Aviation in Florida

Aviation in Florida
Aviation in the United States
Florida State Flag
Airports
Commercial – primary	20
Commercial – non-primary	22
General aviation	58
Other public-use airports	29
Military and other airports	24
First flight
Balloon - 1878 Heavier-than-air - 1914

The first aeronautical event in Florida was presented on January 28, 1878, when a balloon flew over Jacksonville. ^[1] Florida has since hosted four major aviation events. ^[2]

Events

• January 1914 - St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line becomes the first airline in the world using heavier-than-air vehicles.
• December 1916 - Navy takes delivery of its first airship, the DN-1
• April 1, 1926 - Florida Airways starts Commercial Air Mail (CAM) Service. ^[3]
• Sun 'n Fun air show started in 1974.

Aircraft manufacturers

• Comp Air - Merritt Island, Florida
• Piper Aircraft - Vero Beach
• Progressive Aerodyne - Tavares, Florida

Aerospace

• Florida Institute of Technology
• Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University

Airports

• List of airports in Florida

Commercial service

• Air Florida based in Florida from 1971 to 1984
• Red Arrow Flying Service - Chalk's Ocean Airways - Chalk's International Airlines founded in Miami in 1917. ^[4]
• National Airlines founded in 1934. ^[5]

Organizations

• Florida Aviation Association - Founded in 1936 in Orlando ^[6]
• Space Florida

Government and military

• Florida Department of Transportation ^[7]
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration bases its aircraft at the Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland.

^[8]

Museums

• Air Force Armament Museum, Valparaiso, Florida
• Air Force Space and Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
• Airport Museum (Melbourne, Florida)
• DeLand Naval Air Station Museum, DeLand, Florida
• Fantasy of Flight, Polk City, Florida
• Florida Air Museum, Lakeland, Florida
• Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Merritt Island, Florida
• Kissimmee Air Museum
• National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida
• United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, south of Titusville, Florida
• US Space Walk of Fame, Titusville, Florida
• Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum, Titusville, Florida
• Wings of Dreams Aviation Museum, Keystone Heights, Florida
• Wings Over Miami, Tamiami Airport, Miami

References

1. Lynn M. Homan, Thomas Reilly. Wings Over Florida.
2. James C. Clark. 200 Quick Looks at Florida History. p. 73.
3. Lynn M. Homan. Wings over Florida. p. 46.
4. Lynn M. Homan. Wings over Florida. p. 43.
5. Scott Taylor Hartzell. Remembering St. Petersburg, Florida: More Sunshine City Stories. p. 83.
6. John Forney Rudy (November 1938). "Florida Sprouts Wings". Flying Magazine.
7. "FDOT". Archived from the original on 25 June 1998. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
8. "Aircraft Operations | Office of Marine and Aviation Operations". Archived from the original on 2017-09-04. Retrieved 2020-10-06.