Charlotte County Airport
Encyclopedia
Facilities and aircraft
Charlotte County Airport covers an area of 1934 acre (782.7 ha) which contains three asphaltAsphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
paved runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
s: 4/22 measuring 6695 foot, 15/33 measuring 5688 foot, and 9/27 measuring 2630 foot.
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 74,743 aircraft operations, an average of 204 per day: 97% general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
, 3% air taxi
Air taxi
An air taxi is an air charter passenger or cargo aircraft which operates on an on-demand basis.-Regulation:In the United States, air taxi and air charter operations are governed by Part 135 of the Federal Aviation Regulations , unlike the larger scheduled air carriers which are governed by more...
and <1% military. There are 295 aircraft based at this airport: 82% single-engine, 11% multi-engine, 2% jet, 2% helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
and 2% ultralight
Ultralight aviation
The term "ultralight aviation" refers to light-weight, 1- or 2-person airplanes., also called microlight aircraft in the UK, India and New Zealand...
.
World War II
In 1941, just prior to the beginning of World War II, the US Army Corps of Engineers planned and constructed an airfield on the current airport property as a combat pilot training base for the US Army Air Forces' Third Air ForceThird Air Force
The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe . It is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....
, naming the facility Punta Gorda Army Airfield. By 1944, the base reached its peak in housing 1,000 personnel, including two squadrons of student pilots.
The base initially had forty Curtis P-40 Warhawk aircraft assigned, later transitioning to the North American P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
aircraft. Pursuit (i.e., "fighter") aircraft training in the P-40 and P-51 represented advanced phase training for Army Air Forces fighter pilots prior to their being deployed with USAAF operational units in the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation. Punta Gorda Army Airfield was a subordinate command of 3rd Air Force, 3rd Fighter Command at Drew Field (now Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport
Tampa International Airport is a major public airport located six nautical miles west of the central business district of Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. This airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority...
), and also had C-45 Expeditor and C-47 Skytrain
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
transport aircraft assigned for support purposes.
All base officers and some senior non-commissioned officers lived in Punta Gorda, while all student officers and most enlisted men lived in tent structures on the base. Semi-permanent buildings included an operations headquarters, classrooms, supply building, fire station, dispensary, chapel and the control tower. The base also had nose dock hangars, where just the nose of the aircraft was under shelter for repairs.
Following the war, the US Government issued a Deed of Release transferring all of the fixtures and improvements situated on the property to the local jursidiction of Charlotte County.