Regional Airport
History
The airport was opened on 23 September 1942 as Frederick Army Airfield with four hard-surfaced runways, three of 6,000 foot (1,829 m) length (00/18; 04/22; 13/31) and one 4,380 feet (1,335 m) long (09/27). It was also used as a civil airport under a joint-use agreement. The airport was assigned to the United States Army Air Forces' Gulf Coast Training Center (later Central Flying Training Command) as an advanced twin-engine (level 3) pilot training airfield, with one of its instructors being comedian George Gobel. It had four local auxiliary airfields for emergency and overflow landings. The end of the AAFTC's pilot training program on October 31, 1945, marked the end of military flight operations from the airfield. On September 21, 1946, it was subsequently declared surplus and given to the Army Corps of Engineers. Eventually it was discharged to the War Assets Administration (WAA) and became a civil airport.
Facilities & Aircraft
Frederick Regional Airport covers an area of 1,442 acres (584 ha) at an elevation of 1,258 feet (383 m) above mean sea level. It has three runways: 17/35 is 6,099 by 150 feet (1,859 x 46 m) with an asphalt surface; 3/21 is 4,812 by 60 feet (1,467 x 18 m) with a concrete surface; 12/30 is 4,578 by 75 feet (1,395 x 23 m) with a concrete surface.
The airport is also home to the World War II Airborne Demonstration Team Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization located in the historic former Frederick Army Airfield portion of the airport. In addition to its museum functions focused on World War II U.S. Army airborne infantry/paratrooper operations, the team also maintains two flyable C-47 Skytrain transports in one of the airport's remaining World War II military hangars. Painted in U.S. Army Air Forces markings, these aircraft are regularly flown for use in historical reenactments of paratrooper airdrop operations.
For the 12-month period ending June 9, 2008, the airport had 63,700 aircraft operations, an average of 174 per day: 94% military and 6% general aviation. At that time there were 17 aircraft based at this airport: 76% single-engine, 18% multi-engine and 6% military.