- Francis S. Gabreski Airport
Infobox Airport
name = Francis S. Gabreski Airport
New York Air National Guard
image-width = 300
caption = Francis S. Gabreski Airport, 8 Apr 1994
IATA = FOK
ICAO = KFOK
FAA = FOK
type = Public / Military (ANG)
owner = County of Suffolk
operator =
city-served =Westhampton Beach, New York
location =
elevation-f = 67
elevation-m = 20
coordinates = nowrap|coord|40|50|37|N|072|37|54|W|region:US-NY_type:airport
website =
r1-number = 6/24
r1-length-f = 9,000
r1-length-m = 2,743
r1-surface = Asphalt/Concrete
r2-number = 1/19
r2-length-f = 5,000
r2-length-m = 1,524
r2-surface = Asphalt/Concrete
r3-number = 15/33
r3-length-f = 5,000
r3-length-m = 1,524
r3-surface = Asphalt
stat-year = 2006
stat1-header = Aircraft operations
stat1-data = 434,223
stat2-header = Based aircraft
stat2-data = 107
footnotes = Source:Federal Aviation Administration FAA-airport|ID=FOK|use=PU|own=PU|site=16408.*A, effective 2007-12-20]Francis S. Gabreski Airport airport codes|FOK|KFOK|FOK is a county-owned public-use
airport located three miles (5 km) north of thecentral business district of Westhampton Beach, in Suffolk County,Long Island ,New York ,United States . It is approximately convert|80|mi|km east ofNew York City .Known as Suffolk County Air Force Base until 1969, then Suffolk County Airport until 1991, when it was renamed in honor of Col.
Francis S. Gabreski , aflying ace inWorld War II who was the commander of the 52nd Fighter-Interceptor Wing at the base from 1964 through November 1967 when he retired.The airport is a
general aviation facility utilized by corporate businesses,private aviation andair taxi services. The106th Rescue Wing of the New YorkAir National Guard (ANG) is also based here.History
In 1943, the
United States government built the airport for use as anAir Force Base duringWorld War II . Initially a sub-base of Mitchel Field inLong Island , it was assigned later toFirst Air Force , Suffolk County Army Airfield's host unit was the 437th Army Air Force Base Unit and was used for air defense of theNew York City area and for flying antisubmarine patrols along the Atlantic coast. After the war it was given to Suffolk County as a civil airport.In 1951 the airport was reclaimed by the
United States Air Force due to theKorean War National Emergency and was leased as anAir Defense Command (ADC) base. Suffolk County AFB was assigned to theEastern Air Defense Force .The initial USAF unit assigned to Suffolk County AFB was the
Connecticut Air National Guard 103rd Fighter-Interceptor Wing which was Federalized and brought into active duty on 1 June 1951. Its 118th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron flew F-47N Thunderbolts. The unit remained only briefly as it was replaced by the ADC 45th and 75th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons in November 1952 which flewF-86 Sabre jet aircraft as part of the 23d Fighter-Interceptor Group.In 1955, the 23d was reassigned to
Presque Isle AFB inMaine and was replaced by the newly-activated 52d Fighter-Interceptor WIing which flew under various designations from Suffolk County AFB until 1969, with the 2d and 5th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons flyingF-94 Starfire ,F-101 Voodoo andF-102 Delta Dagger interceptors. Assigned in 1963 to the New York Air Defense Sector, the base was deactivated in 1969 as part of the general drawdown ofAerospace Defense Command and released back to Suffolk County.Military operations were reintroduced in June 1970, when the
102nd Air Refueling Squadron (102 ARS) under the106th Air Refueling Group (106 ARG) of the New YorkAir National Guard relocated here after the closing ofNaval Air Station Floyd Bennett Field . In 1972, the unit's mission changed from "Air Refueling" to "Fighter Interceptor", with the new mission of controlling the skies along the northeast U.S. coast. In 1975, the designation and mission changed again to "Aerospace Rescue and Recovery", later shortened to "Air Rescue" and then simply "Rescue.". The current names102nd Rescue Squadron (102 RQS) and106th Rescue Wing (106 RQW) were assigned in 1995. Today, the 106 RQW providessearch and rescue services usingHC-130 Hercules aircraft andHH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters. The rescue wing was featured in the book and movie of "The Perfect Storm " which details the crash of one of the wing's HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters while conducting search and rescue operations from the airport during the1991 Halloween Nor’easter .Air Force One was occasionally based at the airport in the summers of 1998 and 1999 during weeklong visits byBill Clinton andHillary Clinton during extended stays at theGeorgica Pond home ofSteven Spielberg inEast Hampton (village), New York .Facilities and aircraft
Gabreski Airport covers an area of 1,451
acre s (587 ha) which contains three pavedrunway s. Runway 6/24 measures 9,000 x 150 ft (2,743 x 46 m), making it amongNew York 's longest afterJFK International Airport andStewart International Airport . The airport has two additional runways (1/19 and 15/33), each measuring 5,000 x 150 ft (1,524 x 46 m).For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 434,223 aircraft operations, an average of 1,189 per day: 97%
general aviation , 3% military and <1%air taxi . At that time there were 107 aircraft based at this airport: 79% single-engine, 6% multi-engine, 2% jet, 2%helicopter , 2%glider and 10% military.Two
fixed base operator s provide aviation services to airport users: [http://www.lijet.com Long Island Jet Center] and [http://malloyaireast.com/ Malloy Air East] .The Suffolk County Police Aviation Section bases a Law Enforcement and
MEDEVAC helicopter at the airport. The base is staffed from 7AM to 11PM by two Police Officer pilots as well as a Flight Paramedic employed byStony Brook University Hospital . The airport is patrolled by theSuffolk County Sheriff's Office .ee also
*
New York World War II Army Airfields References
* Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1).
External links
* [http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/webtemp1.cfm?dept=43&ID=1078 Francis S. Gabreski Airport] at Suffolk County web site
* [http://www.cradleofaviation.org/history/airfields/adc.html Suffolk County Air Force Base (ADC)]
* [http://www.nysuff.ang.af.mil/ 106th Rescue Wing] of theNew York Air National Guard
*PDF| [https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/divisions/operating/opdm/aviation/repository/air_dir/fok.pdf New York State DOT Airport Diagram]
*FAA-diagram|00996
*US-airport-ga|FOK
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