Turners Falls Airport
| Turners Falls Airport | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Town of Montague | ||||||||||
| Serves | Montague, Massachusetts | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 359 ft / 109 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 42°35′30″N 072°31′23″W / 42.59167°N 72.52306°WCoordinates: 42°35′30″N 072°31′23″W / 42.59167°N 72.52306°W | ||||||||||
| Website | www.montague.net/... | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
 0B5
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| Statistics (2011) | |||||||||||
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Source: Federal Aviation Administration
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| Aircraft operations | 17,600 |
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| Based aircraft | 29 |
Turners Falls Airport (FAA LID: 0B5) is a town owned, public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) north of the central business district of Montague, a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the Town of Montague. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.
Although started by a private group, the airport was the site of a large New Deal work relief camp during the Great Depression. Civilian Conservation Corps workers lived in tents on the grounds and labored by day. They were generally out-of-work local men who were grateful for a job. The airport was used by the U.S. Navy for basic aviation training in World War II; students, including famous Red Sox players turned aviators Ted Williams and Johnny Pesky trained there. The field was expanded in the ensuing peacetime and eventually gained the name Turners Falls Municipal Airport. The term 'municipal' was dropped as the airport focused on regional economic development.
The airport complex is situated in a valley between a small mountain and the Barton's Cove oxbow of the Connecticut River. This location lends itself to calm weather and provides a guarantee that obstructions will never be placed on the river side. The land side also provides over a mile of flat and virtually uninhabited land, leaving plenty of room for runway expansion if a road was rerouted. A dispute with Native Americans over alleged burial grounds once threatened to shut down the airport but an accord has been reached on the matter.
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