Keokuk, US πΊπΈ Closed Airport
US-11354
-
680 ft
US-IA
Loading...
Loading...GPS Code: Not available
Local Code: Not available
Location: 40.391701Β° N, -91.416801Β° E
Continent: NA
Type: Closed Airport
Keywords: IA59
Loading weather data...
Designation | Length | Width | Surface | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
N/S |
1600 ft | 50 ft | TURF | Active |
NE/SW |
1300 ft | 100 ft | TURF | Active |
Approximately between 1970 and 1982. The airport was depicted on the 1970 Des Moines Sectional Aeronautical Chart but was no longer shown on the 1982 chart or subsequent editions.
The specific reason is not officially documented, which is common for small, private airfields. However, the closure was most likely due to economic factors or the personal decision of its owner/operator, Irwin Bickel. Small private airports from this era often closed when the owner could no longer maintain them, sold the land, or passed away. The existence of the larger, public Keokuk Municipal Airport (KEOK) nearby meant there was no public necessity to keep Bickel Airport operational.
The site of the former airport has been completely converted back to agricultural use. Satellite imagery of the coordinates shows open farmland. A faint outline of the former north-south runway can still be discerned in the fields under certain conditions. There are no remaining airport structures such as hangars or buildings. A nearby road is named 'Bickel Lane', serving as a geographic reminder of the former airfield and its owner.
Bickel Airport was a small, private general aviation airfield. Its significance was primarily local, serving as a base for private pilots in the area. Established sometime between 1945 and 1953, it was typical of the thousands of small, privately owned turf strips that emerged across the United States after World War II to support a boom in civil aviation. Operations would have consisted of light, single-engine aircraft for recreational flying and possibly agricultural use. It featured a single unpaved, north-south turf runway approximately 2,200 feet long. It was never the primary airport for Keokuk and did not handle commercial, scheduled, or military operations.
There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Bickel Airport. The land is privately owned and actively farmed. With the city of Keokuk being adequately served by the Keokuk Municipal Airport (KEOK), there is no practical or economic incentive to re-establish an airfield at this location. The prospect for reopening is considered nonexistent.
No comments for this airport yet.
Leave a comment