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56-483: Gainesville Regional Airport had 177,282 passenger boardings (enplanements) in calendar year 2011 and 159,499 enplanements in 2010. They also had 217,355 passenger boardings (enplanements) in 2015, more than 2% higher than 2014. Gainesville Regional Airport had 558,246 passengers in 2019. The airport annually hosts the Gator Fly In at the general aviation facilities. The event includes military aircraft displays,

112-411: A windsock beside a landing strip. Types of runway safety incidents include: The choice of material used to construct the runway depends on the use and the local ground conditions. For a major airport, where the ground conditions permit, the most satisfactory type of pavement for long-term minimum maintenance is concrete . Although certain airports have used reinforcement in concrete pavements, this

168-404: A 28% on-time rate The control tower operates from 6:45a to 10:30p daily. After the passing of Gainesville native Tom Petty on October 2, 2017, a change.org petition was started to have the airport renamed "Tom Petty - Gainesville Regional Airport". In 2021 Gainesville Regional Airport added a 15,200 square-foot expansion onto their terminal. The new expansion adds a mother lactation room,

224-558: A 53rd week which is usually appended to the last quarter. It is then 98 days instead of 91 days long, which complicates comparisons. In the Chinese calendar , the quarters are traditionally associated with the 4 seasons of the year: Runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for

280-480: A 7 will indicate 7,000 ft (2,134 m) remaining. The runway threshold is marked by a line of green lights. [REDACTED] There are three types of runways: Waterways may be unmarked or marked with buoys that follow maritime notation instead. For runways and taxiways that are permanently closed, the lighting circuits are disconnected. The runway threshold, runway designation, and touchdown markings are obliterated and yellow "Xs" are placed at each end of

336-568: A World War I war effort context, the first concrete-paved runway was built in Clermont-Ferrand in France , allowing local company Michelin to manufacture Bréguet Aviation military aircraft. In January 1919, aviation pioneer Orville Wright underlined the need for "distinctly marked and carefully prepared landing places, [but] the preparing of the surface of reasonably flat ground [is] an expensive undertaking [and] there would also be

392-601: A classic car show, food trucks, live music, and aircraft rides aboard a Ford Tri-motor, a Cessna 172, and on helicopters. Construction of the airport began in April 1940 as a Works Project Administration project. In 1941 initial construction was completed. Upon conclusion of the construction by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the facility was known as the Alachua Army Airfield and

448-437: A continuous expense for the upkeep." For fixed-wing aircraft , it is advantageous to perform takeoffs and landings into the wind to reduce takeoff or landing roll and reduce the ground speed needed to attain flying speed . Larger airports usually have several runways in different directions, so that one can be selected that is most nearly aligned with the wind. Airports with one runway are often constructed to be aligned with

504-486: A landing site for the Space Shuttle . Takeoff and landing distances available are given using one of the following terms: There are standards for runway markings. There are runway markings and signs on most large runways. Larger runways have a distance remaining sign (black box with white numbers). This sign uses a single number to indicate the remaining distance of the runway in thousands of feet. For example,

560-501: A length of 365 days in an ordinary year , with 8760 hours, 525,600 minutes, or 31,536,000 seconds; but 366 days in a leap year , with 8784 hours, 527,040 minutes, or 31,622,400 seconds. With 97 leap years every 400 years, the year has an average length of 365.2425 days. Other formula-based calendars can have lengths which are further out of step with the solar cycle: for example, the Julian calendar has an average length of 365.25 days, and

616-401: A number between 01 and 36, which is generally the magnetic azimuth of the runway's heading in deca degrees . This heading differs from true north by the local magnetic declination . A runway numbered 09 points east (90°), runway 18 is south (180°), runway 27 points west (270°) and runway 36 points to the north (360° rather than 0°). When taking off from or landing on runway 09, a plane

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672-542: A periodic basis. Fields with very low traffic of light planes may use a sod surface. Some runways make use of salt flats. For pavement designs, borings are taken to determine the subgrade condition, and based on the relative bearing capacity of the subgrade, the specifications are established. For heavy-duty commercial aircraft, the pavement thickness, no matter what the top surface, varies from 10 to 48 in (25 to 122 cm), including subgrade. Airport pavements have been designed by two methods. The first, Westergaard ,

