Tipton Airport is a public airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located just south of Fort George G. Meade

Fort George G. Meade

Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation that includes the Defense Information School, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Courier Service...

 in Odenton

Odenton, Maryland

Odenton is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,534 at the 2000 census. The town is named after former Governor of Maryland, Oden Bowie. It is bordered by Gambrills to the east, Severn to the north, Fort Meade to the west, and Crofton to...

, Anne Arundel County

Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Anne Arundel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is named for Anne Arundell , a member of the ancient family of Arundells in Cornwall, England and the wife of Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. Its county seat is Annapolis, which is also the capital of the state...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. The facility is bordered by Fort Meade, the National Security Agency

National Security Agency

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...

, and the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center

The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is a biological research center in Maryland. It is one of only 17 research centers in the United States run by the U.S. Geological Survey. This USGS research center is located on the U.S...

. This airport opened in 1999 on the site of a former United States Army Airfield that was closed in 1995. It is operated by the Tipton Airport Authority.

Facilities and aircraft

Tipton Airport covers an area of 366 acres (148.1 ha) which contains one 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...

 (10/28) measuring 3,000 x 75 ft (914 x 23 m).

For 12-month period ending April 02, 2008, the airport had 49,225 aircraft operations, an average of 134 per day: 98% 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...

 and 2% 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...

. There are 128 aircraft/rotorcraft based at this airport: 85% single engine, 9% multi-engine and 6% 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...

s.

History

Tipton Airport was originally a military airfield. It was constructed in 1960 over a landfill located on the outskirts of Fort Meade and was originally named Fort George G. Meade Army Airfield. The new airfield replaced a smaller airstrip that had been operating since at least 1935 at a site approximately two miles northeast of Tipton's location (what is now the Fort Meade post exchange and commissary complex). In April 1962, the field was renamed Tipton Army Airfield in honor of Colonel William Tipton

William Tipton

Lieutenant William Dolley Tipton began his military career as a World War I Sopwith Camel pilot. The U.S. Air Force officially credits him with four aerial victories during the war, although other sources claim he had five, and thus was a flying ace...

, a Maryland National Guard officer and decorated veteran of both world wars. Tipton was killed in an aircraft crash in Ohio at the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Public Law 100-526, the Base Alignment and Closure (BRAC) Act of 1988, designated Tipton Army Airfield for closure, and as a result the land on which Tipton is located was transferred to civilian control in 1995. Following a lengthy environmental remediation, which included the removal of unexploded ordnance and hazardous waste, it was opened to civilian traffic. A formal dedication of Tipton Airport was held on October 27, 1999, and on November 1, 1999, the airport held a grand opening.