Billy Mitchell Airport, Frisco, North Carolina

This 200-mile string of peninsulas and barrier islands along the Atlantic Coast is a popular tourist destination known for beautiful white sand beaches and agreeable Atlantic waters. The ocean here is great for swimmers, but treacherous for seamen. Shoals and sandbars have caused so many shipwrecks that the coast along here is known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” For pilots, the meeting of white sand and blue sea is beauty to behold, and after landing the seaside offers plenty to see and do. Take time for sandcastles, surfing, swimming, sailing, deep-sea fishing, museums, and historic lighthouses, after first landing by the beach at Billy Mitchell Airport (HSE).

Billy Mitchell Airport

Billy Mitchell Airport is located on Hatteras Island, a barrier island midway along the Outer Banks and within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Constructed in the 1960s, it’s owned by the National Park Service, but managed jointly with the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation. Locally, it’s often called Frisco Airstrip, after the nearest town. It’s a scenic 112-mile flight south from Virginia Beach or 215 miles north from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The airport was named for Gen. William L. “Billy” Mitchell (1879-1936), the man often regarded as father of the U.S. Air Force. By the end of World War I, Mitchell commanded all U.S. aerial forces in Europe, and he advocated vociferously through the 1920s and 1930s for more air power.

In 1921, Mitchell demonstrated that aerial bombing could sink ships when his air forces destroyed the captured German battleship, Ostfriesland, moored near Norfolk at the northern end of the Outer Banks. In 1923, further tests were conducted at Cape Hatteras. Mitchell’s bombers, Martin MB–2s, sunk two surplus American battleships, the USS New Jersey and Virginia.

Mitchell was so outspoken that he was court-martialed in 1925 for insubordination after accusing military leaders of “treasonable administration of the national defense” for investing in battleships instead of aircraft carriers. He resigned from the military but remained a proponent of air power until his death.

Billy Mitchell Airport sits at 17 feet msl and provides one paved runway, 7/25, that is 3,002 feet by 75 feet. There’s little in the way of airport facilities—only a small lounge and toilets. It’s unattended, with no fuel, no control tower, no night operations, no mechanics, and no hangars. Bring your tie-down straps, sunshades for the cockpit, your beach chair, and sunscreen. It’s about 400 feet from wheels stopped to toes in the sand.

The airport sits between Hatteras Village and Buxton, site of the famed Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, each about five miles away. There are numerous hotels, vacation rentals, and campsites on the island, including the Frisco Campground, which is adjacent to the airport and within the National Seashore.

Hatteras offers good waves for surfing and wide beaches for walking. The local waters are known for sport fishing and considered one of the best places to go after blue marlin. Visit the Frisco Native American Museum and Natural History Center, just a five-minute walk from the airport, or the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras Village to learn about the perils of the sea.

All pilots flying the Outer Banks must make a fly-by of the iconic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on the eastern side of Hatteras Island. At 210 feet high, it’s the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States and second tallest in the world, and it was built using 1.25 million bricks. Remember to stay 2,000 feet away as you pass the lighthouse and you’ll have great memories of a flight to the Outer Banks.

Dennis K. Johnson is an aviation writer living in New York City.