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Castle Airport | |||||||||||
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 2006 USGS aerial photo | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Owner | Merced County | ||||||||||
| Operator | Merced County Department of Commerce, Aviation, and Economic Development | ||||||||||
| Location | Atwater, California | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 191 ft / 58 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 37°22′50″N 120°34′05″W / 37.38056°N 120.56806°W | ||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  MER Location of airport in California/United States  MER MER (the United States) | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Statistics (2019) | |||||||||||
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Castle Airport (IATA: MER, ICAO: KMER, FAA LID: MER) is a public airport in unincorporated Merced County, California,[2] 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Merced. The airport is operated by the Merced County Department of Commerce, Aviation, and Economic Development.[1] It is owned jointly by the city of Merced, the city of Atwater, and Merced County. The airport was formerly designated as Castle Air Force Base (1941–1995), a United States Air Force Strategic Air Command base which was closed after the end of the Cold War in 1995.
The Federal Aviation Administration's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a general aviation airport, serving a regional role.[3] The United States Department of Commerce designates the airport and its hangars, warehouses, industrial buildings, and distribution facilities as a Foreign-Trade Zone.[4] The United States Forest Service uses Castle Airport as reloading base for aerial firefighting, its large runway, aprons, and taxiways being able to accommodate any aircraft in the Forest Service inventory.[5]
Castle Airport serves as the headquarters for the Sierra Academy of Aeronautics, which specializes in training foreign pilots, primarily from the People's Republic of China. Activity related to this school makes up the majority of the air traffic at Castle. In early 2007, the control tower was reopened to handle increased training traffic.
Adjacent to the airport, Castle Air Museum displays over 60 restored World War II, Vietnam, and Cold War era aircraft. Among the exhibit highlights are a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the world's fastest crewed aircraft, and the Convair RB-36 Peacemaker, the only surviving reconnaissance variant of the largest bomber ever built for the United States Air Force.
- ^ a b FAA Airport Form 5010 for MER PDF, effective September 7, 2023
- ^ "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Merced County, CA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 11 (PDF p. 12/57). Retrieved 2022-08-15.
Castle Arprt
- ^ "National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS) Report 2017-2021" (PDF, 3.48 MB) (Appendix A: List of NPIAS Airports with 5-Year Forecast Activity and Development Cost ed.). Federal Aviation Administration. September 30, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
- ^ "Merced County FTZ 226 Site 1". Merced County Regional Foreign-Trade Zone No. 226. Merced County. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- ^ "California Interagency Mobilization Guide 2016" (PDF 3.51MB). United States Forest Service. January 31, 2016. pp. 94, 95. Retrieved 26 December 2016.