Cape May Airport or Cape May County Airport is a public use

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 surfa ...

in Lower Township, Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. Owned by the

Delaware River and Bay Authority The Delaware River and Bay Authority or DRBA is a bi-state government agency of the U.S. states of New Jersey and Delaware established by an interstate compact in 1962. The authority operates the Delaware Memorial twin suspension bridges, t ...

, the airport is four nautical miles (7 km) northwest of the central business district of Wildwood. It is in Lower Township, the airport is located near the Rio Grande

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

, which is mostly in Middle Township and partly in Lower Township. The airport has an Erma address but is not in the CDP. In some documents it is called Wildwood Airport. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a ''

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 ...

'' facility. Hangar #1 contains the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum, whose collection focuses on

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 opposing ...

, named after the former

Naval Air Station Wildwood Naval Air Station Wildwood was a United States Navy airport located in Lower Township, Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, - The zoning map shows the airport in the township boundaries. about northwest of the central business district o ...

History

The airport started in 1941 as NAS Rio Grande, named for its location near

Rio Grande, New Jersey Rio Grande () is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Middle Township and Lower Township in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States. Though for the 1990 to 2010 U.S. censuses the CDP was entirely loc ...

. Due to confusion with Rio Grande,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, the name was changed to NAS Wildwood in 1943. Following the end of World War II, Naval Air Station Wildwood was deemed excess to U.S. Navy requirements. It was subsequently deeded to the local government for transition to a civilian airport which is still in operation today as Cape May County Airport.

Facilities and aircraft

Cape May County Airport covers an area of 996 acres (403 ha) at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of 21 feet (6 m) above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

. It has two

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, concre ...

s with

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

surfaces: 1/19 is 5,252 by 150 feet (1,601 x 46 m) and 10/28 is 4,998 by 150 feet (1,523 x 46 m). For the 12-month period ending November 1, 2010, the airport had 30,200 aircraft operations, an average of 82 per day: 99%

and 1%

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. At that time there were 48 aircraft based at this airport: 90% single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

, 8% multi-engine, and 2% jet. FlightLevel Aviation is the current

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, ...

(FBO) on the field serving general aviation traffic. FBO services include full and self-serve 100LL Avgas, and full-service Jet A fuel. On-field services include Flight Deck Diner and Kindle Car Rental. Locations off-field include Cape May National Golf Course (2 miles), Lobster House Restaurant (3 miles) and the Wetlands Institute (10 miles).

Incidents

On December 12, 1976, an Atlantic City Airlines De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter operating as Allegheny Commuter Flight 977 crashed short of the runway. Of the two crew members, one died and one sustained serious injuries. Of the passengers, two died and six sustained serious injuries. One seriously injured passenger died one month after the accident, but was counted as a survivor by the National Transportation Safety Board report, because it defined fatalities as individuals who died within seven days of the accident."." '' National Transportation Safety Board''. Retrieved on June 10, 2009. (7 of 31). On August 27, 1993, F-16A 82-0990 (call sign MAPLE 91) of the 134th FS, 158th FW, Vermont Air National Guard, USAF was written off when it Crash landed and skidded off runway at the Cape May County Airport. The pilot ejected and landed in a drainage ditch According to the following extract (albeit redacted/censored) from the official USAF inquiry into the incident: "On 27 August 1993, (MP) was scheduled as flight lead of a two-ship cross country flight from Burlington IAP, VT to Langley AFB, VA. The flight was to-include air-to-air refuelling followed by Dissimilar Air Combat Tactics (DACT) with F-15 Eagles and landing at the unit's Alert Detachment Base. The flight departed Burlington IAP, VT at 08:58 local EDT with the call sign of Maple 91. Refuelling with a KC-135 Tanker and DACT with F-15's in MOA (Military Operating Area) W-105 was as scheduled. During the recovery to Langley AFB, VA, a descent was accomplished from FL 410 to FL 310. Upon levelling out at FL 310 and advancing the throttle the Mishap Pilot (MP) experienced a compressor stall. The MP turned west toward land and accomplished a Unified Fuel Control (UFC) airstart which was successful and gave him idle thrust at 20,000 ft. When the MP again moved the throttle, a second stall occurred passing 17,000 ft. Another UFC air start was accomplished giving the (MP) idle thrust. The MP concentrated on flying a Simulated Flame out Approach (SFO) into Cape May County Airport, NJ. The SFO was flown with touchdown at 200 knots IAS, 500 feet from the approach end of runway 01. The total length of the runway is 4,998 feet and the MP was unable to stop the aircraft and initiated a successful ejection prior to the aircraft leaving the paved surface of the runway. The aircraft continued straight ahead, proceeded across a road, and came to rest in an abandoned landfill approximately 950 feet from the departure end of the runway. The aircraft was destroyed by breakup and post-crash fire". Note that, as the report is redacted/censored, the pilot involved is not named, and is only referred to as "MP" = "Mishap Pilot".

References

External links

Cape May Airport
official site
FlightLevel Aviation
FBO website
Aerial image as of March 1991
from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

The National Map ''The National Map'' is a collaborative effort of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other federal, state, and local agencies to improve and deliver topographic information for the United States. The purpose of the effort is to pro ...

''
Aviation photos of Cape May-Wildwood County Airport
at jetphotos.net *
{{authority control Airports in New Jersey Transportation buildings and structures in Cape May County, New Jersey Delaware River and Bay Authority facilities National Register of Historic Places in Cape May County, New Jersey Airports on the National Register of Historic Places Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Lower Township, New Jersey

History

Facilities and aircraft

Incidents

See also

References

External links