Taunton Municipal Airport , also known as King Field, 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 surface ...

located three nautical miles (6 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 ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, a city in Bristol County,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. It is located in the ''East Taunton'' neighborhood of the city. The city-owned airport is maintained and operated by the Taunton Airport Commission. According to the FAA's

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 2009–2013, 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 ...

'' airport. Although many U.S. airports use the same three-letter

location identifier A location identifier is a symbolic representation for the name and the location of an airport, navigation aid, or weather station, and is used for staffed air traffic control facilities in air traffic control, telecommunications, computer programm ...

for 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 ...

and

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

, this airport is assigned TAN by the FAA and no designation from the IATA (which assigned TAN to Tangalooma Airport in

Tangalooma, Queensland Originally a whaling station, Tangalooma Island Resort (formerly known as Tangalooma Wild Dolphin Resort) is a resort on the west side of Moreton Island in Queensland, Australia. It lies on the eastern shore of Moreton Bay and is known for its ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

History

The Taunton Municipal Airport was established in 1919 by Henry King, who was at that time a skilled pilot in the early years of aviation. He preserved and maintained the airport until 1960, when it was handed over to the city of

. Some of the hangars still on the airport grounds, including the King Airfield Hangar, are registered with the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, since they date back to the earliest days of aviation.

Facilities and aircraft

Taunton Municipal - King Field covers an area of 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 43 feet (13 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: 12/30 is 3,500 by 75 feet (1,067 x 23 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 ...

pavement and 4/22 is 1,900 by 60 feet (579 x 18 m) with 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 ...

and

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

surface. Available instrument approaches are non-precision. The facility of the airport comprises an aircraft refueling area, designated aircraft and land vehicle parking areas, historic and private hangars, a small terminal (building), and a signal tower light. For the 12-month period ending April 1, 2009, the airport had 33,615 aircraft operations, an average of 92 per day: 99.7%

, 0.2%

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 0.1%

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 111 aircraft based at this airport: 93.7% 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 gen ...

, 1.8% multi-engine and 4.5%

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 ...

Commerce and industry

The airport plays a large role in the transport of goods from industries around the local region to outbound locations. Prominent businesses and corporations such as Ocean Spray and American Auto Auctions use the airport as a means of transporting goods and personnel. In January 2014, Pilgrim Aviation opened flight training operations at Taunton Municipal Airport at 2 Westcoat Drive, the location where Atlantic Aviation was formerly located. Pilgrim Aviation is a Cessna Pilot Center offering flight training, scenic flights, and plane rentals. Pilgrim Aviation is an FAA approved flight school under Part 61, and owns a fleet of 11 aircraft, including a 2013

Cessna 162 Skycatcher The Cessna 162 Skycatcher is an American side-by-side two-seat, high-wing, strut-braced, tricycle gear light-sport aircraft (LSA) that was designed and produced by Cessna between December 2009 and December 2013. Its intended market was flight ...

. American Aero Services provides a full-service Maintenance Shop for General Aviation aircraft. They provide service to many types of Antique aircraft and seaplanes as well as Cessna, Piper and Beechcraft contemporary type aircraft. Also, the airport provided flight training through Atlantic Aviation, which had a base of operations and various air services at the airport. Atlantic Aviation is a full service flight school, providing FAA approved flight training from certified instructors. Various non-profit organizations and associations such as the Taunton Airport Association, the Brockton Flying Club, and 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 ...

References

External links

Taunton Municipal Airport

American Aero Services

Aerial image as of 3 April 1995
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 ...

'' * {{MA Airport Buildings and structures in Taunton, Massachusetts Greater Taunton Area Airports in Bristol County, Massachusetts

History

Facilities and aircraft

Commerce and industry

See also

References

External links