Dalton Airport (Michigan)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Dalton Airport is a privately owned, 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 surface ...
located two 
nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...
s (4  km) east of the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
of Flushing, in Genesee County, Michigan, United States. It is named after its founder, Edwin P. Dalton, who opened it in 1946 on the former site of the Marsa farm.


Events

The airport is home to a chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association. The chapter hosts of a variety of events for members and the community. The airport is home to a variety of aircraft exhibitions, fly-ins, and more. The airport is home to an annual event, for example, that shows off experimental aircraft, old warbird aircraft, RC aircraft, helicopters, and other vintage aircraft. The Michigan Ultralight Flying Club also hosts events for ultralight pilots and others interested.


Facilities and aircraft

Dalton Airport covers an area of 88
acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...
s (36 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 § Vert ...
of 733 feet (223 m) above
mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...
. 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 concrete, as ...
s: 18/36 is 2,510 by 50 feet (765 x 15 m) with an
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 a ...
surface; 9/27 is 1,633 by 130 feet (498 x 40 m) with a turf surface. Runway 9/27 is closed from October through March. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2019, the airport had 6,968 aircraft operations, an average of 134 per week, comprised entirely of
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 ...
. This is down from 13,328 aircraft operations in 2010. In 2019, there were 74 aircraft based at this airport: 74 single-engine airplanes, 2 ultralights, and 1
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 ...
.


Accidents and incidents

* On July 28, 2002, a Cessna R172K sustained substantial damage when it impacted a curb after an aborted takeoff following a reported loss of engine power during takeoff from the Dalton Airport. In a written report, the pilot stated, "just after becoming airborn no increase in airspeed was noted and heaircraft felt heavy - airspeed started to decrease in level flight approx mately15 eetAGL. Decision to abort akeoffwas made and ircraftwas flown to runway - power off - upon contact - brakes were applied full for over 800 eet" The airplane subsequently slid off the end of the runway, across an adjacent road, and impacted into the curb on the opposite side of the road. The nose landing gear of the airplane collapsed. The pilot stated that the runway was wet from a previous rain. The probable cause was found to be a loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. * On April 24, 2004, an Aeronca 7AV sustained substantial damage during an in-flight collision with runway 09 while landing at the Dalton Airport. The probable pause was found to be the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while on final approach, resulting in an inadvertent stall at a low altitude. * On October 29, 2005, a Colson/Goodbread Rans S-12 crashed at Dalton Airport due to a loss of engine power on initial climb for undetermined reasons. A factor was the tree the airplane impacted during the forced landing. * On May 25, 2006 a
Maule MT-7-235 Maule may refer to: Places * Maule Region, one of the 15 Regions that make up the Chilean territory * Maule River, river in Central Chile, which gives name to the Maule Region * Maule, Chile, commune and town of Talca province in the Maule Region ...
sustained substantial damage during landing roll at the Dalton Airport. The pilot reported that the landing was normal until about 150 feet into the landing rollout. The pilot reported that the small castoring wheels on the amphibian floats sank into the soft ground and "caused our plane to pole-vault onto its tail." The pilot reported that the inspection of the runway revealed that there was about 3/4 inch of standing water on the runway. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for landing, which resulted in the collapse of the amphibian float's nose wheels, and a nose over during the landing roll. * On July 15, 2008, an experimental Drochak Aventura II amphibian airplane was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain after a loss of engine power during takeoff climb from Dalton Airport. As corroborated by others, a witness reported that he saw the airplane heading westbound from the airport at about 100 feet above ground level (agl), and then it entered a left turn to the south. The airplane made another left bank, and then it made a sudden nose dive into the ground. The probable cause of the accident was found to be a loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. * On July 31, 2009, a Taylorcraft BC12-65 was damaged during a hard landing at Dalton. The pilot stated that he used a forward slip to lose altitude on final. He said that he was a "little slow" when he came out of the slip. He reported that the landing was a hard landing, the right main landing gear contacted first, and then the gear folded under the airplane. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's failure to maintain adequate descent rate and airspeed on final resulting in a hard landing. * On July 17, 2013, a Taylorcraft BC12-65 impacted a wooded area while approaching to land at the Dalton Airport. The probable cause of the crash was found to be the student pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed during the landing approach, which led to a stall/spin, and the flight instructor’s failure to monitor the approach and provide remedial action before the stall. * On July 22, 2014, an Aeronca 11AC crashed while taking off from Dalton. During the takeoff roll, before the tail became airborne, the airplane suddenly entered a right swerve that the pilot was unable to correct for with normal flight control and brake inputs. The flight instructor aboard reduced engine power as the airplane departed the right side of the runway. The airplane subsequently collided with a hangar structure located alongside the runway. * On March 24, 2015, a Cessna 150 crashed after takeoff from Dalton due to fuel contamination. During a preflight examination, the pilot identified fuel contamination from water, in his airplane's fuel tanks. He removed approximately one quart of water each from the right wing, left wing, belly drain and engine strainer. He thought he removed all the water from the fuel system and started the engine. He performed an engine run up at twenty-two hundred revolutions per minute. After a five minute engine run, the pilot decided the airplane was suitable for flight and initiated a take-off. Upon reaching an altitude of four hundred feet, the engine lost power. He entered an emergency descent and forced landing, subsequently impacting several trees and eventually the terrain. * On June 25, 2016, a
Cessna 172 The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is an American four-seat, single-engine, high wing, fixed-wing aircraft made by the Cessna Aircraft Company.
collided with a deer while landing at Dalton at night, resulting in substantial damage to the horizontal stabilizer and elevator of the airplane. * On March 28, 2017, a
Grumman American AA-5 The Grumman American AA-5 series is a family of American all-metal, four-seat, light aircraft used for touring and training. The line includes the original American Aviation AA-5 Traveler, the Grumman American AA-5 Traveler, AA-5A Cheetah, an ...
overran the runway at Dalton and impacted trees at the end of the runway. The pilot reported that, during the landing he was "going to icfast", over ran the runway, and impacted trees. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot’s unstabilized approach and subsequent failure to attain the proper touchdown point, which resulted in a runway overrun.


References


External links

* at the Michigan Airport Directory
Aerial image as of April 1998
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 prov ...
'' Airports in Michigan Transportation in Genesee County, Michigan {{Michigan-airport-stub