AircraftOwner Online

   Once again, live tower chatter is resounding within the old control tower of the famous Bader Field general aviation airport of Atlantic City, NJ.

    How’s that? No, Bader Field, also known as Atlantic City Municipal Airport, hasn’t reopened for business. Just its control tower. Thanks to the efforts of the Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum at the Cape May Airport, in New Jersey, and anonymous donations to the tune of $50,000, that once worn, rusted radio control tower circa 1949, has been fully restored and outfitted as a key addition to the museum’s interactive educational arsenal.

    “What better way to explain what an air traffic control tower is than taking people up to a real air traffic control tower?” asks Bruce A. Fournier, educator for NAS Wildwood Aviation Museum www.usnasw.org.

    The Bader Field Tower is now housed within the museum’s giant wooden hangar along with a multitude of classic flying machines and displays. The tower is equipped with radar and weather scan computer capability as well as live radio feeds from airport towers across the country.

    To boot, within a month or so, Fournier says, the museum will have installed a wireless radio communication system in the tower that will enable patrons to communicate with other museum goers in one of four different aircraft in the museum’s hangar -- including a couple of Huey helicopters.

    “The tower will be a lot of fun,” continued Fournier. “Kids love simply walking up to the top to check out the view. More importantly, we will have displays below the tower to teach the history of air traffic control and the significance of the Bader Field (Atlantic City, NJ) Tower. “

    Both the Bader Field airport and tower had seen better days. The control tower had been shut down in the mid to late 1980’s, according to reports. It would be nearly another 20 years before the historically significant airport closed up for good in September of 2006. Bader Field of Atlantic City, which opened in 1910 and was first commissioned for passenger service in 1911, was an integral part of this country’s aviation record.

    Bader holds the distinction as this nation’s first municipal airport to serve both land and seaplanes. And every U.S. President from Theodore Roosevelt through Gerald Ford, at some point in their administration, flew into Atlantic City’s Bader Field. Charles Lindbergh flew his famous custom-built, single engine monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, into Bader. And for decades, Bader field was part of the well-known Powder Puff Derbies.

    Other famous names are linked with the airport, as well. Admiral Robert E. Perry, who discovered the North Pole, was a member of the committee that sponsored the airport. In 1941, one week before Pearl Harbor, this country’s first Civil Air Patrol (CAP) was founded at Bader Field.

    Fortunately, before the tower could be trashed or forgotten, it was salvaged by Dr. Joseph E. Salvatore, founder and chairman of NASW Foundation, which operates the museum. About a year an half ago, the tower arrived at the museum on a flatbed truck, disassembled. A catwalk and steel girders were stacked separately from the control section. Earlier this year, the museum unveiled the fully-restored Bader Field control tower, cleaned up, painted and sporting a red and white checkered body.

    “We realize that students today learn differently than years ago,” said Fournier. “Children want to be active, hands on learners. They want to see, hear, touch and feel what is going on. The tower will be a great addition to our interactive area.”

    During the waning days of May, 2nd graders from Pilgrim Academy in Galloway Township, just north of Atlantic City visited the museum on a class trip. Some students enjoyed playing air traffic controller and maneuvering the old controls that are no longer functional, but fire the imagination. “Wow, this is awesome,” said a second grader as he got a look inside the control tower.

    Some 2nd graders were surprised by the height and stayed close to the tower on the inside of the “cat walk” while others enjoyed the view and took pictures.  

    “It’s hard to get the older students to come down, but we have to give others a chance to see what is up there,” commented Fournier, who did his best to keep the future aviators moving along. “They want to know what each piece of equipment is, what it does and how to operate it!”