I was very sad to see several north new jersey airports on this list.
Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields
31–40 of 60 posts
Re: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields
#32I read about the clandestine midnight destruction of Meigs Field, Chicago - somehow the first one I happened upon. The mayor had the runway bulldozed in the night so that no one could have time to object. Unbelievable and mildly infuriating story.
Apparently the main motivation was to have a legacy...
Re: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields
#33My grandfather ran one of these airports: https://airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SanBernardino_... The stories he would tell of that place. Drug runners landing in the night and him chasing them off with a shotgun. People constantly coming around to try and steal things. The people that would fly in to say hello. He had a real community out there. There were some sad circumstances around the end of his life th…
It's too bad, because once these small GA airports go away, they are never coming back. Too expensive to rehab, and nobody is building new ones anymore. So ideally they should be preserved, but nobody wants to do it. The tiny GA airfield in my home town went up for sale some time back, and the price they were asking was less than what a medium-sized Bay Area home cost. I was so tempted to find a way to make it work (…
Yeah, that's the problem: once they close down and the land gets sold, it will typically get developed and once that happens the land isn't coming back unless you have a Detroit situation. It's not like suburbs have lots of empty space for an approach and a strip. Even if there were, NIMBYs would prevent one from happening.
Re: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields
#34For the UK, there's a handy Wikipedia page with 57 defunct airports listed:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Defunct_airports_in_E...
And also specifically former RAF stations (stations, airports and headquarters):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_Royal_Air_Force...
Re: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields
#35Very nice.
I checked and, yes, my favorite is on there:
“The Santa Rosa Air Center was used to film Bruce Willis' 'Die Hard 2' in 1990
according to an article in the July 22 [2009] issue of the San Jose Mercury News.
The airport was used to depict [Washington] Dulles [International Airport] in the movie"
Re: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's too bad, because once these small GA airports go away, they are never coming back. Too expensive to rehab, and nobody is building new ones anymore. So ideally they should be preserved, but nobody wants to do it. The tiny GA airfield in my home town went up for sale some time back, and the price they were asking was less than what a medium-sized Bay Area home cost. I was so tempted to find a way to make it work (…
Small GA airports out in the middle of nowhere can come into being, but it's rare, and the whole GA field is aging out and disappearing (both the pilots, planes, and people).
A big part of that is the regulatory environment. For example - I have the interest and means to get my PPL. I'd love to do so, but the FAA considers ADHD to be a disqualifying medical condition.
Re: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields
#37For the UK, there's a handy Wikipedia page with 57 defunct airports listed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Defunct_airports_in_E... And also specifically former RAF stations (stations, airports and headquarters): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_Royal_Air_Force...
I came across this one by accident one day:-
* https://www.remotelondon.com/wisley-airfield-an-abandoned-ru...
Doing a long bike ride to visit a friend, the route I'd plotted suddenly found me in the middle of a big old runway, weird to see given it's alongside one of the major routes into London (one I've driven or motorbiked many times, but never cycled). Quite the shock to see, especially as it was a scramble to get through the bushes and cross the A3 to Wisley RHS.
Re: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields
#38I jumped randomly to New York and then New York State: Central which has a delightful Ford ad advertising a plane joyride with an additional text stating that if you buy a car now or make a bonafide order for one to be delivered soon, you can have this joyride for free.
Re: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Small GA airports out in the middle of nowhere can come into being, but it's rare, and the whole GA field is aging out and disappearing (both the pilots, planes, and people).
A big part of that is the regulatory environment. For example - I have the interest and means to get my PPL. I'd love to do so, but the FAA considers ADHD to be a disqualifying medical condition.
https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certificati... implies there may be a path (depending on what "special issuance" means).
Re: Abandoned and Little-Known Airfields
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
A big part of that is the regulatory environment. For example - I have the interest and means to get my PPL. I'd love to do so, but the FAA considers ADHD to be a disqualifying medical condition.
https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certificati... implies there may be a path (depending on what "special issuance" means).
Yea, going the Special Issuance route is tough and lengthy, and you still cannot be currently relying on medication to manage the condition. The FAA's "mental health" requirements for flying are rooted in good intentions, but too coarse. You don't want someone suffering from schizophrenia, severe depression or bipolar mania to be flying airplanes, but on the other hand, someone who was once had mild anxiety or ADHD 30 years ago should not be disqualified. The FAA treats these cases similarly.