Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Atlantic City Municipal Airport, known to generations of pilots as Bader Field, was a small municipal airfield on the edge of Atlantic City, New Jersey, distinguished by its unusual triangular arrangement of short hard-surfaced runways. Long since closed to aviation, it survives today chiefly in the memories of the pilots and instructors who learned to fly there, making it an evocative subject for a simulator pilot interested in vintage general-aviation fields of the northeastern United States.
Bader Field, identified by the code KAIY, sat within the city limits of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and for much of the twentieth century served as the community's municipal airport. Its compact, triangular layout of four intersecting hard runways made it a distinctive and challenging little field, and it is remembered with considerable affection by the flying community that once used it, giving it a strong appeal to sim pilots wanting to recreate a slice of classic American general-aviation flying.
The field lies at the eastern edge of Atlantic City, New Jersey, at coordinates 39.36 N, 74.456 W, and at an elevation of 7 feet above mean sea level. It sits close to the built-up area of the city itself, with other aviation facilities recorded nearby in the immediate vicinity.
Bader Field had two physical runways formed from four charted directions. Runway 11/29 was the longer of the pair, running 2929 feet as Runway 11 and 2823 feet as Runway 29, both hard-surfaced and lit. The second runway, 04/22, measured 2441 feet as Runway 04 and 2598 feet as Runway 22, also hard-surfaced and lit. Neither runway was equipped with an instrument landing system, and the field's short length and crossing runway configuration made for a compact, visually flown circuit.
Bader Field operated for decades as Atlantic City's municipal airport and was a well-known training ground for generations of private pilots; recollections from those who learned to fly there recall instructors teaching students at the field as far back as the 1940s. The airport was eventually closed, with former users recalling that it was shut down to make way for redevelopment of the site, a loss keenly felt by pilots who had grown up flying from it. One writer with a personal connection to the field noted that it was the place where he last saw his father, a private pilot who flew an Aztec from Bader Field, underscoring the strong personal attachment many aviators held for the airport.
Bader Field is no longer active as an airport, having been closed for redevelopment; it is not the current home base for any pilots and has ceased all flying operations. There is no indication of ongoing aviation use, fuel availability, or flying club activity at the site today.
