Merrill Field 3.4

Merrill Field is a public-use general aviation airport located one mile (1.6 km) east of downtown Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. The airport is owned by Municipality of Anchorage.HistoryMerrill Field, located on the east end of 5th Avenue in Anchorage, was the first official airport in the city when it opened in 1930. It was the Anchorage's only airport until 1951, when the introduction of ever larger and faster commercial aircraft required that an airfield with longer and heavier runways be built.The airport is named for Russel Merrill, an Alaskan aviation pioneer. The first aviation beacon in the Territory of Alaska was located at Merrill Field and was dedicated on September 25, 1932 in Merrill's honor.The airfield remains in use today as the primary field for private wheel equipped aircraft in the warmer months, and for ski equipped in the winter.Facilities and aircraftMerrill Field covers 436 acres (176 ha, 1.76 km²) and has three runways: Runway 5/23: 2,000 x 60 ft (610 x 18 m), Surface: Gravel/Dirt Runway 7/25: 4,000 x 100 ft (1,219 x 30 m), Surface: Asphalt Runway 16/34: 2,640 x 75 ft (805 x 23 m), Surface: Asphalt For the 12-month period ending September 30, 2013, the airport had 126,234 aircraft operations, all of which were general aviation. There are 844 aircraft based at this airport: 786 single engine, 41 multi-engine, 16 helicopters and one glider.