Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport
Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Village of Bolingbrook | ||||||||||
| Serves | Bolingbrook, Illinois | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 670 ft / 204 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°41′46″N 088°07′45″W / 41.69611°N 88.12917°W | ||||||||||
| Website | www.bbclowairport.com | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  1C5 Location of airport in Illinois  1C5 1C5 (the United States) | |||||||||||
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| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2020) | |||||||||||
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Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport (FAA LID: 1C5) is a public airport in Bolingbrook, a village in Will County, Illinois, United States.[1] Located 29 miles (46 km) southwest of the Chicago Loop, it is a small general aviation facility catering to private pilots, students, and commuter aircraft.
History
The airport was originally a grass airstrip built by Oliver Boyd Clow in the 1950s. By 1989 it was named the best privately owned, public-use airport in Illinois.[3] It was acquired by the Village of Bolingbrook in 2004. The village has expanded the airport, which includes a widened runway, additional taxiways, and landing glidepath lighting.[4]
The airport was used as a location for the 1992 film Folks![5] with Tom Selleck and Don Ameche, which included a cameo by Clow, the founder of the airport.
Clow called the airport "Clow International" on the spur of the moment when filing a flight plan.[6] He chose the word "international" to reflect Chicago's mixed ethnicity, rather than the airport's size: his many friends and fellow pilots were of German, Polish, and other ethnic backgrounds now making their homes in Chicago. "It was named on a lark and borders on the ridiculous, but people remember it. Sometimes the absurd is easier to remember," said Clow.[7]
The airport received $2.4 million from the Illinois Department of Transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the Rebuild Illinois program. The money went toward replacing a taxiway and the airport's rotating beacon.[8]
Facilities and aircraft
Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport covers an area of 205 acres (83 ha) and contains one runway designated 18/36 with a 3,360 x 75 ft (1,024 x 23 m) asphalt pavement.[1]
For the 12-month period ending July 31, 2020, the airport had 50,000 aircraft operations, an average of 137 per day: 96% general aviation and 4% air taxi. For the same time period, there were 59 aircraft based at this airport: 54 single-engine and 4 multi-engine airplanes, and 1 helicopter.[1][9]
The fixed-base operator (FBO) at Clow is JW Aviation. It offers fuel, aircraft parking and hangars, flight training, and aircraft rental.[10]
Illinois Aviation Museum
The airport is also the location of the Illinois Aviation Museum at Bolingbrook, which includes a collection of restored and replica aircraft.[11]
Accidents and incidents
- On September 25, 2013, a Cirrus SR20 airplane crashed after the pilot attempted a go-around. The plane had two occupants; both were killed.[12]
References
- ^ a b c d FAA Airport Form 5010 for 1C5 PDF, effective 2007-12-20
- ^ Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport, official site
- ^ Illinois Aviation Museum at Bolingbrook
- ^ Chicago Tribune July 8, 2015 article: Bolingbrook paying $706,715 of $6.9 million Clow Airport upgrade
- ^ Folks!
- ^ Chicago Tribune July 17, 1991 article: Clow's airport may be closing, but appearances are deceiving
- ^ AOPA March 5, 2003 article: Pilots - Oliver Boyd Clow
- ^ "Clow International Airport To Receive $2.4M In State Funding". Patch. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
- ^ "AirNav: 1C5 – Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport". AirNav.com. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
- ^ JW Aviation
- ^ "About". Illinois Aviation Museum. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- ^ https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/88129/pdf [bare URL PDF]
External links
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for 1C5
- AirNav airport information for 1C5
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for 1C5
- Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport is at 41°41′46″N 088°07′45″W / 41.69611°N 88.12917°W
- Illinois Aviation Museum
- JW Aviation