Lenawee County Airport is a county-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 three miles (5 km) southwest 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 ...

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin language, Latin given name Adrianus (given name), Adrianus or Hadrianus (disambiguation), Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria (river), Adria from the Venetic language, Venetic and ...

, a city in

Lenawee County Lenawee County ( ') is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 99,423. The county seat is Adrian. The county was created in 1822, from territory partitioned from Monroe County. Its g ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and 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 ...

. The airport is accessible by road from Cadmus Road, and is close to US-223. It is included in the

Federal Aviation Administration 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 ...

(FAA)

National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) is an inventory of U.S. aviation infrastructure assets. NPIAS was developed and now maintained by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It identifies existing and proposed airports tha ...

for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a local

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. The Lenawee County Airport is the closest airport to

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is ...

, the Irish Hills, and

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

Hidden Lake Gardens Hidden Lake Gardens colloquially known as Hidden Lake , is a botanical garden and an arboretum operated by Michigan State University situated in the Irish Hills of southeast Michigan. The Gardens are known for their large collection of native and ...

Siena Heights University Siena Heights University (SHU) is a private Roman Catholic university in Adrian, Michigan. It was founded by the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 1919. History The institution was founded for women in 1919 as St. Joseph's College by the Adrian Domini ...

Adrian College Adrian College is a private liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre (0.40 km2) campus contains newly constructed facilities along with historic buildi ...

, and

Jackson Community College Jackson College is a public college in Jackson County, Michigan. Originally established as Jackson Junior College in 1928, Jackson County electors voted to reincorporate the institution as a community college district under the "Public Act 188 ...

Lenawee Campus are also just a few miles away. LCA's arrival and departure process is centrally located between

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

and

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approxi ...

, and

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. The airport is staffed between 8am and dusk. The airport is home to a chapter of the

Civil Air Patrol Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded mem ...

, which, besides its duties to the

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 Signal ...

, hosts community events for locals interested in aviation.

Facilities and aircraft

Lenawee County Airport covers an area of which contains 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: 05/23 has 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 ...

pavement measuring 5,001 x 100 ft. (1,524 x 30 m) and 11/29 has a

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricultu ...

surface measuring 1,810 x 150 ft. (552 x 46 m). The airport received a federal grant in 2021 to rebuild its main

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

taxiways 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 ...

, especially repaving it and widening the turns to allow larger aircraft to use the airport. The runways haven't been redone since 2005. The taxiway's repaving began in the summer of 2021 and was finished mid-fall, while the runway expected to receive work in the spring of 2022. The airport received additional funding in 2022 as part of the

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and originally in the House as the INVEST in America ActH.R. 3684, is a United States federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress ...

signed by President Joe Biden. For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 18,000 aircraft operations per year, an average of 49 per day. It was composed entirely of

. For the same time period, there are 57 aircraft based on the airport: 42 single-engine and 2 multi-engine

airplanes An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spectr ...

, 11 gliders, 1 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 a

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, ...

offering

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

, general maintenance, courtesy transportation, conference rooms, a crew lounge, snooze rooms, and more.

Accidents & Incidents

*On December 10, 1985, an Aerospatiale SA365N crashed near the airport. *On November 2, 1996, a Frost RAF 2000 GTX SE impacted terrain following contact between the main rotor system, the pusher propeller and other portions of the airframe two miles southeast of the airport. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the student pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft; contributing was his lack of familiarity with the aircraft. *On April 26, 2009, a LET L-23 Super Blanik glider crashed during a training flight at Lenawee County Airport. The instructor aboard was attempting to demonstrate a slip to the student when the aircraft encountered a strong, gusting crosswind, making control difficult. The aircraft landed in grass north of the runway. The probable cause of the accident was the flight instructor's inadequate compensation for the strong, gusting crosswind during landing. Contributing was the flight instructor's attempted flight with known adverse weather near the airport. *On October 23, 2009, a Rockwell Commander impacted terrain following a loss of control near the Lenawee County Airport. The pilot failed to maintain control of the aircraft due to spatial disorientation while on an

instrument approach In aviation, an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure (IAP) is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft operating under instrument flight rules from the beginning of the initial approach to a landi ...

while in instrument meteorological conditions. The aircraft was consumed by a post-impact fire, and both aboard received fatal injuries. *On December 6, 2012, an Lsa America Inc Allegro impacted terrain while attempting a go-around at the Lenawee County Airport. While performing touch-and-go landings, the student onboard failed to maintain alignment with the runway centerline, and the instructor directed a go-around 30 feet above the runway. The student used excessive left rudder input during the subsequent go-around maneuver, and the instructor was unable to retain full control of the aircraft. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the student pilot's improper flight control input during a go-around and his interference with the flight instructor's attempted remedial actions. *On August 11, 2017, a Navion Navion G crashed near the airport. The accident went undetected for two hours until a survivor found a road and got help. Engine trouble is suspected as the cause of the crash. It was found there was a leak in the gascolator, which allowed air to enter the fuel system and resulted in a partial loss of engine power. *On January 13, 2019, a

Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six The Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six is a series of single-engine, fixed landing gear, light aircraft manufactured in the United States by Piper Aircraft between 1965 and 2007.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', page 63. Werner & Werner Co ...

struck an airport fence at Lenawee County Airport after an engine failure on approach to the airport. The aircraft was just out of maintenance inspections.

References

External links

Lenawee County Airport
official site
**Lenawee County CVB - Local Information**
Airports in Michigan Buildings and structures in Adrian, Michigan Transportation in Lenawee County, Michigan {{Michigan-airport-stub