Bartow Executive Airport

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. 🌕

07/01/2026

From bomber base to fighter school: the WWII story of KBOW.

In 1942, the U.S. Army took over the new Bartow Airport, planning to build a training station for medium bombers.
But the war had other plans. Just five months later, on February 15, 1943, the mission changed: Bartow would now train fighter pilots.

Enter the 54th Fighter Group. Their job? Take a newly commissioned pilot and, in just 60 hours of flight training, turn him into a wingman ready for combat in any theater of the war. Pilots started with a check ride in a Stearman biplane — then graduated to the formation flying, gunnery, and combat tactics of the legendary P-51 Mustang.

Following the formal surrender of Japan, the U.S. Army announced the base was to be inactivated. On February 14, 1946, six small civilian planes touched down — the first civilian flights since the war began. Mayor J.B. Kline was there to greet them, formally reclaiming three 5,000-foot runways, two hangars, and an operations building for the City of Bartow.

06/30/2026

January 15, 1931. The day Bartow took to the skies. ✈️

Nearly a century ago, Bartow's very first airfield was dedicated just west of downtown — built on land provided to the city by the Armour Fertilizer Company. Fittingly, it was named Armour Field. At the time of opening, Bartow joined Lakeland, Winter Haven, Auburndale, Lake Alfred, and Lake Wales in hosting an airfield.

By the 1940s, renewed development in the area forced the city to look for a new site. On December 4, 1941, the city received funding authorization from the State Works Progress Administration (WPA) to construct a new airport northeast of downtown, near Gordonville. The entering of our nation into World War II just three days later, would change the entire trajectory of the airport. 🛫

06/29/2026

250 years ago, our nation declared its independence. Less than 150 years later, Americans took to the skies — and few places have carried that legacy further than right here at Bartow.
Built in 1941 as the Bartow Army Airfield, this site originally trained fighter pilots during World War II. From 1951 to 1960, it went on to provide primary flight training to more than 8,000 American and international military aviators—including future astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Ed White, and Karol Bobko.
American innovation still has plenty of runway left, and Bartow Executive Airport is leading the way with the nation's first digital tower program. Same runways. Same mission. Always moving forward. ✈️


Photo: Bartow Executive Airport Control Tower, circa 1960s.
Bartow Airport Authority Collection