Ivan Munroe in 1961First scheduled flight in 1938 by Eastern Airlines with Douglas DC-2. Airline President Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker is fourth from left. In the photo, left to right, are Ben H. Bridges, Mayor J.R. Jinks, Honorable Robert Ramspect, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, Mrs. Joe Giddens, Wilet Moore, Mrs. Jewell Puckett, City manager H.P. Ford, Ralph McGill, Colonel C.L. Waller, W.B. Hartsfield, Smythe Gambrel, C.F. Palmer, Paul Brattain, Sidney L. Shannon, Captain W.S. Dawson, W.V. Crowley.
In 1928 the City of Tallahassee purchased a 200-acre (0.81km2) tract of land for $7028 for its first municipal airport. The land was previously a dairy farm operated (1910-1928) by Ervin Bostick Revell and Theodore B. Revell.
Once the city purchased it, it was named Dale Mabry Field in honor of Tallahassee native Army Captain Dale Mabry, killed in 1922 while commanding the Army semi-rigid airshipRoma on February 21, 1922, which crashed at Norfolk, Virginia. The airfield had one grass runway. The airport was dedicated on November 11, 1929, with its first manager being Ivan Munroe. Munroe was part owner and eventually full owner of Tallahassee's first airplane and was a flight instructor. Munroe also formed the Tallahassee Aircraft Company with Jeff Lewis, Frank Lewis and Dick Weeks after serving as a Navy pilot in the Jacksonville area during World War II. The company offered flight training, aerial photography and charter service.
Atlantic Gulf Coast Airlines began flights at the airport during its first month. By 1934 the airport had 4 sod runways with the longest at 2,600 feet (790m). (Department of Commerce Airport Directory, 1934).
In 1940 U.S. Senator Claude Pepper and Florida Governor Spessard Holland influenced the Army to make Dale Mabry Field a United States Army Air Forces airfield. In October 1940 military activity began with the construction of a railroad siding and drainage improvements to overcome the swamp conditions. Hundreds of laborers began clearing swampland for temporary quarters for Dale Mabry Army Air Base. The need to train pilots prompted the federal government to set a 90-day completion deadline. It was used as a fighter training base by III Fighter Command, Third Air Force during the war. In 1945 it was assigned a work detachment of some 126 German prisoners of war as an annex of Camp Gordon Johnston, a larger regional prison camp.
After the war, the barracks on the field were used by male students (mostly veterans) attending the Florida State College for Women under a program called the "Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida" (TBUF). In 1947 the Florida State College for Women became the coeducational Florida State University. The TBUF program was then discontinued. The areas of Dale Mabry Field used by these students were called "West Campus".
The airport was the airline airport for Tallahassee in the 1940s and 1950s, but the encroachment of the urban area led to the need for a new airport. Tallahassee Municipal Airport opened in 1961, and Dale Mabry Field was closed.
Tallahassee Community College
The land was redeveloped in the 1960s into the campus of Tallahassee Community College. The airport was at what is now Appleyard Drive and W. Pensacola Street. The north–south runway is clearly visible, and part of it is used for parking.
Orlando International Airport is the primary international airport located 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2021, it had 19,618,838 enplanements, making it the busiest airport in the state and seventh busiest airport in the United States. The airport code MCO stands for the airport's former name, McCoy Air Force Base, a Strategic Air Command (SAC) installation, that was closed in 1975 as part of a general military drawdown following the end of the Vietnam War.
Gainesville Regional Airport is a public airport three miles northeast of Gainesville, in Alachua County, Florida, United States. It is owned by Gainesville-Alachua Co. Auth. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service airport.
Panama City–Bay County International Airport was a public airport 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Panama City, in Bay County, Florida. It was owned and operated by the Panama City–Bay County Airport and Industrial District. All airline services moved to the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport on May 22, 2010, but the airfield was open to general aviation aircraft until October 1, 2010. The grounds will eventually be turned over to LUK-MB1 LLC, which plans to remove the runways and build homes, shops, walking trails and a marina.
