Fulton County Airport (Ohio)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fulton County Airport | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Fulton County Commissioners | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Wauseon, Ohio | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 781 ft / 238 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°36′36″N 084°07′38″W / 41.61000°N 84.12722°W | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  USE Location of airport in Ohio  USE USE (the United States) | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||||||||
Fulton County Airport (ICAO: KUSE, FAA LID: USE) is a public use airport located four nautical miles (5 mi, 7 km) north of the central business district of Wauseon, a city in Fulton County, Ohio, United States. It is owned by the Fulton County Commissioners.[1] This 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 USE by the FAA,[1] but has no designation from the IATA.[3][4]
The airport hosts regular events, like an Aviation Day workshop to teach kids about aviation.[5]
Ground was broken on the first building in an adjacent industrial park in June 1968.[6] The manager of the 10,000 sq ft (930 m2) Signal-Stat Corporation plant, Vic Travis, had elected to locate it there as he was a pilot and could store his airplane in an adjoining hangar.[7] The airport was dedicated on 5 October 1968.[8] However, the airport had been opened when the first airplane landed there on September 25th.[9] In addition to its 4,000 ft (1,200 m) east-west paved runway, plans to open a 3,500 ft (1,100 m) north-south grass strip were in place by the airport's first anniversary.[10] Construction on eight t-hangars had begun by late July 1970.[11]
Following the establishment of an airport authority and new management of the airport earlier in the year, a series of unpaid bills were discovered in early December 1987.[12] Construction on a twelve unit hangar had begun by late May 1990.[13] In the meantime, a flight school run by Davis College had opened.[14] The airport's fixed-base operator announced in April 1991 it would be leaving and a replacement said the same in July 1993.[15][16] A master plan completed in 1992 that envisioned extending the paved runway to 4,300 ft (1,300 m) was met with opposition from the community.[17] A fourth operator was hired in October 1998, but quit at the end of August 2005.[18][19]
Facilities and aircraft
Fulton County Airport covers an area of 42 acres (17 ha) at an elevation of 781 feet (238 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways: 9/27 is 3,882 by 75 feet (1,183 x 23 m) with an asphalt surface and 18/36 is 2,115 by 75 feet (645 x 23 m) with an asphalt and turf surface.[1]
The airport has a fixed-base operator that sells fuel. It has services and amenities such as hangars, courtesy cars, internet, conference rooms, a crew lounge, and television.[20]
For the 12-month period ending June 30, 2022, the airport had 22,510 aircraft operations, an average of 62 per day: 97% general aviation, 2% air taxi, and <1% military.
At that time there were 19 aircraft based at this airport: 17 single-engine airplanes, 1 multi-engine, and 1 glider.[1]
St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center's Aérospatiale SA 365 Dauphin LifeFlight helicopter is hangared at the airport for medical evacuations.[21]
Accidents and incidents
- On 3 May 1996, a Bellanca Super Viking crashed while landing at the airport. The pilot and a passenger were rescued from the burning wreckage by the airport manager.[22]
- On 11 May 2003, a Beechcraft Sierra crashed at the airport, killing three occupants.[23]
- On July 5, 2017, a Cessna 177 Cardinal made a hard landing during an attempted emergency approach to the airport. Witnesses reported the airplane's engine lost power while trying to land.[24][25]