New London Airport is a public-use airport

Airport

An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...

 located six miles (10 km) southwest of the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 of Forest

Forest, Virginia

Forest is a census-designated place in Bedford County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,006 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Forest is located at ....

, a city in Bedford County

Bedford County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 60,371 people, 23,838 households, and 18,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 80 people per square mile . There were 26,841 housing units at an average density of 36 per square mile...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is privately owned by Associated Wheels Inc.

It is a public airport, but usually involves GA

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 aircraft only. On Sundays during the summer and early fall, the runway is used as a dragstrip

Dragstrip

A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile tracks...

.

History

Originally built in 1957 as a 1/4 mile dragstrip, airport operations were added in 1961 and the facility has served a dual-purpose since. Having been under the continued guidance of Rucker Tibbs, the airport changed hands in December 2005.

Facilities and aircraft

New London Airport covers an area of 133 acres (53.8 ha) which contains one asphalt

Asphalt

Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...

 paved runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

 (17/35) measuring 3,164 x 40 ft (964 x 12 m). For the 12-month period ending April 30, 2007, the airport had 28,478 aircraft operations, an average of 78 per day: 98% general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

and 2% military. There are 76 aircraft based at this airport.

External links

• New London Airport, official site
• New London Dragstrip, official site