Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Carroll County-Tolson Airport (KTSO) is a small, county-owned general aviation field just southeast of Carrollton, Ohio, offering a single lit asphalt runway and a laid-back FBO atmosphere. It has served the area since the 1960s and today supports light training and touring traffic in an unassuming, uncontrolled setting.
Carroll County-Tolson Airport is a public-use, county-owned aerodrome serving Carrollton, Ohio, and the surrounding Carroll County area. It is a modest general aviation field with a single runway, no air traffic control tower, and a small but active mix of based light aircraft. For a simulator pilot, it offers an authentic slice of rural American GA flying: a straightforward asphalt strip, self-announced circuit procedures, and an on-field restaurant that has long been a local attraction for visiting pilots.
KTSO lies about one nautical mile southeast of the central business district of Carrollton, a village in Carroll County, Ohio. The airport is uncontrolled, with no on-field air traffic control tower. Akron Canton Approach/Departure can be contacted on 125.5 MHz for arrivals and departures requiring a service, reflecting the field's position within the wider Akron-Canton terminal area.
The airport has a single physical runway, 07/25, aligned east-west. It is 4,274 feet long with a hard (asphalt) surface and is lit for night operations. There is no ILS or other instrument landing system installed.
Pilots should use 122.7 MHz as the CTAF/UNICOM frequency for self-announced traffic advisories and airport operations. Akron Canton Approach/Departure is available on 125.5 MHz (A/D) for those requiring a radar service transiting to or from the field. There is no tower and no published instrument approach or ILS at KTSO.
As an uncontrolled field, KTSO relies on standard self-announcing procedures on the 122.7 MHz CTAF/UNICOM frequency rather than any published local circuit instructions. Pilots should make blind calls for position and intentions and remain alert for other traffic in the pattern, particularly given the mix of based single and multi-engine aircraft using the field.
The airport sits roughly one nautical mile southeast of Carrollton's town centre, making the village itself a useful landmark when inbound. The field covers about 68 acres, and its single east-west runway and adjacent hangar and ramp area should be visible from a normal downwind or overhead join in good visibility.
The site's aviation history began in 1947, when a private dirt-runway strip was built by Bill Hill. In 1966, following a state initiative under Governor James Rhodes to ensure every Ohio county had its own airport, Melvin and Frances Tolson donated about 16 acres of land to Carroll County to establish a public airfield. Fundraising began in March 1967, and by early May the state had approved a grant; after some difficulty securing an affordable paving contractor, construction of a 4,300-foot runway was completed later that year, and the airport was dedicated on 8 October 1967 under the name Tolson Field. The airport was also featured in a 1968 short film, The Door to the World, which showcased eleven Ohio county airports. Over the following decades the field grew steadily: new parking ramps were added in 1968, the runway was extended in 1974, a new hangar went up in 1978, and fuel tanks were renewed in 1981. By 1973 the airport administrator was even serving meals on site, a tradition that evolved into the airport's present-day restaurant. The ramp was resurfaced in 2003, and further runway improvements followed to bring the field up to federal standards. In 2011 the airport received federal funding for safety improvements, including stormwater management and runway safety area upgrades, and in 2022 trees identified during a 2019 federal inspection as encroaching on the runway approach were cleared.
Carroll County-Tolson Airport remains in active general aviation use, with light single and twin-engine aircraft based on the field. It has a fixed-base operator supplying both avgas and jet fuel, along with limited services such as aircraft maintenance, a crew lounge and courtesy transport. A family-owned, on-field restaurant allows diners to watch aircraft on the runway, a long-standing feature of the airport's character. Pilots planning a visit should check current requirements locally, as some services may require prior arrangement.