Simsbury 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 ...

located in

Simsbury Simsbury is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 24,517 at the 2020 census. The town was incorporated as Connecticut's 21st town in May 1670. History Early history At the beginning of the 17th century, th ...

and East Granby, both towns in

Hartford County Hartford County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. According to the 2020 census, the population was 899,498, making it the second-most populous county in Connecticut. Hartford County contains the ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

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 territori ...

. It is privately owned by the Airport Realty Association, LLC. The airport is operated by the Simsbury Flying Club, a not-for-profit group that operates an FBO at the airport. 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 ...

(FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized 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.

Facilities and aircraft

Simsbury Airport covers an area of which contains one

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 ...

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, concre ...

(3/21) measuring 2,205 x 50 ft (672 x 15 m). For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2008, the airport had 12,775 aircraft operations, an average of 35 per day: 99%

and 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) ...

. There are 52 aircraft based at this airport: 96% single engine and 4% multi-engine.

Fly-In

The Simsbury

Fly-In A fly-in is a pre-arranged gathering of aircraft, pilots and passengers for recreational and social purposes. Fly-ins may be formally or informally organised, members of the public may or may not be invited, the gathering may be at an airport o ...

is held on the third Sunday each September. The event, which as many as 10,000 people, 150

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

s, and over 400 classic autos have attended in the past, also showcases parachute jumpers and a simulated rescue by a LifeStar

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 ...

, and has vendors and manufacturers displaying their products.

Incidents and accidents

On December 27, 2011, around 12:45 pm, a gyrocopter crashed upon landing on runway 3. The aircraft flew into a patch of rough air and the pilot lost control which resulted in a major loss of altitude. The gyrocopter made a crash landing in a nearby landfill and flipped over from the blades hitting the ground. The pilot walked away with no injuries, but his gyrocopter was destroyed. On September 8, 2019, shortly before 2:30pm local time, emergency crews responded to a call of an airplane that went off the end of the runway. The aircraft went down a slight embankment near the airport. There was no structural damage to the aircraft and no reported injuries. On November 24, 2019, at 8:40AM, a plane carrying a flight instructor and student pilot crashed into a vehicle crossing the runway. The impact caused the plane to flip over, but emergency responders noted that no one was injured. Vehicles are not allowed on the runway, and it was not clear at the time of the incident why the driver had been crossing the runway.

References

External links

Simsbury Airport
(official site) * Buildings and structures in Simsbury, Connecticut Airports in Hartford County, Connecticut {{Connecticut-airport-stub