Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Dallas Love Field is a major city-owned airport six miles northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas, once the city's primary gateway before the opening of DFW in 1974 and today the corporate home and principal base of Southwest Airlines. For a simulator pilot it offers a busy, ILS-equipped four-runway complex close to the Dallas skyline, with full airline, business and general-aviation traffic sharing the field.
Dallas Love Field sits in the Love Field neighbourhood of Dallas, Texas, about six miles northwest of the downtown skyline. Owned by the City of Dallas and operated by the Dallas Department of Aviation, it served as the city's main airport until Dallas/Fort Worth International opened in 1974, after which it settled into its present role as the birthplace and corporate headquarters of Southwest Airlines, which holds the great majority of the airport's traffic. Several fixed-base operators also support general aviation, business jets and charter flights, making Love Field a useful and characterful destination for a simulator pilot wanting a taste of a busy commercial field close to a major city centre.
Love Field lies within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, a short distance northwest of downtown Dallas, and close to the much larger Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. As a large, ILS-served commercial airport it sits under controlled airspace with radar approach and departure services provided by a regional approach/departure facility, and pilots can expect to operate within a busy multi-airport terminal environment typical of the metroplex.
Love Field has two physical runways aligned 13/31. The primary runway, 13R/31L, is a hard-surfaced, lit runway with declared lengths of 8,305 feet on runway 13R and 8,795 feet on runway 31L, and it is equipped with an ILS. The parallel runway, 13L/31R, is also hard-surfaced and lit, with declared lengths of 7,344 feet on runway 13L and 7,744 feet on runway 31R, and likewise offers an ILS. Field elevation is 479 feet.
Arriving and departing traffic is worked by Regional Approach and Departure on 124.3 MHz and 118.55 MHz respectively. The tower, known as Love Tower, operates on 118.7 MHz, with ground movements handled on 121.75 MHz. Clearance delivery is available on 127.9 MHz, and the ATIS broadcasts on 120.15 MHz. Fort Worth Radio, a flight service frequency, is available on 122.3 MHz, and UNICOM is on 122.95 MHz. The airport is served by an ILS on both runway 13R/31L and runway 13L/31R.
Love Field traces its origins to 1917, when the US Army established it as one of thirty-two new Air Service training fields following American entry into the First World War. Built just southeast of Bachman Lake on more than 700 acres, the field opened on 19 October 1917 and was named for Moss L. Love, an Army aviator who had died in a flying accident near San Diego in 1913. During the war it hosted successive training squadrons, including the 136th, 71st, 121st and 197th Aero Squadrons, which were later redesignated Squadrons A through D, along with the 865th Aero Squadron responsible for aircraft repair. With the Armistice in November 1918 flight training wound down and the separate squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School Detachment as personnel demobilised. In December 1919 Love Field was deactivated as an active-duty airfield and used instead as a storage facility for surplus wartime aircraft. The field later transitioned to civil use and became Dallas's principal airport, a role it held until Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport opened in 1974. Love Field subsequently became the founding base and long-time headquarters of Southwest Airlines.
Love Field today is a large, active commercial airport dominated by Southwest Airlines, alongside limited service from other carriers, and it also supports general aviation through several full-service fixed-base operators offering fuel, maintenance, hangar rental and charter services. The Dallas Department of Aviation is headquartered on the airfield. Given its status as a major controlled airport, prior permission is required for general aviation operations.
