Michael J. Smith Field

Michael J. Smith Field (ICAO: KMRH, FAA LID: MRH) is a public airport located one mile (2 km) north of the central business district of Beaufort and northeast of Morehead City, in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. It is owned by the Beaufort-Morehead City Airport Authority.[1]

Michael J. Smith Field
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerBeaufort-Morehead City Airport Authority
ServesBeaufort, North Carolina
Elevation AMSL11 ft / 3 m
Coordinates34°44′01″N 076°39′38″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
3/21 4,191 1,277 Asphalt
8/26 5,003 1,525 Asphalt
14/32 4,000 1,219 Asphalt
Statistics (2006)
Aircraft operations43,800
Based aircraft75

The airport is named in memory of astronaut Michael J. Smith, a native of Beaufort who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.[2] It was formerly known as Beaufort-Morehead City Airport.[3]

Although most U.S. airports are assigned the same three-letter location identifier by the FAA and IATA, Michael J. Smith Field is assigned MRH by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA[4] (which assigned MRH to May River Airport in Papua New Guinea).[5]

Facilities and aircraft

Michael J. Smith Field covers an area of 400 acres (160 ha) which contains three asphalt paved runways:

  • 3/21 measuring 4,191 x 150 ft. (1,277 x 46 m)
  • 8/26 at 5,003 x 100 ft. (1,525 x 30 m)
  • 14/32 at 4,000 x 100 ft. (1,219 x 30 m).[1]

For the 12-month period ending June 5, 2015, the airport averaged 120 operations per day: 86% general aviation, 9% air taxi and 6% military. At that time there were 54 aircraft based at this airport of which 54 were single-engine, 7 were multi-engine, and 2 were jet airplanes.[6]

Historical airline service

Piedmont Airlines was serving the airport by 1948 with a daily Douglas DC-3 flight operating direct service to Raleigh/Durham, NC, Greensboro, NC, Winston-Salem, NC, Cincinnati, OH and other en route destinations.[7] Wheeler Airlines, a commuter air carrier, served the airport during the mid 1970s with Cessna 402 flights to Charlotte, NC, Norfolk, VA and Raleigh/Durham NC.[8][9]

References
  1. FAA Airport Form 5010 for MRH PDF, effective 2007-12-20
  2. Segrave Aviation, Inc. - Airport's fixed-base operator (FBO). Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  3. More about Morehead - Morehead City web site. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
  4. Great Circle Mapper: KMRH - Beaufort, North Carolina (Michael J. Smith Field)
  5. Aviation Safety Network: MRH - May River Airport, Papua New Guinea
  7. http://www.timetableimages.com, July 1, 1948 Piedmont Airlines timetable
  8. http://www.departedflights.com, 1975 Wheeler Airlines route maps
  9. Feb. 1, 1976 Official Airline Guide (OAG). Morehead City flight schedules
  • "Michael J. Smith Field (MRH)" (PDF). at North Carolina DOT airport guide
  • FAA Terminal Procedures for MRH, effective December 31, 2020
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