Bartow Executive Airport

10/14/2026

2 DAYS until Trunk or Treat on the ramp. ✈️🎃

Friday, October 16 | 5-7 pm | Bartow Executive Airport
Free · Costumes welcome · Candy guaranteed

Thank you to sponsors Ewing, Blackwelder & Duce Insurance Agency and Frequentis!

10/13/2026

Jellyfish over Bartow. 🪼

SpaceX CRS-35 launched before sunrise this morning, and with the sun still below the horizon, the light caught the exhaust plume just right.

📸 Matthew Baker, Airside Operations Technician

10/08/2026

On November 4, 1954, Aviation Cadet Carlos A. Urteaga of Peru completed Primary Pilot Training at Bartow Air Base.

He was one of many international students who learned to fly here during the Cold War. Under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program — authorized by the Mutual Defense Assistance Act that President Truman signed in October 1949 — the United States trained pilots from allied nations at fields across the country. The United States Air Force Air Training Command hosted them at Bartow, alongside cadets from Belgium, France, Italy, Venezuela, Norway, Pakistan, Morocco, Mexico, Denmark, Thailand, and more.

MDAP students received the same primary flight training as their American classmates. The same instructors. Same aircraft. Same standard.

We are privileged to hold a copy of Mr. Urteaga's certificate of proficiency, which he generously provided when the museum was established at Bartow Executive Airport.

📍 Bartow Air Base Historical Museum | Bartow Executive Airport

10/06/2026

Traviss Technical College is hosting an Open House on Wednesday, October 7 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. — and the Control Tower Operator Academy will be there to answer your questions.

The CTO Academy at Bartow Executive Airport is the first air traffic control training program of its kind. In 12 months, students go from the classroom to a live control tower at Bartow Executive Airport — working actual traffic at a working airport. Graduates leave eligible for hire at towers nationwide, on a direct path toward a promising career.

Bartow is also home to one of the first remote digital control towers in the United States. There aren't many places in the country where you can train on that technology. This is one of them.

Our program coordinator will be on site to walk you through:
✈️ What the 12-month program actually looks like, week to week
✈️ Admissions requirements, application steps, and upcoming start dates
✈️ Where graduates go after certification
✈️ The nationwide controller shortage — and why that's good news for you

📅 Wednesday, October 7 | 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
📍 Traviss Technical College, 3225 Winter Lake Road, Lakeland, FL 33803
🔗 techcolleges.polkschoolsfl.com/about/news/traviss_open_house

08/27/2026

Our partners at Polk County Public Schools are seeking candidates to join the Control Tower Operator (CTO) Program! ✈️

This unique opportunity provides air traffic controllers with the chance to introduce students to the exciting world of air traffic control.

Know an air traffic controller who would be a great fit? Share this post or encourage them to learn more!

Teacher, Ind Ed (Control Tower Operator Teacher)

07/22/2026

Drop off to our box and we will give you a limited edition sticker!

🚌 The bus is here. Now let's fill it!

Today marks the official kickoff of our Stuff the Bus campaign, and we're inviting our community to help local students start the school year with confidence.

For many families, the cost of school supplies adds up quickly. By donating new backpacks, notebooks, pencils, crayons, folders, and other classroom essentials, you're helping ensure students have the tools they need to learn from day one.

Every donation, whether it's one pack of pencils or a backpack full of supplies, makes a difference.

📍 Drop off new school supplies at the Bartow Chamber or any participating collection location throughout the campaign.

Together, we can make sure every student is ready for a successful school year. Let's Stuff the Bus! 🎒📚💛

(Link to the Amazon Registry in the comments.)

07/20/2026

56 years ago today, a man who learned to fly right here in Bartow walked on the Moon. 🌕✈️

On July 20, 1969, history was made as astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon. But Buzz Aldrin's journey to that moment didn't begin in Houston or at Cape Canaveral. It began right here — on the runways of Bartow Air Field, where a freshly minted West Point graduate reported for primary flight training in 1951.

That young pilot went on to fly combat missions in the Korean War, dogfighting MiG-15s over Seoul in an F-86 Sabre. He earned a Ph.D. in orbital mechanics from MIT. He proved humans could work in the vacuum of space during Gemini 12, logging 5½ hours of spacewalks. And then, on a Sunday in 1969, he climbed down a ladder onto the surface of another world.

Bartow didn't just train pilots for war. We trained a man for the Moon.

To Buzz Aldrin, and every aviator whose story began on a runway like this one — we salute you.

07/04/2026

The training never stopped. Today, Bartow Flying Service carries the torch as a premier flight training provider — developing the next generation of pilots across a multitude of licenses, from first solo to commercial certificates and beyond.

But it's not just what happens in the cockpit. On the ramp, our linemen are some of the best in the business — fueling, towing, and turning aircraft with the same care and professionalism that's defined this airport since the Mustangs first roared down the runway.

From WWII cadets to today's student pilots, one thing hasn't changed: a community that shows up for aviation. To everyone who's trained here, worked here, and kept Bartow flying — thank you. We're proud to keep serving this community for generations to come

Thank you for following along as we celebrated 250 years of American independence — and nearly a century of Bartow taking to the skies.

07/03/2026

✈️ From Air Base to Airport Authority

In 1961, the US Air Force packed up and handed the keys back to the City of Bartow. What did they leave behind? Acres of land and a small city's worth of buildings, just waiting for a new purpose.

The city got creative, leasing the old military buildings to local businesses and organizations. Even Polk Junior College got in on it — their very first adult education class wasn't held in a classroom in downtown Winter Haven. It was a welding class, right here on airport property! 🔥

But running a former military base isn't cheap, and by the late '60s, budget questions were piling up. Then came a surprise: a proposal to spin off the airport into its own governing body.

On July 13, 1967, the Bartow Airport Authority was born. At the helm? Benjamin Durrance Jr. — former Bartow mayor, Navy veteran, and the perfect person to take the controls.

His take on the role? "It's very challenging and I get to do some flying here." 🛩️
By 1974, after one too many private operators fell through, the Authority stepped up, becoming the airport's own Fixed Base Operator.

Durrance led for the better part of two decades, guiding Bartow's airport through growth and change until 1994 — proving that sometimes the best leadership comes from someone who genuinely loves what they do.

07/02/2026

Baseball, public health, and... astronauts? ✈️🚀

From 1946 to 1951, Bartow's airfield took a break from the military — but it never sat still. The City of Bartow kept flight operations running while putting that expansive property to work in surprising ways, even hosting the Bartow Baseball School and the Polk County Board of Health.

But the military was about to come calling again.

On February 24, 1951, Garner Aviation Service Corporation leased the airfield, betting on a U.S. Air Force contract to train the next generation of pilots. They won that bet. By July, the first class of cadets — including trainees from United Nations countries — arrived for training. Local WWII veterans stepped up as flight instructors, and Bartow became one of just nine civilian-run pilot training centers in the entire country.

Renamed Bartow Air Base, it served as a primary flight training facility for the Air Training Command from 1951 to 1960. At the time of its closing, more than 8,000 men had earned their wings here.
Among them? Future astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Ed White, and Karol Bobko. 🌕