Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport

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Cincinnati Municipal Airport Lunken Field
IATA: LUK – ICAO: KLUK – FAA: LUK
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		City of Cincinnati
Serves		Cincinnati, Ohio
Elevation AMSL		483 ft / 147 m
Coordinates		39°06′12″N 084°25′07″W / 39.10333, -84.41861
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
3L/21R	3,802	1,159	Asphalt
3R/21L	6,101	1,860	Asphalt
7/25	5,128	1,563	Asphalt
Statistics (2004)
Aircraft operations			108,904
Based aircraft			314
Source: Federal Aviation Administration^[1]

Cincinnati Municipal Airport – Lunken Field (IATA: LUK, ICAO: KLUK, FAA LID: LUK), also known as Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport, Lunken Airport, or Lunken Field, is a public airport located three miles (5 km) southeast of the central business district of Cincinnati, in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. It is owned by the City of Cincinnati, Ohio.^[1] The airport serves private aircraft and the fleets of most local corporations.

It is bounded by US Route 50 (historic Columbia Parkway and Eastern Avenue) to the west, US Route 52 (Kellogg Avenue) and the Ohio River to the south, the Little Miami River (which originally flowed through the airfield but was diverted) to the east, and Ohio Route 125 (Beechmont Avenue) to the north.

1 History
2 Facilities
- 2.1 Aircraft
- 2.2 Restaurant
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

Cincinnati Municipal Airport, also known as Lunken Airport, was a commercial airport in the 1920s '30s and '40s. It is situated in the Columbia valley, on the site of the first Cincinnati-area settlement in 1788. When the original 1000-acre (4 km²) airfield was dedicated in 1925, it was the largest municipal airfield in the world.^[2] American Airlines started at Lunken Airport during this time, but no major commercial airlines use it anymore. Instead, many large Cincinnati-area companies now base their corporate aircraft there.^[3]

On December 17, 1925, the Embry-Riddle Company was formed at Lunken Airport by T. Higbee Embry and John Paul Riddle. A few years later, the company moved to Florida, and later became the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Lunken Airport was supplanted by the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in 1947 following catastrophic flooding from the Ohio River.^[4] The flooding problem prompted the airport's nickname of "Sunken Lunken". The control tower, located at the southwest corner of the Airport, was almost totally submerged during the historic Ohio River flood of 1937, and now has a single black brick facing the airfield to indicate the high-water mark.^[5] Today the old control tower is home to the Lunken Cadet Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, and is the oldest standing control tower in the United States.^{[citation needed]} The property also contains public recreation areas, including an 18-hole golf course, playgrounds, and walking/biking paths.

[edit] Facilities

Cincinnati Municipal Airport - Lunken Field covers an area of 1,140 acres (461 ha) which contains three runways:^[1]

Runway 3L/21R: 3,802 x 100 ft. (1,159 x 30 m), Surface: Asphalt
Runway 3R/21L: 6,101 x 150 ft. (1,860 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
Runway 7/25: 5,128 x 100 ft. (1,563 x 30 m), Surface: Asphalt

[edit] Aircraft

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2004, the airport had 108,904 aircraft operations, an average of 298 per day: 83% general aviation, 17% air taxi, 1% military and <1% scheduled commercial. There are 314 aircraft based at this airport: 62% single-engine, 21% jet, 15% multi-engine and 1% helicopter.^[1]

[edit] Restaurant

Sky Galley Restaurant has been in nearly continuous operation for decades, and is so named because the first meals served on a commercial airliner (American Airlines) were prepared here.^[6] Sky Galley is housed in the original, Art Deco terminal building and has large windows and a patio dining area facing the airfield, allowing wonderful views of small aircraft and corporate jets coming and going. Pilots can literally taxi up and park right outside the restaurant. The restaurant is casual and serves affordably priced American fare.