Vero Beach Municipal Airport is a public airport 1 mile northwest of Vero Beach in Indian River County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned. Vero Beach Municipal Airport is the home of Piper Aircraft.
VERO BEACH MUNICIPAL AIRPORT HISTORY
Vero Beach Municipal Airport was dedicated in 1930 and commercial airline service began in 1932 when Eastern Air Lines (EAL) began using the airfield for refueling. In 1935 EAL started passenger and mail service from Vero Beach, continuing until the early 1970s. By the end of the decade, war clouds were gathering and the airport got runway lights and radio and teletype machines. In 1939, using Public Assistance workers, the runways were extended and one year later the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) spent an additional $250,000 on additional improvements.
In 1942 the U.S. Navy notified Vero Beach officials that it had selected their airport as the site for a naval air station and purchased an additional 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) surrounding Vero Beach Airport. The base was commissioned as Naval Air Station Vero Beach in 1942 and pilot training began at NAS Vero Beach in February 1943. At its peak NAS Vero Beach was home to 1,400 U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps servicemen and 250 aircraft. After the war ended, NAS Vero Beach was reduced to a skeletal staff, and in 1947 the Navy closed NAS Vero Beach and returned it to the city.
In 1948 major league baseball came to Vero Beach as Bud Holman, a local businessman, invited the Brooklyn Dodgers to take over former barracks facilities from the closed naval air station as a winter and spring training facility. The Dodgers liked the area so much that Dodgertown was born, a 109-acre (0.44 km2) tract adjacent to the airport, as their winter and spring training grounds. The Dodgers continued to use the facility even after they moved to California and became the Los Angeles Dodgers. This facility remained in use until 2008, when the Dodgers moved to a new facility in Glendale, Arizona.
In 1957 Piper Aircraft selected Vero Beach for their research and development center, also built on the grounds of the former naval air station. In 1961 Piper moved administrative and manufacturing operations here after completing building additions. By 1967 Piper had expanded its facility to 11 acres (45,000 m2) and its work force to over 2,000 employees. Manufacturing of Piper Aircraft at the Vero Beach facility ceased in the mid-1980s when, together with other sellers of light aircraft in the USA, as increasing product liability insurance premiums made continued operation financially impossible. Upon limitation of liability provided by new legislation by the U.S. Congress in the early 1990s, manufacturing re-commenced in 1995.
FlightSafety Academy, a leading flight training school and an integral part of FlightSafety International, is also located at VRB. The facility’s primary focus is on ab initio flight training for prospective U.S. and international commercial airline pilots who are not graduates of a military flight training program.
Today, VRB is a 1,707-acre (6.91 km2) tower-controlled facility with a full FAR Part 139 operating certificate. Although the airport has had commercial service, primarily regional service, in the recent past, it has no scheduled airline service.
VERO BEACH MUNICIPAL AIRPORT LOCATION
VERO BEACH MUNICIPAL AIRPORT FACTS
ICAO/IATA: KVRB/VRB
Lat: 27°39′20″N
Long: 080°25′04.60″W
Elevation: 24 ft.
Runway length available: 04/22 4974×100 ft. :: 11R/29L 7314×100 ft. :: 11L/29R 3504×75 ft.
