McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport

McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport
USGS aerial image, 1 February 1997
IATA: MKL – ICAO: KMKL – FAA LID: MKL
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner/Operator Jackson-Madison County Airport Authority
Serves Jackson, Tennessee
Location Madison County
Elevation AMSL 434 ft / 132 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
2/20 6,006 1,831 Asphalt
11/29 3,538 1,078 Asphalt
Statistics (2007)
Aircraft operations 25,968
Based aircraft 48
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport (IATA: MKL, ICAO: KMKL, FAA LID: MKL) is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) west of the central business district of Jackson, a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. It is owned by the City of Jackson & Madison County.[1] The airport is mostly used for general aviation. TennesseeSkies provides scheduled service to the Nashville, Tennessee airport, beginning August 31, 2009.

Contents

History

The airport is also known as McKellar Field. It opened in 1942 and was assigned to the United States Army Air Forces Southeast Training Center (later the Eastern Flying Training Command) as a primary (level 1) pilot training airfield. There were also two local axillary airfields for emergency and overflow landings.

The airfield began training flying cadets under contract to Georgia Air Services, Inc. Flying training was performed with Fairchild PT-19s as the primary trainer. It also had several PT-17 Stearmans assigned.

The facility was inactivated on 16 October 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program. It was declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on 30 September 1945. Eventually it was discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport.

McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport is named in memory of the late Kenneth Douglas McKellar (1869–1957), a U.S. senator from Tennessee; and Major Robert Ray Sipes, an Air Force pilot from Jackson who was killed in action during the Vietnam War in 1969. Sipes is buried at the Shiloh National Military Park cemetery.

Facilities and aircraft

McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport covers an area of 807 acres (327 ha) at an elevation of 434 feet (132 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 2/20 is 6,006 by 150 feet (1,831 x 46 m) and 11/29 is 3,538 by 100 feet (1,078 x 30 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2007, the airport had 25,968 aircraft operations, an average of 71 per day: 76% general aviation, 14% military, and 10% air taxi. At that time there were 48 aircraft based at this airport: 50% single-engine, 27% multi-engine, 2% jet, 4% helicopter and 17% military.[1]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations
TennesseeSkies operated by Pacific Wings Nashville
SeaPort Airlines Memphis, Nashville [All begins January 22][2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d FAA Airport Master Record for MKL (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 8 April 2010.
  2. ^ http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/dec/28/seaport-airlines-provide-service-between-memphis-a/?partner=yahoo_feeds

Other sources

  •  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
  • Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), Locating Air Force Base Sites History’s Legacy, Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC, 2004.
  • Manning, Thomas A. (2005), History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas ASIN: B000NYX3PC

External links

Military of the United States portal
United States Air Force portal