Bartow Executive Airport is a public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

four miles (6 km) northeast of Bartow, in

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It is owned by the Bartow Airport Authority.

Facilities

The airport covers and has three

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runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

s: * Runway 5/23: 5,000 x 100 ft (1,524 x 30 m) * Runway 9L/27R: 5,000 x 150 ft (1,524 x 46 m) * Runway 9R/27L: 4,400 x 150 ft (1,341 x 46 m) Bartow Executive is a controlled airport with an FAA Level I contract Air Traffic Control Tower in daily operation 0730 to 1730 local time. In the year ending July 15, 2002, the airport had 49,368 aircraft operations, average 135 per day: 100%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

and <1% military. 115 aircraft are based at this airport: 82% single engine, 9% multi-engine, 4% jet aircraft and 5%

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

Airport services

*Fuel Available: 100LL Full Service / 100 LL Self Service / JetA with Prist additive / JetA *Airframe Service: Major *Powerplant service: Major *Paint Shop

History

In 1941 Bartow Mayor C.E. Williams spearheaded the city's initial land acquisition for what would become the Bartow Municipal Airport. In 1942 the US Government took over the site and later developed it into a training field for the U.S. Army Air Forces. Through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the field was used for pilot training. The base was ordered deactivated on 25 October 1945 and it closed by the end of the year. The airport was then returned to the City of Bartow by the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...

(GSA). GSA required that the airport be used as an airport, and if not, that it be returned to the U.S. Government. In 1945–1950 a fixed-base operator (FBO) ran the airfield and flight line, while the large complex of support buildings that had been built by the Federal Government was used by industry and for storage. In 1946 about 32 former military barracks were converted into apartments for returning military veterans. In 1950 the U.S. Government exercised its reversal clause for the facility and again took control. The

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...

concurrently called for bids from civilian contractors to man and operate a primary pilot training school for

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

student pilots. Renamed Bartow Air Base, the installation was a

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

primary flight training facility for the Air Training Command (ATC) from 1951 to 1960. USAF operations officially ended in 1961 and the facility was transferred to the city again by the GSA. Forty years after the deactivation of Bartow AB, a retired USAF T-37 was loaned to the city and the airport by the

National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...

and placed on a permanent static display pylon as a memorial to the former U.S. Army Air Forces and

presence at Bartow. The T-37 is near the former air base main gate, now the airport entrance, and The Museum Room in the airport's main terminal commemorates the airport's military heritage. From 1960 through 1967 the City of Bartow again managed the airport and the aviation facilities were again leased to a fixed-base operator. In 1964 the City requested authority from the Federal Aviation Administration to convert a large building area into an industrial park. The concept was approved and the industrial park opened. In July 1967 the City of Bartow established the Bartow Municipal Airport Development Authority, with five city commission members and an executive director. In 2019, Bartow Municipal Airport and Industrial Park was renamed to Bartow Executive Airport. The authority name was also changed to what is now known as the Bartow Airport Authority. The airport has been self-supporting since its inception. Using its aircraft refueling, storage facilities and Industrial Park for revenues, the Authority has maintained the facility as a public airport.

References

External links

Bartow Executive Airport
official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartow Executive Airport 1943 establishments in Florida Airports established in 1943 Airports in Polk County, Florida Bartow, Florida