Republic Airport
Encyclopedia
Republic Airport is a state-owned public-use airport
located in East Farmingdale
, Suffolk County
, New York
, United States
. The airport is on Long Island
, one mile (2 km) east of the central business district
of Farmingdale
.
Although mainly a general aviation
airport, it is designated as a reliever airport according to Federal Aviation Administration
records. The airport had 1,692 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year
2004 and 1,634 enplanements in 2005.
as the Fairchild Flying Field in East Farmingdale on Long Island, NY in late 1927 as his flying field and airplane factory on Motor Avenue in South Farmingdale was inadequate to support the mass production of his FC-2 and Model 71 airplanes. Fairchild purchased property on the south side of Route 24-Conklin Street and had the airport's original layout plan prepared on November 3, 1927.
The 77.967 acres (315,521.5 m²) flying field was developed in the late winter and early spring of 1928 and was originally owned and operated by Fairchild Engine & Airplane Manufacturing Company. The first flights from the Fairchild Flying Field took place in late spring of 1928 after the Fairchild Airplane and Airplane Engine factories and hangar were completed and aircraft were produced in the new factories. After Fairchild moved to Hagerstown, Maryland in 1931, Grumman Aircraft Engineering built planes at the airport from 1932 until the spring of 1937.
Seversky Aircraft moved there in January 1935 from College Point in Queens, and became Republic Aviation in 1939. Republic built more than 9,000 P-47 Thunderbolts in Farmingdale during World War II and expanded Republic Field, erected three hangars and a control tower and lengthened and hardened the runways. Republic built the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet and the swept-wing F-84 Thunderstreak during the Korean War and extended runway 14-32 substantially to the southeast over the objections of Long Island State Parks Commissioner
Robert Moses
. R
Republic Aviation produced over 800 F-105 Thunderchief fighter bombers during the Vietnam Era. Republic Aviation was acquired by the Fairchild-Hiller Corp. in 1965 for $24.5 million and Fairchild stock. Flight Safety Inc. ran the Republic Airport as a general aviation airport beginning on December 7, 1966 for the Mailman brothers Farmingdale Corporation, which had purchased the field from Fairchild Hiller for $8 million in 1965.
Republic Airport was acquired by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on March 31, 1969. The MTA installed an instrument landing system (ILS) on runway 14-32, built the Republic Airport Terminal building,cooperated with the Federal Aviation Administration, which built the new 100' high control tower and got the US Government to transfer 94 acres (380,404.8 m²) to the airport in 1971 and purchased the 77 acres (311,608.2 m²) Lambert property on the north side of Route 109 and the Breslau Gardens property between New Highway and Route 109 in 1972.
After complaints that the MTA was not contributing taxes to local governments and questions about the MTA spending at Republic, ownership of the airport was transferred to the New York State Department of Transportation
(NYSDOT) by the New York State Legislature in April 1983, to promote economic development in the surrounding Long Island region. The Republic Airport Commission was created by the New York State Legislature in 1982 (Chap. 370, L.1982) "as an advisory council to the Commissioner of Transportation in the administration and management of the Republic Airport facilities and its surrounding areas with respect to projects to be undertaken at such airport." Fairchild went out of business in 1987, and much of its historic Fairchild-Republic factory complex was sold and developed as the Airport Plaza shopping mall.
The Long Island Republic Airport Historical Society, formed in 1984,and chartered by the Board of Regents of the State of New York in 1987, maintains fifteen photographic exhibits illustrating the history of aviation, and historical archives, on the first floor of the Republic Airport terminal building behind the FAA tower on the east side of Route 110.
The most recent exhibit illustrates: "The Origins of Airplane Manufacturing in Farmingdale, NY: The Foundation Years: 1917-1928," which documents airplanes built by Lawrence Sperry, Sydney Breese and Sherman Fairchild. The airport is also home to the American Airpower Museum which offers visitors the opportunity to see WWII aircraft in flight.
The airport was once served by scheduled passenger air service on Cosmopolitan Airlines
in the 1980s, Provincetown-Boston Airlines
(operating as Continental Express
) in the 1980s and Northwest Airlink
in the 1990s.
building serving passengers boarding charter flights to short distance destinations such as Atlantic City, New Jersey
. Two fixed based operators
serve corporate and light general aviation customers: SheltAir and Atlantic Aviation. Adjacent to the airport is the 56th Fighter Group restaurant, operated by Specialty Restaurants Corp. Also, Troop L of the New York State Police
, which covers Nassau and Suffolk Counties, is headquartered at the airport.
