Mc Ginley Airport – Ocala Private Strip Serving Horse Country
Mc Ginley Airport is one of the private-use strips that dot the Marion County horse farm landscape around Ocala, serving the personal and agricultural aviation needs of property owners in Florida's equestrian heartland. The Ocala area's density of private airstrips is arguably the highest in the southeastern United States outside of Florida's broad ranch corridor, reflecting the concentration of wealth, large properties, and aviation-minded owners that characterizes the thoroughbred industry.
Private strips named for individuals — as Mc Ginley Airport is — typically serve family-owned properties where aviation has been a tradition for decades. The rolling limestone terrain north and northwest of Ocala, where many of the most famous thoroughbred farms are located, creates natural drainage that keeps grass strips operational even after significant rainfall, an important consideration in Florida's wet season from June through September.
Is Mc Ginley Airport near Ocala open to the public?
Mc Ginley Airport is a private-use facility. Public access requires prior permission from the property owner. It is not listed as a public-use airport in the Florida Aviation System Plan.
What is the aviation environment around private strips near Ocala?
The Ocala area features numerous private strips operating in uncontrolled airspace around the Class D airspace of Ocala International Airport (OCF). Pilots should broadcast position on CTAF and be alert for low-level pattern traffic at unmarked private strips.
How does private strip availability affect the Ocala horse farm industry?
Private strips allow farm owners to operate aircraft as tools of the trade — transporting veterinarians, bloodstock agents, and farm managers without the scheduling constraints of public airport operations.
Mc Ginley Airport Contact Information
Address, Phone Number, and Hours for an Airports in Ocala, Florida.
Ocala's Network of Private Airstrips and the Equine Economy
The Marion County horse farm economy generates enough aviation activity to sustain not just Ocala International Airport but a constellation of private strips like Mc Ginley Airport that extend aviation access into the farm properties themselves. This distributed aviation infrastructure model — a public anchor airport surrounded by private satellite strips — is rare in Florida outside of the Ocala area, reflecting the unique combination of large properties, affluent owners, and genuine transportation demand that the thoroughbred industry creates.
FDOT's analysis of Marion County aviation recognizes that private-use strips collectively represent a significant share of the county's total aviation infrastructure investment. The strips' value to the equine industry has been documented in economic impact studies of Ocala's horse farm cluster, which contributes several billion dollars annually to Florida's economy. Mc Ginley Airport and similar strips are part of the aviation support system that enables farm operators to move at the pace the modern equine industry demands.