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Rentschler created and manufactured many revolutionary aircraft engines, including those used in the aircraft of Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and James Doolittle. He is also a co-founder of United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, the predecessor of United Technologies Corporation.
Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field is a stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut. It is primarily used for football and soccer, and is the home field of the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies. In 2010, it was home to the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League. The stadium, which opened in 2003, was the first stadium used primarily by an NCAA Division I-A team to open in the 21st century. The permanent stadium capacity is 40,000, consisting of 38,066 permanent seats with a standing-room area in the scoreboard plaza that can accommodate up to 1,934 people. It also has a game day capability to add approximately 3,000 temporary seats as it did for UConn football vs. Michigan in 2013. Connecticut played on campus at Memorial Stadium in Storrs, before 2003.
Pinal Airpark, also known as Pinal County Airpark, is a non-towered, county-owned, public-use airport located 8 miles northwest of the central business district of Marana, in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. Silverbell Army Heliport is co-located with Pinal Airpark. The heliport is a private-use military facility operated by the Arizona Army National Guard.
North Palm Beach County Airport, also known as North County Airport, is an uncontrolled (non-towered) general aviation airport located 12 nautical miles northwest of West Palm Beach off the Bee Line Highway in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The airport is owned by Palm Beach County and operated by the Palm Beach County Airports Department.
Olympia Regional Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) south of the central business district of Olympia, a city in Thurston County and the capital of the U.S. state of Washington. It is owned by the Port of Olympia. It is about one mile (1.6 km) east of Interstate 5, actually within the boundaries of the city of Tumwater which is south of and adjacent to Olympia. The airport was identified in the Washington State Department of Transportation Long Term Aviation Study as a field that could potentially serve to relieve Seattle-Tacoma International Airport of increasing congestion.
Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport is a public airport in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, owned by the city of Bridgeport. It is three miles (6 km) southeast of downtown, in the town of Stratford. It was formerly Bridgeport Municipal Airport.
Hartford–Brainard Airport is a towered public airport three miles (5 km) southeast of downtown Hartford, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the Connecticut Airport Authority. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a regional reliever airport facility.
Robertson Airport, also known as Robertson Field, is a public use airport in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the town of Plainville and is located two nautical miles (4 km) north of its central business district. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a local reliever airport facility.
Aurora State Airport is a public airport located one mile (2 km) northwest of the central business district of Aurora, a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It is owned by the Oregon Department of Aviation.
Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems is an American multinational corporation that specializes in producing high-precision measuring instruments and systems.
During World War II, Connecticut was a major United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) training center for pilots and aircrews.
Rentschler Field was an airport in East Hartford, Connecticut in use from 1933 to 1999. Originally a military facility, later a private corporate airport, it was decommissioned in 1999, after which the football stadium of the same name was built on the site. On November 22, 2021 it was announced that the undeveloped remainder of Rentschler Field, was acquired from Raytheon Technologies by Massachusetts development firm National Development. The property will offer businesses more than 280 acres for development. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. From 1930 to 1939, the Chance Vought Aircraft Corporations's manufacturing facility was located here, as was the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company and the Hamilton Standard Propellers Corporation.
Bowers Field is a county-owned, public-use airport in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located two nautical miles (4 km) north of the central business district of Ellensburg, Washington. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.
George Jackson Mead was an American aircraft engineer. He is best known as one of the chief founding team members, together with Frederick Rentschler, of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Mead and Rentschler left Wright Aeronautical with the plan to start their own aviation-related business; they founded Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in July 1925. Their first project was to build a new, large, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine of Mead's design, which soon came to be named the Wasp. The first Wasp model was the R-1340, and a large series of Wasp models and Hornet models followed. Mead, as Vice President of Engineering, was the head of engineering for Pratt & Whitney from 1925 to 1935. He later left Pratt & Whitney and its parent United Aircraft. He served as the president of the U.S. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and he served as head of the aeronautical section of the National Defense Advisory Commission during World War II, as a manager in the U.S. government's war materiel production effort.
Rentschler is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: