Departure
95%
vs 95%
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Orlando Executive Airport (KORL) is a busy general and corporate aviation field just three miles east of downtown Orlando, Florida, operated by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. Home to two fixed-base operators and a full ILS-equipped runway, it offers sim pilots a convenient, historically rich alternative to the nearby international airport at MCO.
Orlando Executive Airport, known locally as OEA and carrying the ICAO code KORL, sits three miles east of downtown Orlando in Orange County, Florida. It is owned and operated by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and functions purely as a general aviation and corporate aviation field, distinct from the much larger Orlando International Airport (MCO) that handles the region's airline traffic. Its proximity to downtown and to the State Road 408 East-West Expressway, combined with a long military and civil history, makes it an interesting and useful destination for simulator pilots flying light aircraft, turboprops or business jets into the Orlando area.
The airport lies close to downtown Orlando and near the busier Orlando International Airport, so pilots should expect to operate in proximity to Class C or similar controlled airspace associated with MCO. Orlando Executive itself is served by an FAA-staffed air traffic control tower, and its approach and departure control is provided by Orlando Approach/Departure, which is divided into several sectors by direction and altitude.
Orlando Executive has two hard-surfaced, lit physical runways. Runway 07/25 is the longer of the pair at 5,990 feet and is equipped with an instrument landing system. Runway 13/31 is shorter, with the 31 end listed at 5,195 feet and the 13 end at 4,610 feet. Field elevation is 105 feet.
The control tower and CTAF operate on 118.7 MHz, with ground control on 121.4 MHz and clearance delivery on 128.45 MHz. ATIS is broadcast on 127.25 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. Orlando Approach/Departure is split across several frequencies depending on direction and altitude: 119.4 MHz for the southwest sector, 119.775 MHz for tracks between 061 and 180 degrees at 4,500 feet and below, 120.15 MHz for tracks between 181 and 359 degrees above 5,500 feet, 124.8 MHz for tracks between 000 and 180 degrees above 5,000 feet, and 135.3 MHz for tracks between 311 and 060 degrees at 5,500 feet and below. Two additional remote radio outlets for St Petersburg are listed on 122.1 MHz and 122.2 MHz. The airport is equipped with a full instrument landing system on runway 07/25.
Orlando Executive is a tower-controlled airport, and pilots should expect to contact the tower on 118.7 MHz for joining instructions and circuit sequencing rather than following an uncontrolled circuit pattern. Given its location close to Orlando International Airport's airspace, inbound and outbound traffic should anticipate coordination with Orlando Approach/Departure on the appropriate sector frequency before contact with the tower.
The airport sits only three miles east of downtown Orlando, and the State Road 408 East-West Expressway passes nearby, both of which serve as useful visual landmarks when inbound. Orlando International Airport lies to the southeast and its traffic and airspace should be borne in mind when navigating visually toward Executive.
Orlando Executive Airport opened in 1928 as Orlando Municipal Airport, the first commercial airport in central Florida, and the following year became a stop on the United States Postal Service's airmail network. In 1940 the United States Army Air Corps took control of the field, renaming it Orlando Army Air Base, and for six years it remained under military control. From late 1941 through mid-1943 it was used by I Bomber Command and later by the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command to fly patrols along the east coast and over the Gulf of Mexico. It subsequently became home to the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics and the Army Air Forces Tactical Center, and in 1943 the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics began training night fighter units, including the 481st Night Fighter Group flying the Douglas P-70, before those squadrons deployed to the Pacific and European theatres. The airfield was released back to the City of Orlando in 1946, while nearby support facilities remained under military control as Orlando Army Air Base and, from 1947, Orlando Air Force Base, serving training and headquarters roles for the Air Training Command, Tactical Air Command and Military Air Transport Service. In 1968 that installation passed to the US Navy as Naval Training Center Orlando, one of three enlisted recruit training centers, before closing under the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission and being redeveloped as the Baldwin Park neighbourhood. On the civil side, passenger flights by National Airlines and Eastern Air Lines began at the airport in 1946. Control passed from the City of Orlando to the newly created Greater Orlando Aviation Authority in 1976, which renamed the field Orlando Executive Airport in 1982 and gave it its present name in 1998. The airport has since hosted the National Business Aviation Association Convention on several occasions, served as the receiving site for the majority of athletes during a major Special Olympics airlift, and has been used since the 1990s by Marine Helicopter Squadron One as a staging site for Marine One during Presidential visits to Orlando, with Air Force One itself using Orlando International Airport.
Orlando Executive Airport today serves general and corporate aviation, hosting two fixed-base operators, Atlantic Aviation and Sheltair Aviation Services, and provides full instrument landing system capability alongside an FAA-staffed control tower. It is the operating base for the aviation sections of AdventHealth and the Orange County Sheriff's Office, and handles a substantial volume of general aviation, air taxi and a small amount of military traffic each year.