# First Flight Airport

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Public use airport in North Carolina, U.S.

First Flight Airport First Flight Airport from 1,000 feet (305 meters) IATA: FFA ICAO: KFFA FAA LID: FFA Summary Airport type Public Owner U.S. National Park Service Serves Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina Location Wright Brothers National Memorial Elevation AMSL 13 ft / 4 m Coordinates 36°01′06″N 075°40′17″W / 36.01833°N 75.67139°W / 36.01833; -75.67139 Website www.nps.gov/places/000/first-flight-airstrip.htm Map Interactive map of First Flight Airport Runways Direction Length Surface ft m 03/21 3,000 914 Asphalt Statistics (2018) Aircraft operations 37,500 Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]

**First Flight Airport** ([IATA](/source/IATA_airport_code): **FFA**, [ICAO](/source/ICAO_airport_code): **KFFA**, [FAA](/source/Federal_Aviation_Administration) [LID](/source/Location_identifier): **FFA**) is a public-use airport located one nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) west of the central business district of [Kill Devil Hills](/source/Kill_Devil_Hills%2C_North_Carolina), a town in [Dare County, North Carolina](/source/Dare_County%2C_North_Carolina), United States.[1] The airport is owned by the [U.S. National Park Service](/source/U.S._National_Park_Service).[1] It was included in the [National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems](/source/National_Plan_of_Integrated_Airport_Systems) for 2011–2015, which [categorized](/source/FAA_airport_categories) it as a *[general aviation](/source/General_aviation)* facility.[2]

The airport itself is famous for being the site of hundreds of pre-flight gliding experiments carried out by the [Wright brothers](/source/Wright_brothers). The [Wright Brothers National Memorial](/source/Wright_Brothers_National_Memorial), located atop nearby Kill Devil Hill, is a 60-foot (18-meter) [granite](/source/Granite) pylon paying homage to the Wright Brothers and the first sustained heavier-than-air flight.[3] The U.S. [Centennial of Flight Commission](/source/Centennial_of_Flight_Commission) also chose the airport as one of the stops for the [National Air Tour 2003](/source/Ford_National_Reliability_Air_Tour#2003_re-creation).[4]

## History

On December 17, 1903, the first successful powered heavier-than-air aircraft flight occurred here, conducted by the Wright brothers.

## Facilities and aircraft

First Flight Airport covers an area of 40 acres (16 [ha](/source/Hectare)) at an elevation of 13 feet (4 m) above [mean sea level](/source/Mean_sea_level). It has one [runway](/source/Runway) designated 3/21 with an [asphalt](/source/Asphalt_concrete) surface measuring 3,000 by 60 feet (914 by 18 m). For the 12-month period ending April 18, 2018, the airport had 37,500 aircraft operations, an average of about 103 per day: 99% general aviation and 1% [military](/source/Military_aviation).[1]

## See also

- [List of airports in North Carolina](/source/List_of_airports_in_North_Carolina)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FAA_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FAA_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FAA_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-FAA_1-3) ["Airport Data and Information Portal"](https://adip.faa.gov/agis/public/#/airportData/FFA). Retrieved December 7, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["2011–2015 NPIAS Report, Appendix A"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120927084535/http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/reports/media/2011/npias_2011_appA.pdf) (PDF). *National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems*. Federal Aviation Administration. October 4, 2010. Archived from [the original](http://www.faa.gov/airports/planning_capacity/npias/reports/media/2011/npias_2011_appA.pdf) ([PDF](/source/PDF), 2.03 MB) on September 27, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nps.gov-wrbr_3-0)** ["Wright Brothers National Memorial"](https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm). U.S. National Park Service. 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2006.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-cof.gov-press-nps3.htm_4-0)** ["The National Park Service and the National Air Tour 2003 Announce Plans for Stop at Wright Brothers National Memorial"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060923080649/http://www.centennialofflight.gov/user/news_releases/press-nps3.htm). U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. 2003. Archived from [the original](http://www.centennialofflight.gov/user/news_releases/press-nps3.htm) on September 23, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2006.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [First Flight Airport](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:First_Flight_Airport).

- [U.S. National Park Service: Wright Brothers National Memorial](https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/index.htm)

- ["First Flight Airport (FFA)"](http://www.ncdot.gov/aviation/download/ncairports/AirportGuideFFA.pdf) (PDF). at [North Carolina DOT](/source/North_Carolina_DOT) airport guide

- [Aerial image as of March 1993](http://msrmaps.com/map.aspx?t=1&s=11&lat=36.0162&lon=-75.6723&w=700&h=900&lp=---+None+---) from [USGS](/source/USGS) *[The National Map](/source/The_National_Map)*

- Resources for this airport: - FAA [airport information for FFA](https://nfdc.faa.gov/nfdcApps/services/ajv5/airportDisplay.jsp?airportId=FFA) - AirNav [airport information for KFFA](http://www.airnav.com/airport/KFFA) - FlightAware [airport information](https://flightaware.com/resources/airport/KFFA) and [live flight tracker](https://flightaware.com/live/airport/KFFA) - NOAA/NWS weather observations: [current](https://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/weather/current/KFFA.html), [past three days](https://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KFFA.html) - SkyVector [aeronautical chart](https://skyvector.com/?id=KFFA&zoom=2), [Terminal Procedures](https://skyvector.com/airport/FFA)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [First Flight Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Flight_Airport) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Flight_Airport?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.