Aviation in Arkansas
Aviation in the United States
Arkansas State Flag
Airports
Commercial – primary	4
Commercial – non-primary	2
General aviation	71
Other public-use airports	22
Military and other airports	3
First flight
1870 - Hot air balloon

The first aeronautical event in Arkansas was the flight of a balloon around 1870 in Yell county. The first heavier than air flight was by James C. “Bud” Mars on 21 May 1910.^[1]

Events

• July 1930, Walter Herschel Beech, founder of Beechcraft has an offer rejected to build a factory in Arkansas City, Arkansas, instead building the company in Wichita, Kansas.^[2]
• September 19, 1980, a major mishap occurred after a socket rolled off a platform and punctured a Titan II Stage I fuel tank, subsequently causing the entire silo to explode, killing an Air Force airman, SrA David Livingston, and destroying the silo near Damascus, Arkansas.^[3] A "B" grade television movie portrays this event, "Disaster at Silo 7".^[4]
• 1 April 1981 Arkansas native, J. Lynn Helms is appointed as director of the FAA, serving through the 1981 Controller strike^[5]

Aircraft Manufacturers

• Dassault Aviation maintains a final assembly facility in Little Rock, Arkansas for its Falcon series of jets.

Aerospace

Airports

• List of Airports in Arkansas

Commercial Service

Organizations

• The Arkansas Aerospace Alliance is part of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.^[6]

Government and Military

• All flight operations in Arkansas are conducted within FAA oversight.
• The Arkansas Department of Aeronautics was founded in 1966.^[7]

Museums

• Arkansas Air & Military Museum, Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Fort Smith Air Museum, Fort Smith, Arkansas^[8]