728-462: A pet relief area, two new gates, hundreds of new seats with charging ports, a departure and arrival board, and an area for a food/store vendor. In addition to the expansion, the existing terminal was given a renovation. The project cost $ 16 million dollars that was funded by a $ 12 million dollar grant from the FAA. Plans to add a parking structure are currently in discussion, with immediate plans to construct

784-794: A profitable destination for the company. Air Florida served Gainesville in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with flights to Miami, Tampa and Ocala. In 1986 the State Legislature passed a bill that established the Airport as the Gainesville-Alachua County Regional Airport Authority. The Airport Authority has nine board members, five selected by the City of Gainesville, three by the Governor and one by Alachua County, and continues to oversee

840-410: A snack bar and a gift shop, operated by Tailwind. The airport's ground transportation is served by taxis; rental car companies; an RTS bus stop serving routes 25, 26, and 39; and hotel shuttle buses. Renovations that were completed in 2021 added 2 additional gates to the facility, in addition to a larger baggage screening area, and additional parking spaces. The terminal expansion and improvement project

896-444: A temporary parking lot to alleviate capacity issues. The airport covers 1,650 acres (670 ha) and has two asphalt runways : 11/29 is 7,504 by 150 feet (2,287 x 46 m) and 07/25 is 4,158 by 100 feet (1,267 x 30 m). In the year ending September 30, 2022 the airport had 68,032 aircraft operations, average 186 per day: 78% general aviation , 6% air taxi , 7% military and 9% airline. 173 aircraft at that time were based at

952-415: A third parallel runway was opened at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in 2000 to the south of existing 8R/26L—rather than confusingly becoming the "new" 8R/26L it was instead designated 7R/25L, with the former 8R/26L becoming 7L/25R and 8L/26R becoming 8/26. Suffixes may also be used to denote special use runways. Airports that have seaplane waterways may choose to denote the waterway on charts with

1008-445: Is an extrapolation of the original test results, which are not applicable to modern aircraft pavements or to modern aircraft landing gear . Some designs were made by a mixture of these two design theories. A more recent method is an analytical system based on the introduction of vehicle response as an important design parameter. Essentially it takes into account all factors, including the traffic conditions, service life, materials used in

1064-469: Is based on the assumption that the pavement is an elastic plate supported on a heavy fluid base with a uniform reaction coefficient known as the K value . Experience has shown that the K values on which the formula was developed are not applicable for newer aircraft with very large footprint pressures. The second method is called the California bearing ratio and was developed in the late 1940s. It

1120-399: Is considered to have the longest takeoff distance of the more common aircraft types and has set the standard for runway lengths of larger international airports. At sea level , 3,200 m (10,500 ft) can be considered an adequate length to land virtually any aircraft. For example, at O'Hare International Airport , when landing simultaneously on 4L/22R and 10/28 or parallel 9R/27L, it

1176-418: Is generally found to be unnecessary, with the exception of expansion joints across the runway where a dowel assembly, which permits relative movement of the concrete slabs, is placed in the concrete. Where it can be anticipated that major settlements of the runway will occur over the years because of unstable ground conditions, it is preferable to install asphalt concrete surface, as it is easier to patch on

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1232-493: Is heading around 90° (east). A runway can normally be used in both directions, and is named for each direction separately: e.g., "runway 15" in one direction is "runway 33" when used in the other. The two numbers differ by 18 (= 180°). For clarity in radio communications, each digit in the runway name is pronounced individually: runway one-five, runway three-three, etc. (instead of "fifteen" or "thirty-three"). A leading zero, for example in "runway zero-six" or "runway zero-one-left",

1288-408: Is included for all ICAO and some U.S. military airports (such as Edwards Air Force Base ). However, most U.S.  civil aviation airports drop the leading zero as required by FAA regulation. This also includes some military airfields such as Cairns Army Airfield . This American anomaly may lead to inconsistencies in conversations between American pilots and controllers in other countries. It

1344-578: Is routine for arrivals from East Asia , which would normally be vectored for 4L/22R (2,300 m (7,546 ft)) or 9R/27L (2,400 m (7,874 ft)) to request 28R (4,000 m (13,123 ft)). It is always accommodated, although occasionally with a delay. Another example is that the Luleå Airport in Sweden was extended to 3,500 m (11,483 ft) to allow any fully loaded freight aircraft to take off. These distances are also influenced by

