Departure
92%
vs 95% ▼ 4
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport (KBAF) is a joint civil-military field three miles north of Westfield, Massachusetts, sharing its ramp with the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing. Its long paved runway and full ILS make it a practical VFR or IFR destination for general aviation pilots in the Springfield-Westfield area, with a strong flight-training culture and an on-site aviation museum of interest to visiting pilots.
Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport, formerly Barnes Municipal Airport, sits three miles north of Westfield and northwest of Springfield, Massachusetts. It is a joint-use field, combining general aviation and flight training with a significant military presence as home to the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing, flying F-15s and now F-35s, alongside an Army National Guard helicopter support facility. For the visiting sim pilot it offers a long hard-surfaced runway with an ILS, a busy training environment, and a small aviation museum housed in one of the airport's hangars.
The airport lies in Hampden County, Massachusetts, roughly six kilometres north of the town of Westfield and to the northwest of Springfield. It operates in proximity to Bradley International Airport's approach and departure environment, with Bradley Approach/Departure handling arrivals and departures in the wider area. Pilots should expect coordination with Bradley airspace and be alert to the mix of civilian training traffic, military jets and helicopters operating in and around the field.
Westfield-Barnes has two physical runways. Runway 02/20 is a hard-surfaced, lit runway 8,976 feet long, with an ILS serving runway 20. Runway 15/33 is also hard-surfaced and lit, with published lengths of 4,968 feet for runway 33 and 4,478 feet for runway 15. Field elevation is 256 feet.
Westfield Tower operates on 125.075 MHz, which also serves as the CTAF (published as Westfield Trfc). Ground control is on 121.7 MHz (Westfield Gnd), with the same frequency also listed for Bradley Clearance Delivery. ATIS broadcasts on 127.1 MHz. Bradley Approach/Departure, which handles instrument and radar services for the area, is on 125.35 MHz. A VOR/TAC and an ILS are available, the latter serving runway 20.
Given the mix of jet, helicopter and general aviation traffic, along with the airport's layout and proximity to other airspace, air traffic control determines the pattern to be flown on arrival or departure, and pilots should be prepared to fly either left-hand or right-hand patterns as instructed. Pilots are advised to review the airport's taxiway layout and expected taxi routes before arrival, and to take particular care with intersection departures given the risk of lining up in the wrong direction on a field with multiple runway options.
The airport's origins lie in Camp Bartlett, a Massachusetts Army National Guard summer training ground from 1905 that became a federal mobilisation and training camp for the 103rd and 104th Infantry Regiments of the 26th 'Yankee' Division ahead of deployment to France in the First World War. In 1923 local businessmen persuaded landowner Vincent E. Barnes to sell his land to the City of Westfield for an airfield; the resulting 27-acre Westfield Aviation Field was dedicated on 12 October 1923, with Barnes later leasing further land to the city. In 1936 Barnes' widow and daughter donated an additional 297 acres, prompting the city council to rename the airport after the family. Grant-funded construction in 1939-40 added an administration building, hangar and beacon light. Scheduled passenger services began on 28 October 1937 with a ten-passenger Stinson trimotor flying to Newark, New Jersey, followed by American Airlines DC-3 services from 1938 to 1950 and Mohawk DC-3s from 1953 to 1959. Charts from 1951 and 1960 show the runways at shorter lengths than today, before later expansion added a VORTAC and an ILS. The airport's control tower opened in 1974, and a $7.6 million reconstruction of runway 15/33 began in April 2020. By 2024 work was under way to expand a taxiway to support F-35 operations for the resident 104th Fighter Wing.
Westfield-Barnes today handles a high volume of general aviation and training traffic alongside military operations, recording over 47,000 aircraft movements a year, the large majority general aviation with a smaller proportion of military, air taxi and commercial flights. Around 124 aircraft are based on the field, mostly single-engine types. FLY LUGU, established in 2017, is the main flight school, offering training across single-engine Cessna and Piper types as well as twin-engine Beechcraft Baron instruction, covering all pilot ratings. The Westfield Aviation Museum, housed in Hangar 3 near the main terminal, displays flying vintage aircraft including a Fairchild PT-23, Boeing-Stearman Model 75, de Havilland Tiger Moth and a Cessna UC-78 Bobcat project.
