Willows Glenn County Airport (WLW)

Willows Glenn County Airport (KWLW) operates as a historically significant aviation facility positioned one nautical mile west of Willows in Glenn County, California, at 141 feet elevation above mean sea level, designated as a National Register of Historic Places site in 2023 for its pioneering role in military training, agricultural aviation, and aerial firefighting development. Dating to October 1928 as Beacon #12 on Contract Air Mail Route 8 (CAM-8), this county-owned facility spans 254 acres with dual asphalt runways configured in a distinctive V-shape including the primary 16/34 strip measuring 4,125×100 feet and secondary runway 13/31 measuring 3,788×60 feet.

Runway infrastructure supports diverse aviation operations alongside the historically significant 51-foot steel beacon tower manufactured in 1928 by International Derrick and Equipment Company of Columbus, Ohio, representing California's only surviving Contract Air Mail Route tower still operating at its original location. This authentic Federal Lighted Airway Beacon System structure originally featured a 24-inch rotating beacon with 2,000,000 beam candlepower, green course lights flashing Morse Code "U" identification, and complete field lighting powered by Pacific Gas & Electric for 24-hour air mail operations.

Operational activities center on agricultural aviation services tracing back to Floyd Nolta's 1928 innovations in aerial rice seeding techniques still used across 130,000 acres of Sacramento Valley rice production, while supporting approximately 40 based aircraft generating 29,500 annual general aviation operations. The facility houses multiple agricultural application service operators, FBO services providing fuel and hangar rentals, and maintains historical significance as the birthplace of America's first aerial firefighting squadron, the Mendocino Air Tanker Squad (MATS) established in 1956.

Strategic significance encompasses preserving American aviation heritage while serving contemporary agricultural aviation needs throughout California's North Sacramento Valley region, having supported historic military operations including Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle's B-25 bomber crew training for the April 18, 1942 Tokyo raid. The airport represents a unique combination of operational aviation facility and living aviation museum, maintaining authentic 1928 infrastructure while supporting modern agricultural operations that continue pioneering techniques developed at this pioneering facility nearly a century ago, making it one of only 28 airports nationwide recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.