Airports can be as basic as a strip of freshly mowed grass in a farmer’s backyard or as complex as O’Hare International in Chicago. Yet all airports share some basic features that make them safe and practical to use and that tie the airport to their surrounding communities and area businesses.

Take an interactive tour of your typical GA community airport: Interactive Airport Diagram

Public / Private Ownership

The public-use airports in America are either privately owned (yet still open to the public), are owned by local municipalities, or are joint-use military/civilian airfields.

Many communities inherited their local airports from the federal government after World War II when they were built to train waves of new Allied pilots. Terms of the handover often require these facilities to be kept as working airports forever.

When an airport accepts federal funds for improvements, they must continue to operate the airport for at least the next 20 years.

Towered versus Nontowered

Airports with an operating air traffic control tower are often called controlled because the tower often is called a control tower.

In fact, tower or not, all operations at all airports are controlled by the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) and the specific operating procedures defined therein. They’re also controlled by the procedures defined in the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), the FAA’s "official guide to basic flight information and ATC procedures."

Pilots’ Take on Airports

From pilots’ perspectives, an airport must be suitable for the type of flying that they will be doing. If they’re flying a helicopter, then the helipad they use may be as small as a 12 foot square pad of concrete or rooftop. If they’re flying a transoceanic business jet, they may need a 6,000-foot-long paved runway.

Single Runway

Most airports feature only a single runway. That’s fine, until the wind blows hard from a direction across the runway. That’s because airplanes have limitations as to how much crosswind in which they can safely take off or land. With just a single runway, if the crosswind is too strong, no one can take off or land safely.

When making long trips, it’s wise to pick an airport with a second crosswind runway just in case the field is experiencing very unusual winds on the day you arrive.

Ultralight Fields

A very large backyard will suffice for most ultralights, which can take off and land in as little as 100 feet. Like the original aerodromes of old, these fields are often very open, with no predefined runway. Pilots just start their takeoff run from the far edge of the field that most faces into that day’s prevailing wind.

Pilot Controlled Lighting

Airports often have lights so that pilots can see and safely use the runways at night. Some airports also have taxiway lights. To save electricity, airport lighting can be activated remotely from the air as the pilot approaches the field. This is done automatically using the aircraft’s radio. They can even change the brightness. After about 15 minutes without use, the lights go out.

Airports that have lighting will usually also have what’s called a rotating beacon that helps pilots find the airport at night. Civilian airports use a rotating beacon with one green and one white light that shine in opposite directions and sweep the sky much like a lighthouse would, but at a very slight up angle. On a clear night, these beacons can be seen at distances of greater than 100 miles.

Fuel

Airplanes use highly refined and high-quality fuels. Piston aircraft use 100-octane aviation gasoline. Turbine aircraft use Jet A fuel. These fuels are stored in tanks or trucks and are dispensed with pumps like those used by an automobile gas station. Some airports have installed self-serve pumps so that pilots can refuel their aircraft after hours.

Multiple Runways

Many airports have two or more runways. There’s typically one longer runway that faces into the historically prevailing wind, and a second so called crosswind runway that’s used when the wind is blowing from an unusual direction.

It’s not uncommon to find that the crosswind runway is grass, while only the main runway and taxiways are paved.

In other cases, the larger runway serves airline traffic, while the smaller runway serves General Aviation (GA) operations.

Grass Strips

If you own enough land, and if your local and state officials don’t mind, you can build an airport using a simple grass, dirt, or gravel strip. The best of these will look like groomed golf course fairways. The worst will hardly be recognizable as anything more than a wide rocky path.

Public or private, the soft touchdown virtually guaranteed by grass will impress your passengers, while taking you back to a simpler time in the history of flight.

Airparks

Just like there are people who live along a golf course in a golf community, there are some people who live with their airplanes at a residential airpark. These are planned residential communities that feature an airport, streets wide enough to taxi an airplane, and garages large enough for airplanes.

Parking

Most airports have a ramp, which is a place to park visiting aircraft or based aircraft. The individual parking spaces, which can be paved or grass, are called tiedowns, since aircraft are usually tied down between flights so that they don’t move with a strong wind.

Airspace and Airports

Different size airports are also surrounded by different types of airspace, which you can read about on the Airspace page.