Departure
87%
vs 95% ▼ 8
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
MacDill Air Force Base sits on the Interbay Peninsula in South Tampa, Florida, a major Air Mobility Command installation built around a single very long, ILS-equipped runway. It is the home of the 6th Air Refueling Wing and the Air Force Reserve's 927th Air Refueling Wing, and also hosts the headquarters of two US unified combatant commands, making it one of the most strategically significant military airfields on the Gulf Coast.
MacDill Air Force Base is an active United States Air Force installation in South Tampa, Florida, operated by Air Mobility Command with the 6th Air Refueling Wing as host unit, augmented by the Air Force Reserve's 927th Air Refueling Wing. For a simulator pilot it is notable both for its very long single runway and precision approach equipment and for its role as headquarters to United States Central Command and United States Special Operations Command, giving the field a heavy military character with KC-135 tankers and C-37A transports as regular traffic. The base is not open to the public and civilian access is tightly controlled.
MacDill AFB lies on the Interbay Peninsula in South Tampa, about 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, surrounded on most sides by Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay. Its position at the tip of the peninsula places it close to the Tampa Bay waterfront and within the wider Tampa terminal area alongside Tampa International Airport.
MacDill has a single physical runway, 05/23, surfaced in hard-standing (asphalt) and lit, with each direction measuring approximately 11,395 ft. The runway is equipped with an instrument landing system, and field elevation is 10 ft.
Radio services include Tampa Approach on 124.95 MHz and Tampa Departure on 119.65 MHz, with the tower operating on 123.7 MHz and ground control on 118.575 MHz. The base ATIS broadcasts on 133.825 MHz. Additional military frequencies published for the field include PMSV Metro on 34.46 MHz, Command Post on 138.95 MHz, and PTD on 37.22 MHz. The runway is served by an ILS.
No public joining or circuit procedures are published for MacDill, reflecting its status as an active military base that is not open to civilian traffic; access and any local arrival procedures are subject to prior permission and military air traffic control instructions.
MacDill was established in 1939 as Southeast Air Base, Tampa, and was officially activated on 16 April 1941 as MacDill Field, a U.S. Army Air Corps and later U.S. Army Air Forces installation, named in honour of Colonel Leslie MacDill. Its first mission was training airmen on the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-26 Marauder; the early-model B-26 proved difficult to fly and land, earning MacDill the grim nickname "One a day in Tampa Bay" for the frequency of ditchings and crashes into the surrounding waters before improved B-26B-10 variants corrected the aircraft's handling. The 397th Bomb Group flew B-26s from the field in 1943, and MacDill also served as a B-29 Superfortress training base. With the creation of the U.S. Air Force as an independent service in September 1947, the field became MacDill Air Force Base. Through the 1950s and into the 1960s it operated as a Strategic Air Command installation, home to B-47 Stratojet bomber wings including the 306th and 305th Bombardment Wings, the latter converting to the all-jet B-47B in June 1952. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 underlined the base's strategic value as a staging area, halting proposed cuts and prompting its repurposing for a tactical mission; the United States Strike Command was established at MacDill in response. Through the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s the base operated F-4 Phantom II fighters under Tactical Air Command, transitioning briefly through the F-84 Thunderstreak beforehand, and then flew F-16 Fighting Falcons from the mid-1980s into the early 1990s. MacDill became an Air Mobility Command installation in 1996 with the 6th Air Refueling Wing established as host unit. In more recent years, archaeological investigation prompted by information from the Tampa Bay History Center uncovered evidence of the Port Tampa Cemetery, a segregation-era African-American burial ground on the base dating from between 1840 and 1920; by January 2024 officials had identified potentially 121 unmarked graves, with continuing work to document the site.
MacDill AFB today is the home station of the 6th Air Refueling Wing, whose 310th Airlift Squadron flies the C-37A and whose 50th and 91st Air Refueling Squadrons operate the KC-135 Stratotanker; the Air Force Reserve's 927th Air Refueling Wing and its 63d Air Refueling Squadron also fly KC-135s from the base. The installation additionally hosts the headquarters of United States Central Command and United States Special Operations Command, along with the subordinate headquarters of Marine Corps Forces Central Command and Special Operations Command Central. The base is not open to the public, and any flying activity or visit requires prior permission.'
