Millville Executive Airport Millville Army Airfield | |||||||||||||||
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 2006 USGS airphoto | |||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | DRBA - City of Millville | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Millville, New Jersey | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 85 ft / 26 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 39°22′04″N75°04′20″W / 39.36778°N 75.07222°W /39.36778; -75.07222 | ||||||||||||||
| Website | mivairport | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Millville Executive Airport | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (2010) | |||||||||||||||
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| Source:Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||||||||||||||
Millville Executive Airport (IATA:MIV,ICAO:KMIV,FAALID:MIV) is inMillville, inCumberland County,New Jersey. The airport, 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of the Millville city center, is owned by theDelaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) and the City of Millville.[1]
It was dubbed "America's First Defense Airport" because of the nearly 1,500 pilots who trained in gunnery practice at the airport with theRepublicP-47 "Thunderbolt" plane duringWorld War II.[2]
The Millville airport was dedicated on August 2, 1941, by local, state, and federal officials. The first contingent of Air Corps personnel arrived on 17 December 1942. In less than a year construction of base facilities began, and in January 1943, theMillville Army Air Field opened as aUnited States Army Air Forces gunnery school for fighter pilots. It was assigned toFirst Air Force.
Gunnery training began with CurtissP-40 Warhawks, but after a few weeks the P-40s were gone, and the RepublicP-47 Thunderbolt ruled the skies over Cumberland County. During its three-year existence, thousands of soldiers and civilians served here, with about 1,500 pilots receiving advanced fighter training in the Thunderbolt. The 361st Fighter Group trained at Millville during July and August 1943 prior to their deployment to Ninth Air Force in England. In 1944 the 135th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Flying) took control of the airfield.
On 30 October 1945 Millville AAF was inactivated and on 31 December the airfield was declared excess to the governments needs, and returned to the City of Millville through the War Assets Administration (WAA). Most of the airport buildings were converted to apartments for the many veterans returning from the war. The last of the apartments vanished in the early 1970s, and the airport became a hub of industry and aviation for Southern New Jersey.
The original base headquarters andLink Trainer buildings today house theMillville Army Air Field Museum.[3][4]
The airport covers 916acres (371 ha) at an elevation of 85 feet (26 m). It has two runways: 10/28 is 6,002 by 150 feet (1,829 x 46 m) asphalt and 14/32 is 5,057 by 150 feet (1,541 x 46 m) concrete.[1]
In 2010 the airport had 60,000 aircraft operations, average 164 per day: 95% general aviation and 5% military. 73 aircraft were then based at the airport: 78% single-engine, 12% multi-engine, 8% jet and 1%helicopter.[1]
Big Sky Aviation is the current FBO on the field serving general aviation traffic, with full service 100LL Avgas and Jet A fuel.[5]
Services include aircraft maintenance, fixed wing flight instruction and scenic flights.
On site is a diner, Verna’s Flight Line Restaurant.
The airport is used forgeneral aviation and is home to Dallas Airmotive, Cooper 1 Ambulance operated byCooper University Hospital, Atlantic Air Ambulance, and PHI Helicopters.[citation needed]
Millville Airport is part of United StatesFree Trade Zone #142, which includes thePort of Salem and licensed to theSouth Jersey Port Corporation (SJPC).[6]
The airport is a setting in the television showThe Blacklist, season 1, episode 21, "Berlin (No. 8)".
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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