Spencer Municipal Airport

Spencer Municipal Airport
Northwest Iowa Regional Airport
Spencer Army Airfield

2006 USGS Orthophoto
IATA: SPW – ICAO: KSPW – FAA LID: SPW
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner City of Spencer
Serves Spencer, Iowa
Location Riverton Township, Clay County
Elevation AMSL 1,339 ft / 408 m
Coordinates 43°09′56″N 095°12′10″W / 43.16556°N 95.20278°W
Website SpencerIowaCity.com/...
Map
KSPW

Location of Spencer Municipal Airport

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 6,000 1,829 Concrete
18/36 5,100 1,554 Concrete
Statistics (2007)
Aircraft operations 15,300
Based aircraft 36
Source: FAA,[1] airport website[2]

Spencer Municipal Airport[1] (IATA: SPW, ICAO: KSPW, FAA LID: SPW), also known as Northwest Iowa Regional Airport,[2] is a public airport located three miles (5 km) northwest of the central business district of Spencer, a city in Clay County, Iowa, United States. It is owned by the City of Spencer.[1]

The airport is not served by any commercial airlines at this time but it was once the home of Great Lakes Airlines. The airline was named after the nearby Iowa Great Lakes. The airline has since relocated to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

History

Opened in March, 1942. Provided contract glider training to the United States Army Air Forces, 1942-1944. Training provided by Hunter Flying Service. An all-way turf airfield with a 4,000' x 4,000' landing/takeoff area. Used primarily C-47 Skytrains and Waco CG-4 unpowered Gliders. The mission of the school was to train glider pilot students in proficiency in operation of gliders in various types of towed and soaring flight, both day and night, and in servicing of gliders in the field.

Inactivated during 1944 with the drawdown of AAFTC's pilot training program. Declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on 30 September 1945. Eventually discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport.

Facilities and aircraft

Spencer Municipal Airport covers an area of 812 acres (329 ha) which contains two concrete paved runways: 12/30 measuring 6,000 x 100 ft (1,829 x 30 m) and 18/36 measuring 5,100 x 75 ft (1,554 x 23 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending August 16, 2007, the airport had 15,300 aircraft operations, an average of 42 per day: 75% general aviation, 24% air taxi and 1% military. There are 36 aircraft based at this airport: 78% single-engine, 14% multi-engine, 6% ultralight and 2% jet.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 FAA Airport Master Record for SPW (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-10-25
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Northwest Iowa Regional Airport page at City of Spencer website
Other sources

External links