Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport is a city-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 in Gainesville, a city in Hall County,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

History

In 1941 only a dirt airstrip existed. At this time a request by the City of Gainesville was placed with the Civil Aeronautics Administration of the United States for a municipal Airport. In 1943 the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

leased the airport land from the City of Gainesville for one dollar to be used by the

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 ...

during

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 ...

. At that time the Navy had sufficient land to permit development of the intersecting 4000-foot paved runways with parallel taxiways, aircraft and electronics maintenance facilities, barracks and related support facilities. The base functioned as a satellite of the Naval Air Station at what is now Dekalb-Peachtree Airport. The mission of the Gainesville facility was to train ground personnel in ground controlled approach (GCA) procedures. Truck-mounted

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

was used to track approaching target aircraft. Some of the equipment that was in use at the time can be seen in the black and white photographs in the main terminal building. Some of the buildings that were used can be identified as the

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...

and

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

(tower not used since World War II), large radar maintenance hangar, Navy brig, and an

aircraft maintenance Aircraft maintenance is the performance of tasks required to ensure the continuing airworthiness of an aircraft or aircraft part, including overhaul, inspection, replacement, defect rectification, and the embodiment of modifications, compliance w ...

hangar that still exists today. In 1947 the facility was decommissioned and returned to the City of Gainesville. In addition to the improvements to the land and runways, all building and equipment became the property of the City of Gainesville. Over the course of the next 35+ years, from 1964 to the present day, numerous improvements have been made. These have been funded from such sources as the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

State of Georgia Georgia is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee and North Carolina; to the northeast by South Carolina; to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean; to the south by Florida; and to the west by ...

, Appalachia Fund, General Government Funds, and the City of Gainesville totaling over $4.3 million. These improvements have ranged from relocating

beacons A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mod ...

, marking the

runways 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, o ...

and the construction of a parallel

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use gravel ...

in 1979, to the strengthening and extending of the runways and all of the navigational devices. In 1971 the airport was named in honor of local aviation pioneer Lee Gilmer who owned and operated Gilmer Flying Services before, during, and after World War II.

Facilities and aircraft

An untowered airport, Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport is a popular

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 ...

airport that covers an area of and contains two

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 ...

paved

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: 5/23 measuring and 11/29 measuring . There is a grass runway adjacent to Runway 29. Owned and managed by the City of

Gainesville, Georgia The city of Gainesville is the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it is often called the "Poultry Capital of t ...

, it is further served by Champion Aviation (

fixed based 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, ...

), AB Aviation (maintenance and repair) and Lanier Flight Center (

flight school Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

, aircraft charter and aircraft rental). Chevron and Shell full service and self-service Jet A and 100LL are available. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2014, the airport had 38,800 aircraft operations, an average of 106 per day: 98%

, 1%

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...

and 1% military. In January 2017, there were 134 aircraft based at this airport: 107 single-engine, 19 multi-engine, 7 jet, 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 ...

. The airport has about 100 hangars: 81 T-Hangars and 12 Corporate Hangars which are available to lease for both private and corporate aircraft.

References

External links

Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport
at City of Gainesville web site {{US-airport-ga, GVL Airports in Georgia (U.S. state) Buildings and structures in Hall County, Georgia Transportation in Hall County, Georgia

History

Facilities and aircraft

See also

References

External links