| Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport | |
| Faa: | 1C5 |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | Village of Bolingbrook |
| City-Served: | Bolingbrook, Illinois |
| Elevation-F: | 670 |
| Elevation-M: | 204 |
| Coordinates: | 41.6961°N -88.1292°W |
| Website: | www.bbclowairport.com |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Illinois#USA |
| Pushpin Relief: | yes |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of airport in Illinois |
| Pushpin Label: | 1C5 |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| R1-Number: | 18/36 |
| R1-Length-F: | 3,360 |
| R1-Length-M: | 1,024 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2020 |
| Stat1-Header: | Aircraft operations |
| Stat1-Data: | 50,000 |
| Stat2-Header: | Based aircraft |
| Stat2-Data: | 59 |
| Footnotes: | Source: FAA[1] and airport website[2] |
Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport is a public airport in Bolingbrook, a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. Located 29 miles (46 km) southwest of the Chicago Loop, it is a small general aviation facility catering to private pilots, students, and commuter aircraft.
The airport was originally a grass airstrip built by Oliver Boyd Clow in the 1950s. By 1989 it was named the best privately owned, public-use airport in Illinois.[3] It was acquired by the Village of Bolingbrook in 2004. The village has expanded the airport, which includes a widened runway, additional taxiways, and landing glidepath lighting.[4] [5]
The airport was used as a location for the 1992 film Folks![6] with Tom Selleck and Don Ameche, which included a cameo by Clow, the founder of the airport.
Clow called the airport "Clow International" on the spur of the moment when filing a flight plan.[7] He chose the word "international" to reflect Chicago's mixed ethnicity, rather than the airport's size: his many friends and fellow pilots were of German, Polish, and other ethnic backgrounds now making their homes in Chicago. "It was named on a lark and borders on the ridiculous, but people remember it. Sometimes the absurd is easier to remember," said Clow.[8]
The airport received $2.4 million from the Illinois Department of Transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the Rebuild Illinois program. The money went toward replacing a taxiway and the airport's rotating beacon.[9]
Bolingbrook's Clow International Airport covers an area of 205acres and contains one runway designated 18/36 with a 3,360 x 75 ft (1,024 x 23 m) asphalt pavement.
For the 12-month period ending July 31, 2020, the airport had 50,000 aircraft operations, an average of 137 per day: 96% general aviation and 4% air taxi. For the same time period, there were 59 aircraft based at this airport: 54 single-engine and 4 multi-engine airplanes, and 1 helicopter.[10]
The fixed-base operator (FBO) at Clow is JW Aviation. It offers fuel, aircraft parking and hangars, flight training, and aircraft rental.[11]
The airport is also the location of the Illinois Aviation Museum at Bolingbrook, which includes a collection of restored and replica aircraft.[12]