The airport is named for SOSU alum General Ira Eaker, a 1917 graduate of Southeastern who served in World War I and World War II. During World War II, General Eaker was commander of the Eighth Air ForceinEngland and led several historic bombing missions against targets in occupied Europe and Germany.
The City of Durant named an airfield west of town in honor of then Captain Eaker in the 1930s. The U.S. Navy built the current airfield as an auxiliary field during World War II and it became Durant Municipal Airport after the war. It was later renamed Eaker Field.[2]
Eaker Field covers 840 acres (3.4 km2) and has one asphalt runway. Runway 17/35 is 6,800 x 100 ft (1,524.3 x 30.5 m).
In 2005 the airport had 46,355 aircraft operations, average 127 per day: 97.8% general aviation, 2.2% general aviation itinerant, 0.1% military. 21 aircraft were then based at the airport: 17 single-engine, 3 multi-engine, and 1 jet.
On February 11, 2011, Eaker Field opened a new, modern 8,000 sq ft (740 m2) terminal building. The project was funded by the Durant Industrial Authority and by a grant provided by the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission.[1] The taxiway was also resurfaced for the first time since 1943.[2]
The original design called for an air traffic control tower to be added, but that plan was later scrapped due to the cost.
^ ab"Eaker Field (DUA)". Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Aviation Sciences Institute. Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
