Merrill Field is a public-use general aviation airport located one mile (1.6 km) east of downtown

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

in the U.S. state of Alaska. The airport is owned by Municipality of Anchorage. It opened in 1930 as Anchorage Aviation Field and was renamed in honor of Alaska aviation pioneer

Russel Merrill Russel ("Russ") Hyde Merrill (April 8, 1894 – September 16, 1929) was an Alaskan aviation pioneer. Early life Born on 8 April 1894 in Des Moines, Iowa, he attended Grinnell College for three years before transferring to Cornell. Before graduat ...

History

Merrill Field, located on the east end of 5th Avenue in Anchorage, was the first official airport in the city when it opened in 1930. It was Anchorage's only airport until 1951, when the introduction of ever larger and faster commercial aircraft required that an airfield with longer and heavier runways be built. Construction of the original 35-acre site one mile east of the city was completed on 22 Aug. 1929. Originally named Anchorage Aviation Field, it was later renamed Anchorage Municipal Airport. The airport is now named for

, an Alaskan aviation pioneer. An

aerodrome beacon An aerodrome beacon or rotating beacon or aeronautical beacon is a beacon installed at an airport or aerodrome to indicate its location to aircraft pilots at night. An aerodrome beacon is mounted on top of a towering structure, often a control ...

was located at Merrill Field and dedicated on 25 September 1932 in Merrill's honor. The airfield remains in use today as the primary field for private wheel-equipped aircraft in the warmer months, and for ski-equipped aircraft in the winter. A section of the property used to be a municipal landfill.

Facilities and aircraft

Merrill Field covers 436

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 (176 ha, 1.76 km²) and has three runways: * Runway 5/23: 2,000 x 60 ft (610 x 18 m), surface:

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 ...

/dirt * Runway 7/25: 4,000 x 100 ft (1,219 x 30 m), surface: asphalt * Runway 16/34: 2,640 x 75 ft (805 x 23 m), surface: asphalt For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2013, the airport had 126,234 aircraft operations, all of which were general aviation. There are 844 aircraft based at this airport: 786 single engine, 41 multi-engine, 16 helicopters and one

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

. There are no based jets, although one retired Boeing 727 donated by

FedEx FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...

is used as a training aid by the University of Alaska Anchorage's Aviation Technology Division, which is based at the airfield. It is not

airworthy In aviation, airworthiness is the measure of an aircraft's suitability for safe flight. Initial airworthiness is demonstrated by a certificate of airworthiness issued by the civil aviation authority in the state in which the aircraft is register ...

. When it landed in February 2013, the Boeing 727 was the largest aircraft ever to have landed at Merrill Field. The landing required special permission from the city, and preparatory surveys of the runway and airfield infrastructure to ensure the aircraft could be landed safely; the captain practiced the landing in a flight simulator beforehand. The airfield hosts two locally owned flight schools, air taxi services, and fixed-base operators. An extension of the Q Taxiway connects the airport to Alaska Regional Hospital for MEDEVAC operations. A section of the airport is built over the closed Merrill Field Land Fill. This section requires slightly more maintenance due to settling and emissions.

Airline and destinations

Passenger

Statistics

References

External links

Municipality of Anchorage: Merrill Field
(official website) * * {{Airports in Alaska 1930 establishments in Alaska Airports established in 1930 Airports in Anchorage, Alaska Alaska Dispatch History of Anchorage, Alaska University of Alaska Anchorage