Editing Van Nuys Airport (section)

==History==
Van Nuys Airport opened on December 17, 1928, the 25th anniversary of the [[Wright Flyer|Wright Brothers' first flight]], as Metropolitan Airport. The airfield was run by a small group of citizens who established a corporation. The airport was spread out on 80 acres, surrounded by trees and farmland. The airport was mostly used for [[general aviation]], but also became popular with Hollywood stars of the era, and notably was the filming location of the iconic airport scene in the 1942 film [[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]].<ref name="History Pt. 1">{{Cite web |title=VNY Airport History, Part 1 |url=https://www.iflyvny.com/news-and-facts/history |access-date=2021-10-15 |website=www.iflyvny.com |archive-date=2020-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921024039/https://www.iflyvny.com/news-and-facts/history |url-status=dead }}</ref> Also notable were the scenes of the reckless flight (and other scenes) of [[Laurel and Hardy]] in the 1939 film [[The Flying Deuces]].

In 1942, after the United States entered [[World War II]], the government purchased Metropolitan Airport and converted it into the Van Nuys Army Airfield. The Army also purchased an additional 163 acres of land to expand the runways and airfield. During the war, the airfield was used by the [[4th Air Force]], which stationed the [[428th Fighter Squadron]] with [[Lockheed P-38 Lightning]] aircraft in 1943. In 1944, the 441st Army Air Forces Base Unit was added to train additional pilots for the P-38. Elsewhere on the airfield, the U.S. Navy and [[Lockheed Corporation]] created an aircraft modification facility known as the Navy Lockheed Plant, just one of several aircraft companies that would become established in the area.<ref name="History Pt. 1" />

In 1949, after the war, the [[Government of Los Angeles|City of Los Angeles]] purchased the airport from the [[War Assets Administration]] for $1, with the agreement that a [[California Air National Guard]] base continue to operate at the site. The name of the airport, which by then covered 400 acres, was changed to San Fernando Valley Airport.<ref name="History Pt. 1" />

In the 1950s, the California Air National Guard based [[North American F-86 Sabre]] jets at the airport and built new permanent facilities. In 1957, the airport's name would change one last time to Van Nuys Airport. In 1959, the [[Sherman Way]] underpass was finished, allowing the main runway (16R/34L) to be extended to its current length of {{Convert|8001|ft}}. By the end of the decade, Van Nuys was ranked as the 25th busiest airport in the nation in terms of operations, despite having no commercial air service.<ref name="History Pt. 1" />

In 1975, the Los Angeles Department of Airports (today  [[Los Angeles World Airports]]) built the [[FlyAway (bus)|FlyAway]] bus terminal just east of the Van Nuys Airport. The terminal served as a remote parking lot for sister airport, LAX. Passengers would park at Van Nuys and board a bus for a {{Convert|20|mi|adj=on}} trip to LAX, helping to alleviate freeway and LAX parking congestion.<ref name="History Pt. 2">{{Cite web |title=VNY Airport History, Part 2 |url=https://www.iflyvny.com/news-and-facts/history2 |access-date=2021-10-15 |website=www.iflyvny.com}}</ref>

The California Air National Guard moved out of Van Nuys in 1990, with the [[146th Airlift Wing]] shifting to [[Naval Air Station Point Mugu]] (now [[Naval Base Ventura County]]) in [[Oxnard, California|Oxnard]]. In 1994, the now-vacated National Guard buildings became a critical operating site for the [[American Red Cross]] helping victims of the devastating [[1994 Northridge earthquake|Northridge earthquake]]. In the early 2000s, the facility was converted into air operations and helicopter maintenance facilities for the Los Angeles Fire Department.<ref name="History Pt. 2" />

In the 2020s Van Nuys remains one of the world's busiest general aviation airports, with 232,000 aircraft operations in 2020.<ref name="Aircraft Operations" /> A 2015 study found that the airport generates {{US$|2 billion|link=yes}} of economic impact and has created 10,480 jobs<ref name="VNY Economic Impact Report" />