The airport covers an area of 526 acres (212.9 ha) which contains two asphalt
paved runway
s: 14/32 measuring 6,827 x 150 ft (2,081 x 46 m) and 1/19 measuring 5,516 x 150 ft (1,681 x 46 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 190,723 aircraft operations, an average of 522 per day: 93% general aviation
, 6% air taxi
, 1% military
and <1% scheduled commercial
. At that time there were 546 aircraft based at this airport: 72% single-engine
, 16% multi-engine, 8% jet
and 4% helicopter
.
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 in East Farmingdale
East Farmingdale, New York
East Farmingdale is a hamlet and a census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population of the CDP was 5,400 at the 2000 census...
, Suffolk County
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The airport is on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, one mile (2 km) east of the central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
of Farmingdale
Farmingdale, New York
The Village of Farmingdale is an incorporated village on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York in the United States...
.
Although mainly a 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...
airport, it is designated as a reliever airport according to Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
records. The airport had 1,692 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year
Calendar year
Generally speaking, a calendar year begins on the New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day. By convention, a calendar year consists of a natural number of days. To reconcile the calendar year with an astronomical cycle , certain years...
2004 and 1,634 enplanements in 2005.
History
Republic Airport was developed by Sherman FairchildSherman Fairchild
Sherman Mills Fairchild was an inventor and serial entrepreneur who founded over 70 companies namely Fairchild Aircraft, Fairchild Industries, Fairchild Aviation Corporation and Fairchild Camera and Instrument. Fairchild made significant contributions to the aviation industry and was inducted into...
as the Fairchild Flying Field in East Farmingdale on Long Island, NY in late 1927 as his flying field and airplane factory on Motor Avenue in South Farmingdale was inadequate to support the mass production of his FC-2 and Model 71 airplanes. Fairchild purchased property on the south side of Route 24-Conklin Street and had the airport's original layout plan prepared on November 3, 1927.
The 77.967 acres (315,521.5 m²) flying field was developed in the late winter and early spring of 1928 and was originally owned and operated by Fairchild Engine & Airplane Manufacturing Company. The first flights from the Fairchild Flying Field took place in late spring of 1928 after the Fairchild Airplane and Airplane Engine factories and hangar were completed and aircraft were produced in the new factories. After Fairchild moved to Hagerstown, Maryland in 1931, Grumman Aircraft Engineering built planes at the airport from 1932 until the spring of 1937.
Seversky Aircraft moved there in January 1935 from College Point in Queens, and became Republic Aviation in 1939. Republic built more than 9,000 P-47 Thunderbolts in Farmingdale during World War II and expanded Republic Field, erected three hangars and a control tower and lengthened and hardened the runways. Republic built the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet and the swept-wing F-84 Thunderstreak during the Korean War and extended runway 14-32 substantially to the southeast over the objections of Long Island State Parks Commissioner
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation operates :*168 state parks*35 state historic sites*76 developed beaches*53 water recreational facilities*27 golf courses*39 full service cottages*818 cabins...
Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
. R
Republic Aviation produced over 800 F-105 Thunderchief fighter bombers during the Vietnam Era. Republic Aviation was acquired by the Fairchild-Hiller Corp. in 1965 for $24.5 million and Fairchild stock. Flight Safety Inc. ran the Republic Airport as a general aviation airport beginning on December 7, 1966 for the Mailman brothers Farmingdale Corporation, which had purchased the field from Fairchild Hiller for $8 million in 1965.
Republic Airport was acquired by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on March 31, 1969. The MTA installed an instrument landing system (ILS) on runway 14-32, built the Republic Airport Terminal building,cooperated with the Federal Aviation Administration, which built the new 100' high control tower and got the US Government to transfer 94 acres (380,404.8 m²) to the airport in 1971 and purchased the 77 acres (311,608.2 m²) Lambert property on the north side of Route 109 and the Breslau Gardens property between New Highway and Route 109 in 1972.
After complaints that the MTA was not contributing taxes to local governments and questions about the MTA spending at Republic, ownership of the airport was transferred to the New York State Department of Transportation
New York State Department of Transportation
The New York State Department of Transportation is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in the U.S...
(NYSDOT) by the New York State Legislature in April 1983, to promote economic development in the surrounding Long Island region. The Republic Airport Commission was created by the New York State Legislature in 1982 (Chap. 370, L.1982) "as an advisory council to the Commissioner of Transportation in the administration and management of the Republic Airport facilities and its surrounding areas with respect to projects to be undertaken at such airport." Fairchild went out of business in 1987, and much of its historic Fairchild-Republic factory complex was sold and developed as the Airport Plaza shopping mall.
