Calverton Executive Airpark

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Calverton Executive Airpark
Grumman Memorial Park at Calverton.
IATA: CTO^[1] – ICAO: none – FAA: 3C8
Summary
Airport type		Public-owned, Private-use
Owner		Town of Riverhead
Location		Calverton, New York
Elevation AMSL		75 ft / 23 m
Coordinates		40°54′54″N 072°47′31″W / 40.915, -72.79194
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
14/32	10,000	3,048	Asphalt/Concrete
5/23 (closed)	7,000	2,133	Asphalt/Concrete
Source: Federal Aviation Administration^[2]

Main building

TWA Flight 800 reassembled in the building

Calverton Executive Airpark (IATA: CTO^[1], FAA LID: 3C8, formerly CTO) is a public-owned private-use airport located three miles (5 km) west of the central business district of Calverton, in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is owned by the Town of Riverhead.^[2]

It was formerly the Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant which was owned by the United States Navy and used to assemble, test, refit and retrofit jets built by the Grumman Corporation on Long Island.

The airport covers an area of 2,921 acres (1,182 ha) which contains two asphalt and concrete runways: 14/32 measuring 10,000 x 200 feet (3,048 x 61 m)^[2] and 5/23 measuring 7,000 x 200 feet (2,133 x 61 m). Older aerial photos show both runways marked with X's^[3] which indicate they are closed, but more recent photos show runway 14/32 with the X's removed^[4] and that runway is operational according to the town's airport rules and regulations.^[5]

The airport is lightly used with most planes using the nearby Francis S. Gabreski Airport. Its most visible commercial air tenant is Sky Dive Long Island which since 2000 has been using the airport for its skydiving operations.

1 History
2 Future
3 Endangered species
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

In 1956 the United States Navy purchased about 6,000 acres (2,428 ha) on the Peconic River by New York Route 25 for the facility. Among the properties purchased was a mansion belonging to the grandson of F.W. Woolworth.

The Navy was to build among other things a 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runway. It is labeled on topographic maps as Grumman Peconic River Airport^[6] with an FAA code of CTO.

The unit is most associated with test, assembly and retrofitting the F-14 Tomcat.^[7] The Panther, Cougar, Tiger, and Intruder were also tested at the facility.

The Grumman site consisted of "Plant Six," where final assembly of F-14s, A-6s, EA-6Bs, and E-2Cs, and "Plant Seven," Flight Test.

During the Space Race Grumman built a mock up of the lunar surface to test its proposed Lunar Roving Vehicle. Many of the lunar astronauts were said to have visited the plant then.

In 1965 New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller proposed converting the airport into the fourth New York City metropolitan airport joining Laguardia Airport, John F. Kennedy Airport and Newark Airport. The proposal was abandoned following opposition from both Grumman and local residents.

In 1974 when the two other National Cemeteries on Long Island (Cypress Hills National Cemetery and Long Island National Cemetery) were running out of space, the Navy was approached about donating its undeveloped land north of Route 25 for a cemetery. On December 7, 1977, a 902 acres (365 ha) tract was donated to form Calverton National Cemetery. More land would be donated by the Navy in 2000 bringing the total to 1,045 acres (423 ha) making it the largest national cemetery in the United States (and also the busiest).

In 1996 the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 which had crashed about 20 miles (32 km) south of the airport was reconstructed in a hangar.

Grumman had merged with Northrop in 1994 and the new firm eliminated almost all operations on Long Island and the final Grumman affiliation with Calverton was in 1996.

In September 1998, the bulk of the developed land (2,640 acres) at the airport was donated to Riverhead. Another 2,935 acres (1,188 ha) was donated to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation for wildlife management.

In the 1998 transactions East End Aircraft Long Island Corporation was given 10 acres on Highway 25 which it is developing into the Grumman Memorial Park and Aerospace Museum.

As of January 2006, the Navy still owns 358 acres (mostly areas requiring environment clean up) at the site.^[8]

[edit] Future

The airport's aviation days are numbered.

Through 2007, debates raged whether to turn the space into a mega complex around a NASCAR track called EPCAL Centre or a giant ski resort based construction of an artificial 350 foot high indoor ski mountain.

In January 2008 the Riverhead Town Board with newly elected officers signed a deal to sell the airport for $155 million to Riverhead Resorts to build the ski mountain and tear up the airport runway and replace it with a lake overruling a December vote to give the NASCAR track the go ahead.

It will take up to three years to get the necessary environmental permits and the proposed opening date of the project is 2012.^[9]

[edit] Endangered species

As discussions over whether the airport could be developed the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced in February 2008 that endangered Short-eared owls and Northern harrier hawkss had been spotted at the airport which would prompt the DEC to make the ultimate decision the environmental impact of the development.^[10]