Airport
Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport
(
IATA
:
GIF
,
ICAO
:
KGIF
,
FAA
LID
:
GIF
) is a city-owned, public-use
airport
located three nautical miles (6 km) northwest of the
central business district
of
Winter Haven
, a city in
Polk County
,
Florida
,
United States
. It is owned by the City of Winter Haven.
[1]
It is also known as
Winter Haven Regional Airport
or
Gilbert Field
.
Jack Browns Seaplane Base
is located adjacent to the airport, connected by a
taxiway
.
No major airlines fly here, with the closest major airport being
Orlando International Airport
about 47 miles (76 km).
[2]
History
[
edit
]
During
World War II
, with the former turf runways paved by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
,
Gilbert Field
became an auxiliary airfield for the Lakeland (later Lodwick) School of Aeronautics at the Lakeland
Lodwick Field
airport. The school provided contracted basic pilot training to
United States Army Air Forces
and British
Royal Air Force
flying cadets from the airfield. Military flight training was performed at Gilbert Field until the end of the war when the Army Air Forces inactivated the installation and returned the airfield to the City of Winter Haven for use as a civilian airport.
In 1950, concurrent with the reactivation of
Bartow Air Base
as a
U.S. Air Force
primary pilot training base, the Air Force negotiated a lease with the City of Winter Haven to use Gilbert Field under a joint civil-military arrangement as an auxiliary airfield to Bartow AB. USAF operations ceased in 1960 prior to Bartow AB's closure and transition to a civilian airport now known as
Bartow Executive Airport
.
[3]
Facilities and aircraft
[
edit
]
Winter Haven's Gilbert Airport covers an area of 520
acres
(210
ha
) at an
elevation
of 145 feet (44 m) above
mean sea level
. It has two
asphalt
paved
runways
: 5/23 is 5,005 by 100 feet (1,526 x 30 m) and 11/29 is 4,001 by 60 feet (1,220 x 18.29 m).
[1]
For the 12-month period ending July 24, 2018, the airport had 77,998
general aviation
aircraft operations, an average of 214 per day. At that time there were 150 aircraft based at this airport: 138 single-
engine
, 10 multi-engine, 2 helicopters, and 1
glider
.
[1]
Accidents and Incidents
[
edit
]
Four people were killed on March 7, 2023, when a
Piper PA-28 Cherokee
and a float-equipped
Piper J-3 Cub
collided on approach to runway 29 at Gilbert Field.
[4]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
This article incorporates
public domain material
from the
Air Force Historical Research Agency
External links
[
edit
]
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Former airports and military airfields in
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Related topics
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Primary
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Reliever
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General
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Public use
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Private use
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Military
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Defunct
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