Charlie Wilkes Airport

Replacement by a new facility. The city and county of Fayette constructed the new Richard Arthur Field, which offered superior capabilities, including a longer, paved 5,000-foot runway and more modern infrastructure. The older Charlie Wilkes Airport, with its shorter turf runway, was deemed obsolete and inadequate for the community's future aviation needs.

The site has been completely redeveloped. It is now the location of the Fayette County Multipurpose Complex, which includes the Fayette County Coliseum, an arena, athletic fields, and event facilities. The faint outline of the former north/south runway is still partially visible on satellite imagery and serves as an access road and parking area within the complex.

Named in honor of Charlie Wilkes, a local pilot and early aviation proponent, the airport served as the primary general aviation hub for Fayette and the surrounding county for several decades, likely established in the post-WWII era. It typically handled single-engine private aircraft, agricultural planes (crop dusters), and light business aviation. Aeronautical charts from the 1960s through the 1980s depict it with a single unpaved/turf runway around 3,000 feet in length. It was a vital piece of local infrastructure before being superseded.

Zero. The land has been permanently and fully repurposed for public recreational and event use. With the community being well-served by the modern Richard Arthur Field located just a few miles to the northeast, there is no practical need, economic incentive, or any known plan to reopen the former Charlie Wilkes Airport.