View source for Middleton Field

{{for|the airport in Middleton, Wisconsin|Middleton Municipal Airport}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox airport
| name         = Middleton Field
| image        = Middleton Field.jpg
| caption      = [[National Agriculture Imagery Program|NAIP]] aerial image, 30 June 2006
| IATA         = <!--not GZH-->
| ICAO         = KGZH
| FAA          = GZH
| type         = Public / military
| owner        = City of Evergreen
| operator     = 
| city-served  = [[Evergreen, Conecuh County, Alabama|Evergreen, Alabama]]
| location     = 
| elevation-f  = 259
| elevation-m  = 79
| coordinates  = {{coord|31|24|57|N|087|02|39|W|region:US-AL_type:airport_scale:10000}}
| website      = 
| r1-number    = 1/19
| r1-length-f  = 5,005
| r1-length-m  = 
| r1-surface   = [[Asphalt concrete|Asphalt]]
| r2-number    = 10/28
| r2-length-f  = 5,004
| r2-length-m  = 
| r2-surface   = Asphalt
| stat-year    = 2017
| stat1-header = Aircraft operations
| stat1-data   = 134,005
| stat2-header = Based aircraft
| stat2-data   = 10
| footnotes    = Source: [[Federal Aviation Administration]]<ref name=FAA>{{FAA-airport|ID=GZH|use=PU|own=PU|site=00296.*A}}, effective April 27, 2017.</ref>
}}

'''Middleton Field''' {{airport codes||KGZH|GZH, {{nobold|formerly}} 39J}} is a public-use [[airport]] located {{convert|5|NM|lk=on}} west of the [[central business district]] of [[Evergreen, Conecuh County, Alabama|Evergreen]], a city in [[Conecuh County, Alabama|Conecuh County]], [[Alabama]], [[United States]].<ref name=FAA /> According to the FAA's [[National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems]] for 2009–2013, it is [[FAA airport categories|categorized]] as a ''[[general aviation]]'' facility.<ref>[http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/ National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems] for 2009–2013: [http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/reports/media/2009/npias_2009_appA_part1.pdf Appendix A: Part 1 (PDF, 1.33 MB)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806023224/http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/reports/media/2009/npias_2009_appA_part1.pdf |date=2011-08-06 }}. Federal Aviation Administration. Updated 15 October 2008.</ref> Although the airport is owned by the City of Evergreen, it is primarily used for flight training by the [[U.S. Navy]] as '''[[Naval Outlying Field]] Evergreen''' under [[Naval Air Station Whiting Field|Whiting Field]].

Although most U.S. airports use the same three-letter [[location identifier]] for the [[Federal Aviation Administration|FAA]] and [[International Air Transport Association|IATA]], Middleton Field is assigned '''GZH''' by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA.<ref>[http://gc.kls2.com/airport/KGZH Great Circle Mapper: KGZH - Evergreen, Alabama (Middleton Field)]</ref>

==History==
Middleton Field was constructed in 1931 as an emergency landing field for [[United States airmail service#Contract Air Mail (CAM) service|Contract Air Mail]] route 23 (CAM-23). In 1943, the U.S. Navy began using the airfield as an Outlying Field for pilots training in [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]]. The [[airway beacon]] at Middleton Field is listed on the [[Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Old Airport Tower & Beacon at Evergreen, AL |url=https://www.ruralswalabama.org/attraction/the-old-airport-tower-beacon-at-evergreen-al/ |website=ruralswalabama.org |access-date=8 February 2024}}</ref>

== Facilities and aircraft ==
Middleton Field covers an area of {{convert|200|acre|ha|lk=on}} which contains two [[Asphalt concrete|asphalt]] paved [[runway]]s (1/19 and 10/28) each measuring {{convert|4000|by|150|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}.

For the 12-month period ending June 25, 2007, the airport had 134,005 aircraft operations, an average of 367 per day: 96% military and 4% [[general aviation]].<ref name=FAA />

== Accidents ==
On July 13, 1982, Lt. Cmdr. [[Barbara Allen Rainey]], the U.S. Navy's first female pilot, and her student were killed in a crash while practicing [[touch-and-go landing]]s at Middleton Field.<ref>[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/barbaraa.htm Arlington Cemetery Biography for Lt. Cmdr. Barbara Allen Rainey]</ref> The resulting litigation, ''[[Beech Aircraft Corp. v. Rainey]]'', went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

==See also==
* [[List of airports in Alabama]]

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060928082404/http://creports.capnhq.gov/airfield/ViewAirport.asp?view=Thumb&state=AL&code=GZH&filetype=_ Airfield photos for GZH] from [[Civil Air Patrol]]
* {{FAA-procedures|GZH}}
{{US-airport-ga|GZH|-}}

{{AL Airport}}

[[Category:Airports in Alabama]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Conecuh County, Alabama]]
[[Category:Transportation in Conecuh County, Alabama]]