Departure
91%
vs 95% ▼ 4
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Quonset State Airport lies on Quonset Point in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, a joint civil-military field shared with the Rhode Island Air and Army National Guard. Sim pilots will find a long, ILS-equipped runway set on a bay-side peninsula, with scenic approaches over Narragansett Bay from the south and Providence from the north.
Quonset State Airport (ICAO KOQU, FAA identifier OQU) is a general aviation airport with no scheduled airline service, situated on a peninsula in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, that also hosts port, rail and industrial facilities. It is a joint civil-military field, home to the Rhode Island Air National Guard's 143rd Airlift Wing with its C-130 transports and the Rhode Island Army National Guard's Blackhawk helicopter battalion, alongside general aviation and business traffic supported by a fixed-base operator. For the visiting sim pilot it offers a long hard-surface runway with an instrument landing system, a coastal setting on Narragansett Bay, and occasional historical interest as the site of a 2021 Air Force One landing.
The airport sits on Quonset Point in northeastern North Kingstown, Rhode Island, on a peninsula adjacent to Narragansett Bay. Approach and departure services in the area are provided by Providence Approach on 135.4 MHz. The field has an operating control tower, with ground movements handled on 134.5 MHz.
Quonset has two physical runways. Runway 16/34 is the longer, a hard-surfaced, lit runway of 7,987 feet, with an instrument landing system serving Runway 16. Runway 05/23 is a shorter hard-surfaced, lit runway of 3,995 feet. Field elevation is 10 feet.
Tower and CTAF operate on 126.35 MHz, with ground control on 134.5 MHz. Providence Approach/Departure works the airport on 135.4 MHz. UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. A remote radio outlet for Bridgeport is listed on 122.3 MHz. Runway 16 is served by a precision instrument landing system, which is military-owned but maintained and supported by the FAA (flyquonsetairport.com).
Pilots approaching from the south cross Narragansett Bay with views of Block Island and Newport along Rhode Island's shoreline before reaching the field. Arriving from the north, the route passes over Providence before joining for Quonset (flightlevelaviation.com).
Quonset State Airport is one of six airports operated by the Rhode Island Airports Corporation, alongside T.F. Green, North Central State, Westerly State, Newport State and Block Island State airports. In the early 1980s Providence Airline Corp operated scheduled flights from Quonset to Boston, Hartford County, Syracuse, Buffalo, Chicago and Romulus, Michigan, though the airport now has no scheduled airline service. On 19 May 2021, Air Force One carrying President Joe Biden landed at Quonset, where he was met by Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee, Colonel Adam Wiggins of the 143rd Airlift Wing, and other officials (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quonset_State_Airport).
The airport currently hosts 24 privately owned tenants, including FlightLevel Aviation as the fixed-base operator, the Rhode Island Air National Guard's C-130 transport fleet and the Rhode Island Army National Guard's Blackhawk helicopter unit, together with a control tower and corporate hangar development (flyquonsetairport.com). As of March 2024, $63 million in federal and state funding had been secured to rebuild the existing Runway 16/34, which was reported to be in poor condition, though the shorter runway remains available and the C-130s can continue to use the field for training during the project (flyri.com).