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Shiflet Field is a small private grass airstrip about three nautical miles north of Marion, North Carolina, owned by the Marion Airport Commission and used by a close community of local pilots. Sitting at 1,211 feet elevation in the foothills of McDowell County, it offers a single grass runway and no instrument approach, making it a strictly VFR destination for light aircraft.
Shiflet Field is a public-use general aviation airfield located a few miles north of Marion, North Carolina, in McDowell County. Owned by the Marion Airport Commission, it is a modest grass-strip field that supports a small but active community of owners and builders, including work on homebuilt and antique aircraft. For a visiting VFR pilot it offers an unpretentious grass-runway experience typical of rural Appalachian general aviation fields.
The airfield lies roughly three nautical miles north of the central business district of Marion, North Carolina, in McDowell County. It sits at an elevation of 1,211 feet amid the hilly terrain of the North Carolina foothills. No specific controlled airspace details are given in the available sources, and the field should be treated as an uncontrolled general aviation airstrip typical of the surrounding rural area.
Shiflet Field has a single physical runway, 11/29, with a grass surface measuring 3,492 feet in length. There is no instrument landing system serving the airfield.
No communications frequency is published for Shiflet Field, and it has no known navigational aids or instrument approach procedures. Pilots operating in the vicinity should rely on standard visual flight rules practices and remain alert for other traffic given the lack of any published radio service.
Shiflet Field is owned by the Marion Airport Commission and has long served as a general aviation field for the Marion area. In the twelve months ending 21 May 2021 it recorded 4,350 aircraft operations, averaging about 83 per week, with the vast majority being general aviation traffic and a small proportion of military movements. At that time 59 aircraft were based there, comprising 55 single-engine aircraft, one multi-engine aircraft, one helicopter, and two ultralights.
Today Shiflet Field remains a private airfield that is open to the public, centred around a grass runway maintained by its members and surrounded by hangars used for aircraft building, restoration of antique types, and competition aerobatics. The field has weathered recent adversity, including runway closure caused by flooding from Hurricane Helene in 2024, but has since reopened and continues to host a lively community of owners working towards ratings, sharing knowledge, and flying with neighbouring airfields and local EAA chapters. Prior permission is required for visiting pilots.
