 Los Angeles's Grand Central Airport, considered a landmark in aviation history, had a 1200-foot runway during its first six years of operation from 1923 to 1929.Such airstrips were used by heavy as well as light aircraft.During the Doolittle Raid in WW II, twin-engine B-25 bombers with a loaded weight of seventeen tons took off from the 827-foot flight deck of the carrier USS "Hornet".