Epcot Center Ultralight Flightpark was a private-use

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

airport located in Osceola County, 13 nautical miles (24 km) northwest of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

Lake Buena Vista Buena Vista, meaning "good view" in Spanish, may refer to: Places Canada * Bonavista, Newfoundland and Labrador, with the name being originally derived from “Buena Vista” * Buena Vista, Saskatchewan * Buena Vista, Saskatoon, a neighborhood ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

It was privately owned by the Walt Disney World Company, and was used to launch aircraft used in the " Skyleidoscope" (1985–1987) and " Surprise in the Skies" (1991–1992) shows at the Epcot theme park. Although still listed active in FAA records as recently as September 2010, the facility closed for theme park use in 1992, when "Surprise in the Skies" ended. The land sat unused for nearly 10 years, when it was cleared for the second phase of

Disney's Pop Century Resort Disney's Pop Century Resort is a resort located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, opened on December 14, 2003. It is the fourth value-priced resort in the complex, following Disney's All-Star Movies, All-Star Musi ...

, named the

Legendary Years ''Legendary Years'' is the second compilation album by Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody of Fire. It consists of re-recorded songs from '' The Emerald Sword Saga'', a five concept albums-long story started in their first album ''Legen ...

. Construction on the hotel was stopped after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

caused tourism to drop off, but development later resumed and the land of the former airfield is now the site of Disney's Art of Animation Resort, which opened in May 2012.

Incidents

On , a 27-year-old male cast member from

Winter Garden A winter garden is a kind of garden maintained in wintertime. History The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility constructed large conservatories that housed tropical and subtropical pla ...

was killed when the ultralight aircraft he was flying crashed during a show rehearsal. The pilot was practicing for Epcot's "Skyleidoscope" show at an altitude of 500–1000 feet when the ultralight suffered catastrophic structural failure, nosediving into the ground about 150 yards from the flightpark and 1.5 miles from Epcot.

Facilities and aircraft

Epcot Center Ultralight Flightpark had one circular

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

designated "ALL/WAY" with a 424 × 424 ft (129 × 129 m)

turf Sod is the upper layer of turf that is harvested for transplanting. Turf consists of a variable thickness of a soil medium that supports a community of turfgrasses. In British and Australian English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', ...

surface. There were 20 aircraft based at this airport: 50% single-

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

and 50%

References

Buildings and structures in Osceola County, Florida Defunct airports in Florida Transportation in Osceola County, Florida Ultralight aviation Walt Disney World Epcot {{Florida-airport-stub

History

Incidents

Facilities and aircraft

See also

References