Airport type Public Operator City of Arlington Elevation AMSL 142 ft / 43 m Area 4.695 km² | Owner City of Arlington Serves Arlington, Washington Elevation 43 m Phone +1 360-403-3470 | |
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Location 3 nm southwest of the CBD Address 18204 59th Ave NE, Arlington, WA 98223, USA Profiles | ||
Arlington Municipal Airport (ICAO: KAWO, FAA LID: AWO) is a public airport located three miles (5 km) southwest of the central business district of Arlington, a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is owned and operated by the City of Arlington.
Contents
History
Construction of Arlington Municipal Airport was approved on February 23, 1934. The first airplane took off on June 13, 1934 and the airport was officially dedicated on July 4, 1935.
U.S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Arlington, Washington was established in 1940, when the United States Navy leased the airstrip from the town of Arlington to supplement training facilities at Seattle. However, no important construction took place until 1942. In that year the Navy permitted the Army to develop the field as a strategic base for medium bombers to counteract the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands. Early in 1943 the Japanese threat in the Aleutians diminished and at the same time the Naval carrier program required additional training fields within reach of gunnery ranges in the Puget Sound area. By August 14, 1945 Arlington was a well-balanced station equipped to support two light carrier Air groups for either day or night operations. No major projects were pending at that time, and it was felt that none remained to be undertaken unless a significant addition was made to the functions of the station.
At the close of World War II, the U.S. military reduced funding and operations around the United States. On October 10, 1945 notification was received from the Chief of Naval Operations that Arlington would be reduced to a caretaker status on December 1, 1945.
The airport is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today
Currently, the airport is host to several businesses making significant contributions to the aviation industry. Some activities include flight instruction, emergency parachute manufacturing, kit plane and sailplane sales/manufacturing, historic and decommissioned aircraft restoration, aircraft upholstery, aircraft cover manufacturing, and much more. The airport is home to corporate & decommissioned military jets, vintage aircraft, experimental aircraft, aerobatic aircraft, helicopters, gliders, and ultralights. The grassroots aviation presence at Arlington is very strong, rivaling that of many larger airports across the United States, including nearby Paine Field (KPAE).
The City continues to support general aviation through financing, planning and development. During the 1995 Master Plan update, the City planned and developed the airport specifically for general aviation use. Items specific to general aviation included in the 2002 Master Plan Update were additional T-hangars, a 100’ by 1,000’ (50’ pavement / 50’ turf) ultralight runway, and a compass rose.
In the 1990s, the airport was selected by the Puget Sound Regional Council as a candidate for expansion into a regional airport to relieve Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. The council decided instead to construct a third runway at Sea-Tac in 1996, leaving Arlington to redevelop its airport for general aviation.
Facilities and aircraft
Arlington Municipal Airport covers an area of 1,189 acres (481 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 16/34 measuring 5,332 x 100 ft (1,625 x 30 m) and 11/29 measuring 3,498 x 75 ft (1,066 x 23 m).
For the 12-month period ending January 31, 2007, the airport had 190,000 aircraft operations, an average of 520 per day: 99.7% general aviation, 0.3% air taxi and <0.1% military. On January 15, 2009, there were 397 aircraft based at Arlington: 72% single-engine, 5% multi-engine, 2% jet, 3% helicopter, 8% glider and 11% ultralight.