Departure
93%
vs 95% ▼ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Falcon Field is a busy general aviation reliever airport in Mesa, Arizona, owned and operated by the City of Mesa and sitting within a narrow corridor of Class D airspace sandwiched beneath the Phoenix Sky Harbor Class B shelf. It combines flight training, corporate aviation, aircraft manufacturing and a well-known warbird collection, making it a lively and historically rich destination for the VFR pilot.
Falcon Field is a general aviation airport at Mesa, Arizona, owned and operated by the City of Mesa. It functions as a reliever to Phoenix Sky Harbor International and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airports, hosting business and recreational flying, fixed-wing and helicopter flight training, aircraft manufacturing and maintenance, and a notable warbird operation, giving it plenty of character for a simulator pilot to explore.
The airfield lies in Maricopa County within the Phoenix metropolitan area, roughly 14 miles east of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX). It was originally built about 6 miles northeast of Mesa, though the city has since grown to include and own the site. Falcon Field is surrounded by Class D airspace extending from the surface up to 3,399 feet MSL, forming a cylindrical shape roughly 5 statute miles in diameter that is flattened along its western boundary at Gilbert Road to accommodate the Phoenix Sky Harbor Class B airspace above. A narrow corridor exists above the Falcon Field Class D and below the Phoenix Class B, allowing VFR traffic to transit the area without contacting ATC, though this corridor can be busy and demands heightened situational awareness from arriving and departing pilots.
Falcon Field has two parallel hard-surfaced runways, both lit. Runway 04L/22R is 3,785 feet long, and the longer Runway 04R/22L extends to 5,088 feet. Neither runway is equipped with an ILS.
Arrivals and departures are worked by Phoenix Approach/Departure on 120.7 MHz. The airfield ATIS broadcasts on 118.25 MHz. The common traffic and tower frequency is 124.6 MHz, used both as CTAF and as the tower frequency, with ground control on 121.3 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz.
Pilots transiting between Falcon Field's Class D airspace and the Phoenix Sky Harbor Class B shelf above can use a narrow VFR corridor without needing to contact ATC, though this corridor is often congested and requires extra vigilance. Within the Class D airspace itself, standard tower-controlled arrival and departure procedures apply on the published tower frequency.
Falcon Field's Class D airspace boundary is defined to the west along Gilbert Road in Mesa, marking the point at which the airfield's airspace is flattened to accommodate the Phoenix Sky Harbor Class B airspace above.
Falcon Field traces its origins to before the Second World War, when Hollywood producer Leland Hayward and pilot John H. "Jack" Connelly founded Southwest Airways, backed by investors including Henry Fonda, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, James Stewart and Hoagy Carmichael. The airfield has been in operation since 1941. Between 1945 and 1965 the field was leased to a succession of industrial tenants, among them Talley Defense Systems, Astro Rocket Inc., Rocket Power Inc. and the Gabriel Company, before it was converted into a civil airfield under the ownership and operation of the City of Mesa. Since 1976 Falcon Field has been home to Airbase Arizona, one of the largest units of the Commemorative Air Force, which operates a flying Boeing B-17G, "Sentimental Journey", and a North American B-25J, "Maid in the Shade", among other historic aircraft.
Falcon Field continues to operate as a general aviation reliever airport, serving business aviation, recreational flying, and fixed-wing and helicopter flight training, allowing Phoenix Sky Harbor and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway to concentrate on commercial airline traffic. The field is home to CAE Oxford Aviation Academy, described as the largest flight school in the world, and to MD Helicopters, a manufacturer of commercial, military and law-enforcement helicopters based on the airport. Boeing's attack helicopter and unmanned systems divisions, which build the AH-64D Apache, are headquartered nearby in Mesa. The airfield also remains the home base of the Commemorative Air Force's Airbase Arizona unit and its flying warbirds.
