Alabama’s Guntersville Municipal Airport (8A1) and its expanding seaplane facility is now a Phillips 66 Aviation-branded dealer. 8A1, surrounded by 69,000 acres of water, is famous as a float plane base and its access to the sprawling Guntersville Mountain Lakes region, 30 minutes outside Huntsville, Ala.
Few FBOs accommodate float planes, but Guntersville Municipal, also known as Joe Starnes Field, embraces float flying. The FBO, which recently held the Guntersville Splash-In seaplane event, is in the midst of an expansion, with plans to add a 90-foot “u-shaped” dock capable of accommodating six seaplanes at a time. A wrap-around beach area will offer 250 feet of float plane coverage. The Guntersville runaway is also expanding to 5,000 feet, new hangar facilities are being added and a new maintenance facility is planned, said Matthew Metcalf, Guntersville aviation manager.
For more information: Avee8tr.com/index.html or 256-582-6087; Phillips66Aviation.com.
