Spence Airport

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the military use of this facility, see Spence Air Base.
Spence Airport
AMSL
292 ft / 89 m
Coordinates31°08′16″N 083°42′15″W / 31.13778°N 83.70417°W / 31.13778; -83.70417
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
14/32 4,500 1,372 Concrete
Statistics (2008)
Aircraft operations18,100
Based aircraft3

Spence Airport (

commercial airline
service.

History

The City of Moultrie gained its first official municipal airport, Clark Field, in the 1930s. In 1940, local leaders, aware of the Federal government's airport building program, formed a committee to represent the community. The committee then contacted the

Maxwell AAF, Alabama to secure an Air Corps airfield on the site. Air Corps engineers came to Moultrie in March 1941. After inspecting the first site, they selected a more desirable site five miles (8 km) southeast of the city. In June, after the War Department
approved the second site, Moultrie and Colquitt County purchased the 1,600 acres (6.5 km2) involved.

Military use

The airport was used for many years by the military, finally being closed as Spence Air Base.

Civil use

However, the USAF was still a presence at the civilian airport after its formal inactivation.

HC-130
P Hercules.

Given this reduced use by high-performance fixed-wing military aircraft, the portion of the main runway that continues to be maintained has been reduced from 8,000 to 4,500 ft (1,400 m).

Part of the cantonment area eventually became the Moultrie Regional Industrial Park and a county correctional institution. In 1968, Maule Aircraft built a manufacturing plant at Spence where it remains to this day. In 1978, Spence first hosted the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition. In 2004, the Sunbelt Expo has grown into the world's largest farm show with over 1,000 exhibitors. Since many of the visitors fly to the show, Spence's old control tower is staffed during the event to control air traffic. Sunbelt Expo maintains a year-round administration center at Spence.

Today, three of Spence's wartime hangars are still in existence. Other buildings built during the war also remain.

Facilities and aircraft

Spence Airport covers an area of 100

mean sea level. It has one runway designated 14/32 with a concrete surface measuring 4,500 by 75 feet (1,372 x 23 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending September 11, 2008, the airport had 18,100 aircraft operations, an average of 49 per day: 55% general aviation and 45% military. At that time there were 3 aircraft based at this airport: 33.3% single-engine and 66.7% multi-engine.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^
    PDF
    . Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 29 July 2010.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spence_Airport&oldid=1188766607"