Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
John Glenn Columbus International Airport is a large Class C commercial field on the east side of Columbus, Ohio, offering sim pilots two long, ILS-equipped hard-surface runways and a full suite of airline-standard radio services. Operated by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority and renamed in 2016 to honour astronaut and senator John Glenn, it traces its roots back to 1929 as one of the original transcontinental air-rail terminals. Its history takes in wartime naval aviation, a famous solo round-the-world flight, and decades of airline hub activity.
John Glenn Columbus International Airport (KCMH) sits on the eastern edge of Columbus, Ohio, and is the city's primary commercial gateway, run by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which also manages Rickenbacker International and Bolton Field. For a simulator pilot it offers the full airline-airport experience: two long, lit, ILS-served asphalt runways, a busy Class C control zone, and a rich mix of historical and modern airline traffic to recreate. The field is named for astronaut and long-serving U.S. senator John Glenn, and its predecessor, Port Columbus, was one of the earliest scheduled air terminals in the United States.
The airport lies about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of downtown Columbus, Ohio, at coordinates 39.9969, -82.8922, and sits within Class C controlled airspace served by Columbus Approach/Departure. It shares the metropolitan area with the general-aviation-oriented Rickenbacker International Airport and Bolton Field, both also operated by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority. As an international airport handling scheduled traffic, arriving crews should expect the structured routings and clearances typical of a Class C terminal environment.
The airfield has two parallel hard-surfaced runway pairs, both lit and equipped with ILS. Runway 10R/28L is the longer of the pair at 10,087 feet, while Runway 10L/28R measures 7,977 feet. Both are asphalt or similar hard surface, giving ample length for the full range of airline and general aviation traffic likely to be simulated here.
Columbus Approach/Departure operates on 33.822 MHz and 118.2 MHz, with ATIS broadcast on 124.6 MHz. Clearance Delivery is on 126.3 MHz, Ground on 121.9 MHz, and Tower on 132.7 MHz. A Dayton Radio frequency of 122.2 MHz is also listed, along with UNICOM on 122.95 MHz. The airport is fully equipped with ILS approaches to support instrument arrivals in low visibility.
The airport opened on July 8, 1929, as the Columbus Municipal Hangar, selected as a site by Charles Lindbergh to serve as the eastern terminus of the Transcontinental Air Transport air-rail route linking New York and Los Angeles, with passengers travelling overnight by rail from New York before continuing by air and rail via Waynoka, Oklahoma, and Clovis, New Mexico. During the Second World War the site was largely taken over by the U.S. Navy as Naval Air Station Columbus from 1942 until 1946, and a government-owned factory on the airfield, later operated by North American Aviation, produced aircraft including the F-100 Super Sabre, RA-5 Vigilante, T-2 Buckeye, T-28 Trojan, OV-10 Bronco and T-39 Sabreliner. In 1964 Jerrie Mock departed Port Columbus in her Cessna 180 Skywagon, Spirit of Columbus, on March 19 and returned twenty-nine and a half days later as the first woman to fly solo around the world. The airport served for decades as a base for TWA and later as a hub for America West Airlines from 1993 until 2003, and it was the home base of the short-lived low-cost carrier Skybus Airlines from 2007 to 2008. On May 25, 2016, the Ohio General Assembly renamed the airport from Port Columbus International Airport to John Glenn Columbus International Airport in honour of the astronaut and four-term U.S. senator, a change unanimously approved by the airport board the following day.
John Glenn Columbus International remains primarily a scheduled passenger airport, managed by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, and continues to handle international arrivals subject to customs procedures. The field is a busy Class C facility with full ILS coverage on both runways, making it a realistic and demanding destination for simulator pilots flying alongside airline traffic.
