Olympia Regional Airport

Olympia Regional Airport
FAA airport diagram
IATA: OLM – ICAO: KOLM – FAA LID: OLM
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Port of Olympia
Serves		Olympia, Washington
Location		Tumwater, Washington
Elevation AMSL		209 ft / 64 m
Coordinates		46°58′10″N 122°54′09″W
Website		http://www.portolympia.com/index.aspx?NID=31
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
8/26	4,157	1,267	Asphalt
17/35	5,501	1,677	Asphalt
Statistics (2008)
Aircraft operations			74,169
Based aircraft			148
Source: FAA, WSDOT, Port of Olympia

Olympia Airport

Location of Olympia Airport, Washington

Olympia Regional Airport (IATA: OLM, ICAO: KOLM, FAA LID: OLM) is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) south of the central business district of Olympia, a city in Thurston County and the capital of the U.S. state of Washington. Formerly known as Olympia Airport, it is owned by the Port of Olympia. It is about one mile (1.6 km) east of Interstate 5, actually within the boundaries of the city of Tumwater which is south of and adjacent to Olympia.

Olympic Flight Museum is located at the Olympia Airport, and Airlift Northwest, the region's air medical transport service uses the airport as one of its medical helicopter bases. The flight museum and the airport play host to a moderate sized air show each June.

The airport's industrial park, 300 acres (1.2 km²) in extent, includes a U.S. Department of Commerce designated Free Trade Zone.

History

The airport served as a satellite of nearby McChord Field (now AFB) during World War II, and commercial aviation history at the Olympia Airport extends to the 1920s. The airport now supports large corporate jets, cargo aircraft, military helicopters and has a back-up runway lighting system for uninterrupted operations. Olympia Airport also has an Instrument Landing System and backup power system for operations during bad weather or low visibility.

An FAA funded $15 million improvement project to make the airport a safer facility was completed in September, 2008, focusing on runway line-of-sight improvements and enhanced signage. In the late 1990s, the airport's runway protection zone was extended with the purchase of $5.5 million worth of land on each end of the primary runway and an above ground fuel facility was constructed.

Facilities and aircraft

Olympia Regional Airport covers an area of 1,632 acres (660 ha) at an elevation of 209 feet (64 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 17/35 is 5,501 by 150 feet (1,677 x 46 m) and 8/26 is 4,157 by 150 feet (1,267 x 46 m). The airport has a passenger terminal, an air traffic control tower and a full-instrument landing approach system.

The field is home to flight instruction, both fixed wing and helicopter, major oxygen and aircraft maintenance facilities, the Washington State Patrol aviation division, and a key navigational aid (Olympia VOR) for commercial flights inbound to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and general aviation aircraft in the region.

For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2008, the airport had 74,169 aircraft operations, an average of 203 per day: 96% general aviation, 3% air taxi, and 1% military. At that time there were 148 aircraft based at this airport: 74% single-engine, 8% multi-engine, 3% jet and 14% helicopter.

See also

• Washington World War II Army Airfields

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

External links

• Olympia Regional Airport at Port of Olympia web site
• FAA Terminal Procedures for OLM, effective 12 January 2012
• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KOLM
  • ASN accident history for OLM
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart, Terminal Procedures