Departure
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MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Bolton Field (KTZR) is a towered general aviation reliever airport for John Glenn Columbus International, situated on the west side of Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio. Operated by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, it offers a single long asphalt runway with an ILS approach, making it a popular and well-equipped destination for visiting VFR and IFR pilots alike.
Bolton Field is a public, towered general aviation airport on the western edge of Columbus, Ohio, operated by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority as one of its three managed airports alongside John Glenn Columbus International and Rickenbacker International. It functions as a reliever airport for John Glenn, handling corporate and recreational traffic, flight training, and general aviation activity away from the busier commercial field. For a simulator pilot, it offers a straightforward single-runway operation with tower service and an ILS approach, along with a mix of based light aircraft, balloons, and training traffic.
Bolton Field lies in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, and is a towered airport, placing it within controlled airspace at the field. It sits under the wider Columbus terminal area and works alongside Columbus Approach/Departure, reflecting its role as a reliever for the larger John Glenn Columbus International Airport nearby.
Bolton Field has one physical runway, 04/22, aligned north-east/south-west. It is a hard-surfaced runway 5,486 feet long, lit for night operations, with an ILS approach serving runway 04.
Traffic at Bolton Field is worked by Columbus Approach/Departure on 132.3 MHz. The tower and common traffic frequency is 128.1 MHz, with ground control on 121.8 MHz. Weather information is broadcast on AWOS-3, 135.925 MHz, and UNICOM is available on 122.95 MHz. An ILS approach is published for runway 04.
Bolton Field is a towered airport, so arriving and departing traffic is worked by the tower on 128.1 MHz, with ground movements coordinated on 121.8 MHz. Historically the field also had a grass strip associated with runway 22 used by gliders, though the current operational runway is the paved 04/22.
Bolton Field opened on 24 October 1970, the day after a Franklin County Common Pleas Court ruling rejected an attempt by a nearby private airfield on Darby Dan Farm to block its construction. It was the only new airfield built under a late-1960s Ohio state airport program to be constructed with federal funds. Major Harry Charles Davidson, a Second World War veteran, was appointed the airport's first manager by Columbus Mayor Jack Sensenbrenner. The field is named after Francis A. "Jack" Bolton, the long-serving superintendent of Port Columbus International Airport, honoured posthumously at the airport's dedication. Bolton Field was built to accommodate personal and business aviation, freeing Port Columbus for commercial traffic. In 1980 its operation, along with Port Columbus, passed from the City of Columbus to the newly formed Columbus Airport Authority, and in 2003 that body merged with the Rickenbacker Port Authority to create the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which continues to manage Bolton Field today.
Bolton Field covers around 1,500 acres and remains a busy general aviation and corporate aviation airport, with fuel, tiedowns, and hangar parking available. Jet Access Flight Training operates at the field, offering flight instruction using modern training aircraft, and Bolton Aviation provides fixed-base operator services including a crew lounge, courtesy car, and conference facilities. Columbus State Community College runs an Aviation Maintenance Training Program on the airport, and the field is also home to the Scioto Valley 99s and the Central Ohio Balloon Club. The airport regularly hosts Experimental Aircraft Association Young Eagles events, fly-ins, and aerobatic and ballooning activity. As a towered airport, prior permission is not typically required for transient GA traffic, though pilots should confirm current procedures before arrival.