Darke County Airport
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Darke County Airport | |||||||||||
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 Airport building, used as a waiting area | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Darke County Commissioners | ||||||||||
| Serves | Versailles, Ohio | ||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (-5) | ||||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (-4) | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 1,007 ft / 307 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°12′16″N 084°31′55″W / 40.20444°N 84.53194°W | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  VES Location of airport in Ohio  VES VES (the United States) | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2021) | |||||||||||
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| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||||
Darke County Airport (ICAO: KVES, FAA LID: VES) is a county-owned, public-use airport in Darke County, Ohio, United States.[1] It is located two nautical miles (4 km) southwest of the central business district of Versailles.[1] It is along State Route 121 just south of Versailles. Midmark operates a private jet from this airport. The airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.[2]
Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, this airport is assigned VES by the FAA,[1] but has no designation from the IATA.[3][4]
The airport holds events such as fly-ins that feature old warbird aircraft, medical helicopters, and highway patrol aircraft.[5][6]
The Darke County Airport, subtitled Spillers Field, was dedicated on 29 October 1967.[7] However, at least one airplane was using it earlier in the month.[8] The airport was built, in part, on 26 acres (11 ha) of land that had belonged to the Spillers family and previously been used by their son since 1960 to fly experimental aircraft.[9][10] The airport's 1,650 sq ft (153 m2) terminal was dedicated and the first airport manager, Waldon "Moon" Spillers, given the keys the following year on September 8th.[11][12][10]
As of August 1992, construction on a hangar for the Midmark Corporation's jet was underway and an 800-foot (240 m) runway extension was almost complete.[13][14]
In 2007, light lenses were stolen from the airport. Officials said the theft could endanger pilots.[15]
In 2012, a section of State Route 242 was closed to allow the airport to use all of its runway surface for landings; with the road in place, planes need to approach at a higher altitude and touch down further down the runway to meet FAA obstacle clearance requirements.[16]
A new airport manager was hired in May 2017.[17]
In 2022, the Dark County Airport received $1.35 million to replace its FBO terminal, including funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act.[18][19] Construction on the new building began in 2023, and a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the 2,500 sq ft (230 m2) terminal was held in April 2024.[20][21] The facility aims at expanding the airport's attraction, especially as traffic increases.[22][23] It received additional funding in April 2023 to improve the terminal's facilities and in August 2024 for a new parking lot.[24][25]
Facilities and aircraft
Facilities
Darke County Airport covers an area of 42 acres (17 ha) at an elevation of 1,007 feet (307 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 9/27 with an asphalt surface measuring 4,802 by 75 feet (1,464 x 23 m).[1][26]
The airport has a fixed-base operator that sells both avgas and Jet A. Services such as hangars, courtesy cars, and rental cars are available; amenities such as internet, conference rooms, vending machines, a crew lounge, snooze rooms, and more are also available.[27]
CareFlight Air & Mobile has a helicopter based at the airport, which serves as the company's northwest base. The helicopter was activated to respond to calls in early 2020.[28]
Aircraft
For the 12-month period ending September 29, 2021, the airport had 12,775 aircraft operations, an average of 35 per day: 87% general aviation, 5% air taxi, and <1% military. At that time there were 29 aircraft based at the airport: 25 single-engine and 2 multi-engine airplanes as well as 1 jet and 1 helicopter.[1][26]
Accidents & incidents
- On 17 November 2018, a Piper Saratoga crashed while landing at the Darke County Airport. The left wing was torn off and the landing gear damaged.[29]