Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Ingalls Field sits atop Warm Springs Mountain above Hot Springs, Virginia, and is one of the highest-elevation airports east of the Mississippi River. Built in the early 1930s to serve the nearby Homestead resort, it retains a single hard-surfaced runway equipped with an ILS, making it a distinctive high-ground destination for VFR pilots exploring the Alleghenies.
Ingalls Field is a small public-use airport perched on the summit ridge of Warm Springs Mountain, serving the town of Hot Springs and surrounding Bath County, Virginia. Built in the 1930s as an accompaniment to The Homestead resort, it remains notable today for its mountaintop setting, its unusually high field elevation for the eastern United States, and the presence of an ILS approach despite its modest size, all of which make it an interesting and slightly demanding stop for the visiting sim pilot.
The airfield lies near the town of Hot Springs in south-central Bath County, Virginia, occupying a plateau-like section of the summit ridge of Warm Springs Mountain. Traffic in the area is worked by Washington Center on 134.4 MHz, with local weather available via AWOS on 118.8 MHz.
Ingalls Field has a single physical runway, 07/25, 5,585 feet long with a hard surface and runway lighting. Runway 25 is served by an ILS approach.
Automated weather is broadcast on AWOS at 118.8 MHz. Washington Center provides area radar service on 134.4 MHz. CTAF/UNICOM operations are conducted on 123.0 MHz. Runway 25 has an ILS for instrument approaches.
Ingalls Field was constructed in the 1930s by the Virginia Hot Springs Company, developer of The Homestead resort, which was Bath County's principal economic enterprise through much of the twentieth century. The field was inaugurated in May 1931 when World War I flying ace and Homestead board member David S. Ingalls, after whom the airport is named, landed on the newly built strip. The site still contains two historic resources recognised on the state historic register: a partly preserved, T-shaped pair of 1931 grass runways and an early 1930s terminal building.
Ingalls Field continues to operate as a small general aviation airport on its mountaintop site. The Recreational Aviation Foundation has carried out work to improve the field's recreational appeal, with airport staff crediting the organisation's efforts and publicity for reinvigorating activity there. At 3,793 feet field elevation, it remains a popular destination for pilots drawn by the cooler mountain temperatures and views afforded by its ridge-top position.
