About 60 miles south of the Wright Brothers National Memorial, almost hidden by the beautiful Hatteras Island scenery of maritime forest, barren dunes, and seemingly endless beaches, is a small gem of an airport named after an aviation legend. Built in the 1960’s by the North Carolina Department of Aviation, and operated by the National Park Service, theBilly Mitchell Airport, in the Village of Frisco, North Carolina, sits just off the two-lane “Beach Road” (Hwy 12) that stretches along the 70 some miles of the Cape Hatteras National Sea Shore. It was just off this Hatteras coast where General Billy Mitchell conducted historic tests in 1923 to demonstrate the effectiveness of aerial bombardment of seagoing vessels.(Photo above – end of the runway, taken from the dunes)
The 3000’ X 75’ runway is just yards away from the dunes separating the airstrip from the beach and ocean. The airport is unattended, and without lights, fuel, or running water, but very well maintained. It is open during daylight hours only. It serves private pilots as well as emergency, military (*see photo below), and medevac aircraft. A local flying service provides aerial tours of the island, plus the airport is close to the vacation amenities of Hatteras Island such as fishing, charters, camping, motels, restaurants, vacation rental homes, and the beaches.(Photo on the left – the airport "terminal").
Photo below: A V-22 Osprey practices touch and go landings at Billy Mitchell Airport on 04/26/2017
CLICK THE IMAGEto see more photos of the Osprey at Billy Mitchell Airport.
For more information on the airport see this Outer Banks Visitors Guide site athttps://www.outerbanks.com/billy-mitchell-airport.html
and a National Park Service article on Gen. Mitchell athttps://www.nps.gov/stateoftheparks/caha/culturalresources/billymitchell.cfm
For navigation information for Billy Mitchell Airport, with map & aerial photo, seehttps://www.airnav.com/airport/KHSE
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Source: aviation trailBilly Mitchell Airport