Old/historical identifiers for (possibly defunct) airports ?

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CarlinNH

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CarlinNH
I am going through my plane logbook, which includes older entries that are not mine.

There are some entries which seem to indicate trips to airports (3-character identifiers), but which are not coming up in my search (AirNav, and a few others, eg the FAA lookup).

I presume that these are now-defunct airports, or perhaps the identifier code changed since then (not even sure if that happens).

My internet search skills have proven unequal to the task of finding what airports these old codes might have been for.

Is there something out there that might have this sort of historical/obsolete airport identifier information ?
 
So, what are the codes? I’ll bet there are several here who know what they are.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
So, what are the codes? I’ll bet there are several here who know what they are.
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Sure:

IGN -- I think Kingston, NY, but the identifier for the existing airport at Kingston, NY is 20N
B20 -- somewhere in Maine, I believe
 
Beautiful, thanks ! I actually know about the Abandoned & Little-known Airfields site (airfields-freeman) and have enjoyed poking around it quite a bit. I did look up the Kingston entry a couple of days ago, but it seems to be for a different field than the current one -- it closed in 1949. Anyway, I could not confirm "IGN", so moved on. I recommend that site to anyone who likes the sense of history and nostalgia behind our vanished small airfields we have had all over the country. It is a very well done site with images of photos, maps, old sectionals, etc.

I am glad AirNav keeps such a database; they are one of my go to sites, but I did not notice that menu selection.

Thank you !
 
Brad Z said:
That's a good list, but not complete. Hanover Co. Airport, in VA, switched from W83 to OFP in April 1994. It's not on the list. I'm presuming this list just shows identifier changes since Airnav has existed.
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It shows the changes since 1995 (not sure of the significance of that date)
 
Brad Z said:
That's a good list, but not complete. Hanover Co. Airport, in VA, switched from W83 to OFP in April 1994. It's not on the list. I'm presuming this list just shows identifier changes since Airnav has existed.
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Yep. I have that one in my logbook, and I'm pretty sure a couple others in the VA area that I can't think of at the moment.
 
Some are more or less random. Anytime a field gets weather reporting (e.g., AWOS), it's supposed to get an identifier without digits (METARS are not supposed to have non-complying airport codes and digits are not allowed).
 
Rgbeard said:
How in the world did Springerville, AZ get JTC? Seems very odd.
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Because all the good ones are taken!

I know SUX looked hard at getting their designation changed for years, but the alternatives I think were like XXZ or XPV or random letters that in no way represented the airport or city's name. Finally they decided to run with it, and started a marketing campaign complete with mugs, hats, and shirts! Fly SUX!
 
flyingron said:
Some are more or less random. Anytime a field gets weather reporting (e.g., AWOS), it's supposed to get an identifier without digits (METARS are not supposed to have non-complying airport codes and digits are not allowed).
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ahh...I wondered about why the push to get rid of the numbers....
 
IGN. That's a blast from my ancient past. It was the old Kingston identifier. It's still used to identify the Kington VOR, which actually sits between KPOU and 44N.
 
flyingron said:
Some are more or less random. Anytime a field gets weather reporting (e.g., AWOS), it's supposed to get an identifier without digits (METARS are not supposed to have non-complying airport codes and digits are not allowed).
Click to expand...
Is that written somewhere?
 
You might also consider airports that are/ were in the area with slightly different spelling. When I created an electronic version of my logbook, I found two or three that I had misspelled or mistaken a "V" for a "U" for example.
 
iamtheari said:
Is that written somewhere?
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Is what written somewhere? METARS are an ICAO format. ICAO identifiers are not allowed to have digits in them. Four letters only. See the AIM 7-1-39 and FAA order JO_7800.5E among other places.
 
flyingron said:
Is what written somewhere? METARS are an ICAO format. ICAO identifiers are not allowed to have digits in them. Four letters only. See the AIM 7-1-39 and FAA order JO_7800.5E among other places.
Click to expand...
I meant specifically the part that airports are supposed to get all-letter identifiers when they get weather reporting. I would say there is about a 5% rate of this actually happening where I have flown. :(
 
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