Francis S. Gabreski Airport

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Francis S. Gabreski Airport
IATA: FOK – ICAO: KFOK – FAA: FOK
Summary
Airport type		Public / Military (ANG)
Owner		County of Suffolk
Serves		Westhampton Beach, New York
Elevation AMSL		67 ft / 20 m
Coordinates		40°50′37″N 072°37′54″W / 40.84361, -72.63167
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
Direction	ft	m	Surface
6/24	9,000	2,743	Asphalt/Concrete
1/19	5,000	1,524	Asphalt/Concrete
15/33	5,000	1,524	Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations			434,223
Based aircraft			107
Source: Federal Aviation Administration^[1]

FAA diagram of Francis S. Gabreski Airport (FOK)

Francis S. Gabreski Airport (IATA: FOK, ICAO: KFOK, FAA LID: FOK) is a county-owned public-use airport located three miles (5 km) north of the central business district of Westhampton Beach, in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, United States.^[1] It is approximately 80 miles east of New York City.

Known as Suffolk County Air Force Base until 1969, then Suffolk County Airport until 1991, when it was renamed in honor of Col. Francis S. Gabreski, a flying ace in World War II and a former commander of the base. The airport is a general aviation facility utilized by corporate businesses, private aviation and air taxi services. The 106th Rescue Wing of the New York Air National Guard (ANG) is also based here.

1 History
2 Facilities and aircraft
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

In 1943, the United States government built the airport for use as an Air Force Base during World War II. After the war it was given to Suffolk County, but it was reclaimed in 1951 for the Korean War National Emergency. In 1960, it was leased by the United States Air Force for an Air Defense Command (ADC) base that served as home to the 52nd Fighter Wing from 1963 through 1968. The base was deactivated in 1969 and released back to Suffolk County.

Military operations were reintroduced in June 1970, when the 102nd Air Refueling Squadron (102 ARS) under the 106th Air Refueling Group (106 ARG) of the New York Air National Guard relocated here after the closing of Naval Air Station Floyd Bennett Field. In 1972, the unit's mission changed from "Air Refueling" to "Fighter Interceptor", with the new mission of controlling the skies along the northeast U.S. coast. In 1975, the designation and mission changed again to "Aerospace Rescue and Recovery", later shortened to "Air Rescue" and then simply "Rescue.". The current names 102nd Rescue Squadron (102 RQS) and 106th Rescue Wing (106 RQW) were assigned in 1995. Today, the 106 RQW provides search and rescue services using HC-130 Hercules aircraft and HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters. The rescue wing was featured in the book and movie of The Perfect Storm which details the crash of one of the wing's HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters while conducting search and rescue operations from the airport during the 1991 Halloween Nor’easter.

Air Force One was occasionally based at the airport in the summers of 1998 and 1999 during weeklong visits by Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton during extended stays at the Georgica Pond home of Steven Spielberg in East Hampton (village), New York.

[edit] Facilities and aircraft

Gabreski Airport covers an area of 1,451 acres (587 ha) which contains three paved runways. Runway 6/24 measures 9,000 x 150 ft. (2,743 x 46 m), making it among New York's longest after JFK International Airport and Stewart International Airport. The airport has two additional runways (1/19 and 15/33), each measuring 5,000 x 150 ft. (1,524 x 46 m).^[1]

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 434,223 aircraft operations, an average of 1,189 per day: 97% general aviation, 3% military and <1% air taxi. At that time there were 107 aircraft based at this airport: 79% single-engine, 6% multi-engine, 2% jet, 2% helicopter, 2% glider and 10% military.^[1]

Two fixed base operators provide aviation services to airport users: Long Island Jet Center and Malloy Air East.

The Suffolk County Police Aviation Section bases a Law Enforcement and MEDEVAC helicopter at the airport. The base is staffed from 7AM to 11PM by two Police Officer pilots as well as a Flight Paramedic employed by Stony Brook University Hospital. The airport is policed by the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department.