1400-451: Is slow, runway designation changes are uncommon, and not welcomed, as they require an accompanying change in aeronautical charts and descriptive documents. When a runway designation does change, especially at major airports, it is often done at night, because taxiway signs need to be changed and the numbers at each end of the runway need to be repainted to the new runway designators. In July 2009 for example, London Stansted Airport in

1456-459: Is usually adequate for aircraft weights below approximately 100,000 kg (220,000 lb). Larger aircraft including widebodies will usually require at least 2,400 m (7,900 ft) at sea level. International widebody flights, which carry substantial amounts of fuel and are therefore heavier, may also have landing requirements of 3,200 m (10,500 ft) or more and takeoff requirements of 4,000 m (13,000 ft). The Boeing 747

1512-557: Is very common in a country such as Canada for a controller to clear an incoming American aircraft to, for example, runway 04, and the pilot read back the clearance as runway 4. In flight simulation programs those of American origin might apply U.S. usage to airports around the world. For example, runway 05 at Halifax will appear on the program as the single digit 5 rather than 05. Military airbases may include smaller paved runways known as "assault strips" for practice and training next to larger primary runways. These strips eschew

1568-476: The Hebrew calendar has an average length of 365.2468 days. The Lunar Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 months in a year of 354 or 355 days. The astronomer's mean tropical year , which is averaged over equinoxes and solstices, is currently 365.24219 days, slightly shorter than the average length of the year in most calendars. A year can also be measured by starting on any other named day of

1624-499: The New Year's Day of the given calendar system and ends on the day before the following New Year's Day, and thus consists of a whole number of days. To reconcile the calendar year with the astronomical cycle (which has a fractional number of days) certain years contain extra days ("leap days" or "intercalary days"). The Gregorian year, which is in use in most of the world, begins on January 1 and ends on December 31. It has

1680-638: The landing and takeoff of aircraft ". Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt , concrete , or a mixture of both) or a natural surface ( grass , dirt , gravel , ice , sand or salt ). Runways, taxiways and ramps , are sometimes referred to as "tarmac", though very few runways are built using tarmac . Takeoff and landing areas defined on the surface of water for seaplanes are generally referred to as waterways . Runway lengths are now commonly given in meters worldwide , except in North America where feet are commonly used. In 1916, in

1736-529: The prevailing wind . Compiling a wind rose is one of the preliminary steps taken in constructing airport runways. Wind direction is given as the direction the wind is coming from : a plane taking off from runway 09 faces east, into an "east wind" blowing from 090°. Originally in the 1920s and 1930s, airports and air bases (particularly in the United Kingdom) were built in a triangle-like pattern of three runways at 60° angles to each other. The reason

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1792-436: The Airport. On October 31, 2004 Gainesville Regional Airport hosted Air Force One during George W. Bush 's re-election campaign. 17,000 people attended the event. They hosted Air Force Two in 2023 after Hurricane Idalia In recent years the Airport has substantially completed several projects: the refurbishment of its primary runway (11/29), piping of an open ditch parallel to that runway, and completion of two phases of

1848-1074: The Terminal Renovation project. Three passenger boarding bridges have been installed. Eclipse Aviation , maker of the Eclipse 500 , operated its first factory service center in Gainesville until the company declared bankruptcy in 2009. In 2012 Silver Airways moved its maintenance facilities from Ft. Lauderdale into the existing Eclipse Aviation facility. Silver provides commercial airline service to several destinations around Florida and Bahamas. In April 2015, Silver Airways moved its maintenance to Orlando International. However, in 2023, Silver Airways announced they would return to Gainesville with service to Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport . But after about 1 year of service to Gainesville Silver Airways announced in August 2024 that they would shut down their service due to low demand and

1904-659: The United Kingdom changed its runway designations from 05/23 to 04/22 during the night. Runway dimensions vary from as small as 245 m (804 ft) long and 8 m (26 ft) wide in smaller general aviation airports, to 5,500 m (18,045 ft) long and 80 m (262 ft) wide at large international airports built to accommodate the largest jets , to the huge 11,917 m × 274 m (39,098 ft × 899 ft) lake bed runway 17/35 at Edwards Air Force Base in California – developed as