The Long Island Republic Airport Historical Society, formed in 1984,and chartered by the Board of Regents of the State of New York in 1987, maintains fifteen photographic exhibits illustrating the history of aviation, and historical archives, on the first floor of the Republic Airport terminal building behind the FAA tower on the east side of Route 110.
The most recent exhibit illustrates: "The Origins of Airplane Manufacturing in Farmingdale, NY: The Foundation Years: 1917-1928," which documents airplanes built by Lawrence Sperry, Sydney Breese and Sherman Fairchild. The airport is also home to the American Airpower Museum which offers visitors the opportunity to see WWII aircraft in flight.
The airport was once served by scheduled passenger air service on Cosmopolitan Airlines
Cosmopolitan Airlines
Cosmopolitan Airlines was an airline based out of Republic Airport in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York, which served both commuter and charter flights. The airline operated from 1978 to 1983, with flights ending in 1980. The airline flew three Convair 440 planes...
in the 1980s, Provincetown-Boston Airlines
Provincetown-Boston Airlines
Provincetown-Boston Airline , or better known as PBA, was an airline that operated between 1949 and 1989. The airline operated a route network in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and at one time was the largest commuter airline in the United States before its purchase by People...
(operating as Continental Express
Continental Express
Continental Express is the operating brand name used by a number of independently owned regional airlines providing regional jet feeder service under agreement with Continental Airlines...
) in the 1980s and Northwest Airlink
Northwest Airlink
Northwest Airlink was the trade name of Northwest Airlines' regional airline service, which flew turboprop and regional jet aircraft from Northwest's domestic hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit, and Memphis...
in the 1990s.
Facilities and aircraft
Republic Airport has a two-story terminalAirport terminal
An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft....
building serving passengers boarding charter flights to short distance destinations such as Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
. Two fixed based operators
Fixed base operator
A Fixed-base operator or commonly abbreviated FBO is a term developed in the United States after the passage of the Air Commerce Act of 1926...
serve corporate and light general aviation customers: SheltAir and Atlantic Aviation. Adjacent to the airport is the 56th Fighter Group restaurant, operated by Specialty Restaurants Corp. Also, Troop L of the New York State Police
New York State Police
The New York State Police is the state police force of over 4,600 sworn Troopers for the state of New York. It was established on April 11, 1917 by the New York Legislature, in response to the 1913 murder of a construction foreman named Sam Howell in Westchester County, which at that time did not...
, which covers Nassau and Suffolk Counties, is headquartered at the airport.
The airport covers an area of 526 acres (212.9 ha) which contains two asphalt
Asphalt
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: 14/32 measuring 6,827 x 150 ft (2,081 x 46 m) and 1/19 measuring 5,516 x 150 ft (1,681 x 46 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 190,723 aircraft operations, an average of 522 per day: 93% 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...
, 6% 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...
, 1% military
Military aviation
Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...
and <1% scheduled commercial
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
. At that time there were 546 aircraft based at this airport: 72% single-engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
, 16% multi-engine, 8% jet
Jet aircraft
A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...
and 4% 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...
.
Airlines
- Charter Air TransportCharter Air TransportCharter Air Transport is a certified part 135 air taxi provider based in Cleveland, OH at Burke Lakefront Airport. The airline is licenced by the Department of Transportation to provide privately arranged flights and in addition scheduled public flights...
via Harrah's Atlantic CityHarrah's Atlantic CityHarrah's Resort Atlantic City is a hotel and casino, located in the marina district of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and is Harrah's flagship casino.The casino is one of three in the marina district of the city, along with the Borgata and the Golden Nugget...
(Atlantic City) - NetJetsNetJetsNetJets, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, offers fractional ownership and rental of private business jets.-History:NetJets Inc., formerly Executive Jet Aviation, was founded in 1964 as one of the first private business jet charter and aircraft management companies...
- SheltAir
- Atlantic Aviation
- Pet AirwaysPet AirwaysPet Airways is an American company headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida, that specializes exclusively in air transportation of pets,using contracted small air carriers. and claims to be the first airline designed specifically for pets.-History:...
(Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale)
See also
- Transportation in New York CityTransportation in New York CityThe transportation system of New York City is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure. New York City, being the largest city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes the largest subway system in the world, measured by track mileage; the world's first mechanically...
- List of airports in New York
- New York World War II Army AirfieldsNew York World War II Army AirfieldsDuring World War II, the United States Army Air Force established numerous airfields in New York for training pilots and aircrews of USAAF fighters and bombers....