b'62 VDFGENERAL AVIATIONThe airports temporary advisory Brighter LED lighting wastower is equipped with a radio installed throughout the airport.system and hooks up to a trailer, so it can be deployed anywhere on the airfield with accessible power. The portable tower unit had previously demonstrated its utility on multiple occasions when major sporting events such as the National College Football Championship and Super Bowl were held in Tampa. We closed down our crosswind runway and used it to park jets, Fay remembers. Our temporary air traffic control tower staff provided services to get everybody in and out safely. The portable unit again proved its worth during recent runway and taxiway projects. Fay and Parris say that coordination with stakeholders is first and foremost for success during construction. It can be especially vital at general aviation airports like VDF, where there are AVCON to predict how much of anlimited alternate runways and Nod to History impact we would cause throughtaxiways, they add. each particular closure so we couldWe are all working together to The FAA identifier for Tampa Executive Airport,prepare.minimize impact, and that starts VDF, may cause some to scratch their headsvery early in the planning process, in confusion, but it makes perfect sense if youTemporary Parris says. But also, flexibility is know the codes deep local roots.Air Traffic Control important. Things pop up, plans The airport was originally known asTo further minimize the impact tochange, and we were able to make Vandenberg Field, named after Belgiantenants and transient aircraft duringalterations to the phasing plan to immigrant Jules Vandenberghe, whovarious airfield improvement projects,improve the outcome for tenants established a vegetable farm in the 1950sthe Aviation Authority hired a teamand users. where the busy general aviation airfield nowof contract air traffic controllers stands. His three sons later learned to flyfrom John-Wayne Air Cavalry, LLC.Lighting the Way and put in a private grass airstrip, which wasThe controllers operated in anIn addition to improving its airfield eventually paved and leveraged to attractadvisory capacity from a temporarypavement, VDF took the opportunity student pilots and general aviation traffic.advisory tower the airport alreadyduring construction to replace In 1999, the Hillsborough County Aviationowned. Typically, traffic at the airfieldexisting incandescent lights with Authority purchased the property andcomes and goes without guidancewhat Parris calls more eco-friendly developed plans to evolve the airfield into whatfrom a control tower, with pilotsLEDs. One key place was in its it is today. The facility was officially renamedcoordinating their own movementsmedium-intensity approach lighting Tampa Executive Airport in January 2009, invia standard traffic advisories.system (MALSR).part to better associate it with the Tampa BayHowever, airport managementWe didnt install LED lights just region and to avoid confusion with Californiaswanted to provide an extra layer ofon our runways and in the [airfield] Vandenberg Air Force Base. Today, undersituational awareness during thesignage, Fay says. They are around Authority ownership and management, Tamparunway, taxiway and apron projectsour hangars, too, and the entire Executive operates two paved runways andto minimize disruptions and ensureairport. From a security perspective, supports a robust schedule of general aviationsmooth traffic flow and enhancedthats so critically important to have operations.operational safety. those facilities well lit. November | December 2025AirportImprovement.com'