1960-559: The aircraft tyres. To maintain the macrotexturing built into the runway by the grooves, maintenance crews engage in airfield rubber removal or hydrocleaning in order to meet required FAA , or other aviation authority friction levels. Subsurface underdrains help provide extended life and excellent and reliable pavement performance. At the Hartsfield Atlanta, GA airport the underdrains usually consist of trenches 18 in (46 cm) wide and 48 in (120 cm) deep from

2016-546: The airport, which was renamed the Gainesville Regional Airport in October 1977. The airline terminal was dedicated to John R. Alison in 1979. Eastern Airlines served Gainesville beginning in the 1950s, with flights to Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Ocala, eventually offering nonstop flights to Atlanta and Miami by the 1970s. Eastern served Gainesville until its bankruptcy in 1991 and was consistently

2072-641: The airport: 98 single-engine, 18 multi-engine, 51 jet and 6 helicopter . Gainesville Regional Airport has one full service FBO , University Air Center. There were two, Gulf Atlantic Airways and Flight Line. Flight Line's contract with the airport authority expired and Gulf Atlantic became University Air Center. University Air Center has a pilots lounge with TV, snack machines, aircraft rentals and charters, flight instruction, and fuel. Gainesville Regional Airport's terminal has 5 gates. Gates 3, 4, and 5 are used by American Eagle . Gates 1 and 2 are used by Delta Air Lines and Delta Connection . The airport terminal has

2128-543: The ambiguity that would result with more than three parallel runways. For example, in Los Angeles, this system results in runways 6L, 6R, 7L, and 7R, even though all four runways are actually parallel at approximately 69°. At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport , there are five parallel runways, named 17L, 17C, 17R, 18L, and 18R, all oriented at a heading of 175.4°. Occasionally, an airport with only three parallel runways may use different runway identifiers, such as when

2184-602: The calendar, and ending on the day before this named day in the following year. This may be termed a "year's time", but is not a "calendar year". The calendar year can be divided into four quarters, often abbreviated as Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. Since they are three months each, they are also called trimesters . In the Gregorian calendar : In some domains, weeks are preferred over months for scheduling and reporting, so they use quarters of exactly 13 weeks each, often following ISO week date conventions. One in five to six years has

2240-411: The construction, and, especially important, the dynamic response of the vehicles using the landing area. Because airport pavement construction is so expensive, manufacturers aim to minimize aircraft stresses on the pavement. Manufacturers of the larger planes design landing gear so that the weight of the plane is supported on larger and more numerous tires. Attention is also paid to the characteristics of

2296-638: The following: According to Transport Canada 's regulations, the runway-edge lighting must be visible for at least 2 mi (3 km). Additionally, a new system of advisory lighting, runway status lights , is currently being tested in the United States. The edge lights must be arranged such that: Typically the lights are controlled by a control tower , a flight service station or another designated authority. Some airports/airfields (particularly uncontrolled ones ) are equipped with pilot-controlled lighting , so that pilots can temporarily turn on

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2352-496: The lack of designated landing direction. If there is more than one runway pointing in the same direction (parallel runways), each runway is identified by appending left (L), center (C) and right (R) to the end of the runway number to identify its position (when facing its direction)—for example, runways one-five-left (15L), one-five-center (15C), and one-five-right (15R). Runway zero-three-left (03L) becomes runway two-one-right (21R) when used in

2408-432: The landing gear itself, so that adverse effects on the pavement are minimized. Sometimes it is possible to reinforce a pavement for higher loading by applying an overlay of asphaltic concrete or portland cement concrete that is bonded to the original slab. Post-tensioning concrete has been developed for the runway surface. This permits the use of thinner pavements and should result in longer concrete pavement life. Because of

2464-409: The lights when the relevant authority is not available. This avoids the need for automatic systems or staff to turn the lights on at night or in other low visibility situations. This also avoids the cost of having the lighting system on for extended periods. Smaller airports may not have lighted runways or runway markings. Particularly at private airfields for light planes, there may be nothing more than

2520-458: The nearest 10°, this affects some runways sooner than others. For example, if the magnetic heading of a runway is 233°, it is designated Runway 23. If the magnetic heading changes downwards by 5 degrees to 228°, the runway remains Runway 23. If on the other hand the original magnetic heading was 226° (Runway 23), and the heading decreased by only 2 degrees to 224°, the runway becomes Runway 22. Because magnetic drift itself