Pensacola International Airport, formerly Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport and Pensacola Regional Airport, and temporarily branded Pensacola Intergalactic Airport each February in recognition of the local Pensacon convention, is a public use airport three nautical miles northeast of the central business district of Pensacola, in Escambia County, Florida, United States. It is owned by the City of Pensacola. Despite its name, the airport does not offer scheduled international flights, though chartered international flights are not uncommon. This airport is one of five major airports in North Florida, and among these is the second largest by passenger count, only behind Jacksonville. The other four airports in North Florida are: Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, Tallahassee International Airport, and Jacksonville International Airport.
Tallahassee International Airport is a city-owned airport five miles southwest of downtown Tallahassee, in Leon County, Florida, United States. It serves the state capital of Florida, and its surrounding areas; it is one of the major airports in north Florida, the others being Pensacola, Destin–Fort Walton Beach, Northwest Florida Beaches, and Jacksonville. Despite its name, it does not service any international destinations.
Orlando Executive Airport is a public airport three miles (6 km) east of downtown Orlando, in Orange County, Florida. It is owned and operated by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) and serves general aviation.
Dale Mabry was an American World War I aviator.
Lincoln Airport is a joint public/military airport five miles (8.0 km) northwest of downtown Lincoln, the state capital, in Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States. It is owned by the Lincoln Airport Authority and is the second-largest airport in Nebraska. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027 in which it is categorized as a non-hub primary commercial service facility. It has four gates with jetways, to be, as of February 2022, expanded to six.
Lakeland Linder International Airport is a public airport five miles southwest of Lakeland, in Polk County, Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a national reliever facility for Tampa International Airport. The airport has a Class 1 Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 139 operating certificate allowing passenger airline flights.
Sacramento Executive Airport is a public airport three miles (5 km) south of downtown Sacramento, in Sacramento County, California, United States. The airport covers 540 acres (219 ha) and has two lit runways and a helipad.
Ormond Beach Airport, also known as Ormond Beach Municipal Airport, is a general aviation airport located 3 miles (4.8 km) to the northwest of the city of Ormond Beach in Volusia County, Florida, United States.
Waycross–Ware County Airport is four miles northwest of Waycross, in Ware County, Georgia. It is owned by the City of Waycross and Ware County.
Daniel Field is a public use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) west of the central business district of Augusta, a city in Richmond County, Georgia, United States. It is owned by the City of Augusta and operated by the General Aviation Commission. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2021–2025, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.
Perry–Foley Airport is a public-use airport located 3 miles (4.8 km) south of the central business district of the city of Perry in Taylor County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned.
Imeson Field, also known as Jacksonville Imeson Airport, was the airport serving Jacksonville, Florida, from 1927 until its closing in 1968. It was known as Jacksonville Municipal Airport prior to World War II, Jacksonville Army Airfield when the United States Army Air Forces controlled the facility during World War II, and at its closing the airport was Jacksonville – Thomas Cole Imeson Municipal Airport.
Thomasville Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located six nautical miles northeast of the central business district of Thomasville, a city in Thomas County, Georgia, United States. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility. The airport does not have scheduled commercial airline service.
Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1962. It consists of 2,762 acres (11.18 km2) of saltwater marsh, grassland, mixed deciduous woods, and cropland located on an abandoned military airfield in McIntosh County, Georgia, north of the intersection of Route 131 and Harris Neck Airport Road, about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Savannah, Georgia.
Harris Neck Army Airfield is an abandoned military airfield located in what is now the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, McIntosh County, Georgia. It is located north of the intersection of Route 131 and Harris Neck Airport Road, about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Savannah, Georgia.
Dale Mabry Army Airfield, was a World War II United States Army Air Force located at the Dale Mabry Field airport in Tallahassee, Florida. The military airfield closed in 1946 and the airport was returned to civil use.
Carrabelle–Thompson Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) west of the central business district of Carrabelle, a city in Franklin County, Florida, United States. It is owned by the Carrabelle Port and Airport Authority.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
