Beverly Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located in Beverly, Danvers and Wenham, Massachusetts, in Essex County, three nautical miles (6 km) northwest of Beverly's central business district. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a reliever airport, which means it is available to relieve Logan International Airport of small general aviation type aircraft during Logan's peak traffic times. History Beverly Regional Airport was built in 1928 through the efforts of the Beverly Aero Club and the Beverly Chamber of Commerce. The U.S. Navy operated the airport during World War II under a joint-use agreement as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Beverly. It existed as an auxiliary air facility of Naval Air Station Squantum. It was commissioned on 15 May, 1943 and the airfield was upgraded with a new asphalt runway. The Navy built a control tower, a barracks, and other structures and consisted of four officers and sixty enlisted men. The field provided touch and go practice for students at Naval Air Station Squantum as well as Fleet Air Arm student pilots. Planes from Coast Guard Air Station Salem also used the facility for maritime patrol, as well as a detachment from VS-31, which flew anti-submarine patrols with Douglas SBD-5 aircraft. It was decommissioned as a military facility on August 1, 1945. Ownership of the airport was transferred back to the City of Beverly in 1950. Facilities and aircraft Beverly Regional Airport covers an area of 470 acres (190 ha) at an elevation of 107 feet (33 m) above mean sea level. It has two runways with asphalt surfaces: 9/27 is 4,755 by 100 feet (1,449 x 30 m) and 16/34 is 5,001 by 100 feet (1,524 x 30 m). For the 12-month period ending October 1, 2011, the airport had 66,900 aircraft operations, an average of 183 per day: 99% general aviation, 1% air taxi, and <1% military. At that time 103 aircraft were based at this airport: 84% single-engine, 11% multi-engine, 3% helicopter, and 2% jet. Civil Air Patrol Squadron MA-019, Beverly Composite Squadron, is headquartered at Beverly Regional Airport in the old airport control tower. Notable events On July 16, 1936, bandleader Orville Knapp, brother of actress Evalyn Knapp, died in a plane crash here after he misjudged a landing maneuver and stalled in mid-air. SCCA auto races were held at Beverly Airport in 1955 and 1956. The inaugural races were