2576-589: The opposite direction (derived from adding 18 to the original number for the 180° difference when approaching from the opposite direction). In some countries, regulations mandate that where parallel runways are too close to each other, only one may be used at a time under certain conditions (usually adverse weather ). At large airports with four or more parallel runways (for example, at Chicago O'Hare , Los Angeles , Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County , Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta , Denver , Dallas–Fort Worth and Orlando ), some runway identifiers are shifted by 1 to avoid

2632-478: The runway grade (slope) such that, for example, each 1 percent of runway down slope increases the landing distance by 10 percent. An aircraft taking off at a higher altitude must do so at reduced weight due to decreased density of air at higher altitudes, which reduces engine power and wing lift. An aircraft must also take off at a reduced weight in hotter or more humid conditions (see density altitude ). Most commercial aircraft carry manufacturer's tables showing

2688-406: The runway and at 1,000 ft (305 m) intervals. A line of lights on an airfield or elsewhere to guide aircraft in taking off or coming in to land or an illuminated runway is sometimes also known as a flare path . Runway lighting is used at airports during periods of darkness and low visibility. Seen from the air, runway lights form an outline of the runway. A runway may have some or all of

2744-623: The standard numerical naming convention and instead employ the runway's full three digit heading; examples include Dobbins Air Reserve Base 's Runway 110/290 and Duke Field 's Runway 180/360. Runways with non-hard surfaces, such as small turf airfields and waterways for seaplanes , may use the standard numerical scheme or may use traditional compass point naming, examples include Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base 's Waterway E/W. Airports with unpredictable or chaotic water currents, such as Santa Catalina Island 's Pebbly Beach Seaplane Base, may designate their landing area as Waterway ALL/WAY to denote

2800-414: The suffix T; this is advantageous for certain airfields in the far north such as Thule Air Base (08T/26T). Runway designations may change over time because Earth's magnetic lines slowly drift on the surface and the magnetic direction changes. Depending on the airport location and how much drift occurs, it may be necessary to change the runway designation. As runways are designated with headings rounded to

2856-577: The suffix W; such as Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu and Lake Hood Seaplane Base in Anchorage . Small airports that host various forms of air traffic may employ additional suffixes to denote special runway types based on the type of aircraft expected to use them, including STOL aircraft (S), gliders (G), rotorcraft (H), and ultralights (U). Runways that are numbered relative to true north rather than magnetic north will use

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2912-441: The susceptibility of thinner pavements to frost heave , this process is generally applicable only where there is no appreciable frost action . Runway pavement surface is prepared and maintained to maximize friction for wheel braking. To minimize hydroplaning following heavy rain, the pavement surface is usually grooved so that the surface water film flows into the grooves and the peaks between grooves will still be in contact with

2968-547: The top of the pavement. A perforated plastic tube (5.9 in (15 cm) in diameter) is placed at the bottom of the ditch. The ditches are filled with gravel size crushed stone. Excessive moisture under a concrete pavement can cause pumping, cracking, and joint failure. In aviation charts, the surface type is usually abbreviated to a three-letter code. The most common hard surface types are asphalt and concrete. The most common soft surface types are grass and gravel. A runway of at least 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in length

3024-715: Was completed July 29, 2021, and also added additional restrooms, additional food and beverage areas, a lactation room, an airport chapel, and a pet relief area, in addition to 2 additional gates In August 2021, the Gainesville City Commission approved FAA grants to cover engineering costs for improvements to the apron and taxiway and costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://web.archive.org/web/20150407100148/http://www.expressjet.com/wp-content/uploads/routemaps/2015/ExpressJet_DeltaSystem(Apr15).pdf Calendar year A calendar year begins on

3080-423: Was that aviation was only starting, and although it was known that wind affected the runway distance required, not much was known about wind behaviour. As a result, three runways in a triangle-like pattern were built, and the runway with the heaviest traffic would eventually expand into the airport's main runway, while the other two runways would be either abandoned or converted into taxiways. Runways are named by

3136-650: Was used by the Army Air Corps and the Army Air Forces. The airfield was declared surplus in September 1945 and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers on October 1, 1946. The War Assets Administration deeded the facility to the city of Gainesville in 1948 as a civil airport. The field was known as John R. Alison Airport or Gainesville Municipal Airport; the city operated, maintained, and improved

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