Zephyrhills Municipal Airport
| Zephyrhills Municipal Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
| USGS aerial image, 5 January 1999 | |||
| IATA: ZPH – ICAO: KZPH – FAA LID: ZPH | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | City of Zephyrhills | ||
| Serves | Zephyrhills, Florida | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 90 ft / 27 m | ||
| Coordinates | 28°13′41″N 082°09′21″W / 28.22806°N 82.15583°W | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 4/22 | 4,999 | 1,524 | Asphalt |
| 18/36 | 4,954 | 1,510 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2008) | |||
| Aircraft operations | 37,750 | ||
| Based aircraft | 48 | ||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||
Zephyrhills Municipal Airport (IATA: ZPH, ICAO: KZPH, FAA LID: ZPH) is a city-owned, public-use airport located one nautical mile (1.85 km) southeast of the central business district of Zephyrhills, a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
Opened in January 1927, as a sub-base of Alachua AAF. The airport was hosted by the 3rd Army Air Force Base Unit under the Air University's Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) tactical combat simulation school in Central and Northern Florida.
Headquartered at Orlando Army Air Base, the school's mission was to develop tactics and techniques of aerial warfare and to establish technical and tactical proficiency requirements for combat units to effectively engage and defeat enemy air forces. This was done with a small variety of aircraft, including heavy strategic bombers; tactical fighters; medium and light bombers; reconnaissance and dive bombers, based at different airfields of the school.
The airfield was used by the 10th Fighter Squadron (Special), which initially flew P-40 Warhawks at the airfield from 4 January 1943 - 29 January 1944. The airfield was used to train pilots in ground intercept missions. In July 1943, the squadron converted to P-51 Mustangs. Zephyrhills AAF was also used as a standby landing strip for other USAAF aircraft flying in the area, such as those from MacDill Field and Drane Field.
The military use of the airport ended on 31 October 1944 and in 1947 the airport was deeded to the city, which has run it ever since.[2][3]
[edit] Facilities and aircraft
Zephyrhills Municipal Airport covers an area of 813 acres (329 ha) at an elevation of 90 feet (27 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 4/22 is 4,999 by 100 feet (1,524 x 30 m) and 18/36 is 4,954 by 100 feet (1,510 x 30 m).[1]
For the 12-month period ending November 5, 2008, the airport had 37,750 aircraft operations, an average of 103 per day: 98% general aviation, 2% military, and <1% air taxi. At that time there were 48 aircraft based at this airport: 75% single-engine, 8.3% multi-engine, 10.4% glider and 6.2% ultralight.[1]
[edit] Skydiving
This airport has a long history of skydiving, possibly the longest continuous history of skydiving at any U.S. airport. Skydive City, Inc., founded in 1990, operates a skydiving center, or drop zone, on the southeast side of the airport. The predecessor drop zone was Phoenix Parachute Center, operated by George Kabeller, just north of the current drop zone. Prior to that, a drop zone was operated on the southwest side of the airport. Jim Hooper became the manager of Zephyrhills Parachute Center in December, 1976. Si Fraser owned The Zephyrhills Parachute Center. The drop zone was previously managed by Searles.
[edit] Accidents and incidents
- On 20 April 1993, Douglas C-47B N8056 of Phoenix Air was written off in a wheels-up landing at Zephyrhills following an engine failure while engaged in a parachuting flight based at the airport.[4] An investigation by the NTSB found that the aircraft should have been able to climb on one engine. The pilot's type rating for the DC-3 was suspended following the accident with the requirement that he should pass a Federal Aviation Authority proficiency check before it was restored.[5]
[edit] See also
- List of airports in the Tampa Bay area
- Florida World War II Army Airfields
- Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d FAA Airport Master Record for ZPH (Form 5010 PDF). Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 8 April 2010.
- ^ USAFHRA Document 00055673
- ^ USAFHRA Document 00179864
- ^ "N8056 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19930420-0. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
- ^ "NTSB Order No. EA-3973". National Transportation Safety Board. http://www.ntsb.gov/alj/O_n_O/docs/AVIATION/3973.PDF. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
[edit] Other sources
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- Mauer, Mauer (1969), Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Air Force Historical Studies Office, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. ISBN 0-89201-097-5
- 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.
This article incorporates [edit] External links
- Aerial image as of 3 May 2002 from USGS The National Map
- FAA Terminal Procedures for ZPH, effective 8 March 2012
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for ZPH
- ASN accident history for ZPH
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for ZPH
