A residential airpark (also spelled air park) is a "fly-in community" specifically designed around an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

where the residents own their privately owned airplanes which they park in their

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

s, usually attached to the home or integrated into their home. A residential airpark features one or more

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, ...

s with homes adjacent to the runway or

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with Airport apron, aprons, hangars, Airport terminal, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as Asphalt concrete, asphalt or concrete, although sma ...

s. Many fly-in communities feature a variety of amenities, such as

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

facilities and more. Residential airparks are usually privately owned and restricted to use by the property owners and their invited guests. Most do not include commercial operations or businesses. The communities have also become a niche real estate market, with some firms dedicated solely to these developments. Ideas for airparks existed as early as 1944 and the first airpark was Sierra Sky Park in Fresno, California, established in 1946. The Living With Your Plane Association estimates that there are at least 426 residential airparks in the United States.

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 ...

is estimated to have 52 airparks, followed by

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

with 50,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

with 28, and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

with 23.

Some notable airparks

Australia

* Rylstone Aerodrome (New South Wales) * White Gum Airpark (Western Australia)

Canada

* Calgary/Okotoks Air Park (Calgary, Alberta)

South Africa

* Zandspruit Bush & Aero Estate ( Hoedspruit,

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

)

United States

* Dayton Valley Airpark (

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

/Carson City, Nevada) * Pegasus Airpark (Queen Creek, Arizona) * Carmel Valley Airport (Carmel Valley, California) * Cameron Airpark (Cameron Park, California) *

Sierra Sky Park Airport Sierra Sky Park Airport is a privately owned, public-use airport northwest of the central business district of Fresno, a city in Fresno County, California, United States. Other area airports are Fresno Chandler Executive Airport and Fres ...

(Fresno, California) * Wellington Aero Club (Wellington, Florida) * Tailwinds Airpark (Jupiter Farms, Florida) * Pine Mountain Lake Airport (Groveland, California) * Ridge Landing Airpark (Frostproof, Florida) *

Spruce Creek Airport Spruce Creek Airport is a private airport located in Port Orange, south of the central business district of Daytona Beach, in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It was originally constructed during World War II as an outlying field ...

(Port Orange, Florida) * Greystone Airport / Jumbolair Aviation Estates (Ocala, Florida) * Independence State Airport (Independence, Oregon) * Chandelle Aviation Estates (Greer, South Carolina) * Big South Fork Airpark (Oneida, Tennessee) * Frontier Airpark (Marysville, Washington) * Mountain Air (Burnsville, North Carolina) * Alpine Airpark (

Alpine, Wyoming Alpine is a town in the northwest corner of Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States; adjacent to the Idaho border, the northwest end of the Alpine Airport's single runway extends into Idaho. The population was 1,220 at the 2020 census. Geograp ...

) * Waunakee Airport (

Waunakee, Wisconsin Waunakee () is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,879 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Madison, Wisconsin, Madison, it is part of the Madison metropolitan area. Waunakee bills itse ...

)

References

External links

* {{List of airports Airports by type