Airport Closing

[David Lloyd]

I was advised this evening by the airport manager that Wilgrove Airport in Charlotte is being sold, the property be developed with residential housing.  Rats!

I learned to fly at Wilgrove. Still have the back of a shirt that says something about 1st solo, January 7, 1977.  Even though it was actually 1978.  Bought half interest in a Cherokee 140 that same year, based it at Wilgrove.  Got my private license in it also that same year on a Friday.  Made my first business trip to Richmond two nights later.  Flew the 140 a couple years, made a bunch of mistakes and learned a bunch of stuff.  A full third of my hours were at night.  Got an instrument rating.  A frequent trip was Chesterfield County Airport near Richmond, now FCI, then it was W98.  At the time, the only had an NDB approach.  Flew it one time to Carlsbad, NM to visit Penny's parents.  I joked that we got home, I slammed the door on that Cherokee, sold it and bought a Mooney.  Pretty much the way it happened.  Sold it to a guy in Morganton.  For several years it was there.  I asked Lynn Mace about it and he said he used to annual it, the owned later bought a Mooney.  Easy to understand.   I lived in the same house in Charlotte 41 years.  Actually, it wasn't in Charlotte the first couple years, it gobbled us up soon enough.  Charlotte kept growing, the city limits kept edging toward Wilgrove and finally annexed the property 5 years ago.  We pay both county and city taxes here.  When Wilgrove was annexed, taxes on the plane went up 50%.  Same for the airport.  Beginning of the end.

Since this is Mooneyspace:  The Mooney was a1965 M20C, 2075 TT, 900 SMOH. KX170B, MK12A, KT76, KN62 DME (had the mechanical indicator) and a KN74 RNAV.  Hey, that was before LORAN, that was pretty fancy.  Got my name on the waiting list for hangars.  Year and a half later, got a shadeport hangar at Wilgrove.  Lots more business trips at night.  Coming home from Richmond one night, in and out of cloud at 6000, I hit a bird.  Splattered on the prop, guts across the windshield.  What the heck was he doing out on a night like that?  Some personal trips too.  I think 8 or 9 trips to NM.  One year, mother-in-law had brain tumor surgery and we made three trips to NM that year.   Gave one of our employees his first GA ride in that Mooney.  Years later I was in Aurora, OR getting ready to take a tour at Vans Aircraft when Bill called to tell me he was taking flying lessons and just bought and airplane.  There were other airplanes over the years, he died when his Baron hit the ground at high speed near the airport at Fayetteville.  First electrical failure I had was in the dark, early one morning.  I learned it was cheap to keep a fresh battery in an airplane.  Mooney, whatever possessed me to sell it?

But I did and bought a F33A Bonanza.  By this time, I was VP in our company.  Had offices in NC, SC and VA.  I worked with our field sales guys on a regular basis, meeting them at 7 or 7:30 in the morning and wearing them out all day.  Frequently it was dark, going and coming.  Eventually we had sales people in GA, WV and MD.  Then the company was sold.  It took the new owners four years to turn a money making operation into a smoking hole in the ground.  Just before that happened, I had enough and told one of our vendors I needed a place to work for a while.  They gave me a job as a regional sales manager selling hydraulic cylinders.  14 States. Every Monday morning, got in the plane instead of the truck and went to Memphis, Jackson, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Mobile, Allentown, etc.   I was happier than a mule eating briers.  I would fly out of Wilgrove early enough to pick up a rental car before 8.  Another few dozen trips to NM, a few to Bahamas, a dozen to Canada, fishing.  Poured a concrete floor in the shadeport.  Went through several engines, paint jobs and a couple interiors.  About 10 pressure pump failures, a mix of alternator and regulators and one engine failure (NewYorkapproach,114ploutof11for7withanalternatorfailure,requestingimmediateturnforAllentownILSrunway6).  Ah, good times.  Landing on an unplowed runway at Wilgrove.  Windy, rain, at night.  It surprises me how lousy the weather could be but still flyable VFR.  24 years, 5300 hours, all out of Wilgrove.  Ever been scared to look at something one last time?  I walked directly away to the rental counter in Jackson, MS and wouldn't look toward the Mercury Aviation ramp.  

Somewhere in the middle of Bonanza ownership, a guy at Wilgrove asked if I was the David Lloyd that owned the Cherokee 140 he just bought.  Yep.  We walked down to his hangar to look it over.  It was in the same hangar I had the Mooney in.  With the Bonanza I had ratcheted up the row of hangars to the one beside the office.  I'm still there for the next 90 days.  Gary sold the 140 last year.  The airport manager usually had a cookout in the spring, another in the fall.  Live music by one of the hangar guys, a professional jazz musician.  The first airport function I remember, I met and talked to a young corporate pilot.  Monday evening when I walked in the front door, Steve's photo was on television.  Hit a powerline while busting minimums.  First of too many.

Retirement was approaching and everything on the Bonanza was old and worn so it was sold.   Started building the RV7 as a retirement project.  Penny said I better hang on to that hangar.  Final assembly, pink slip and first flight from Wilgrove. Glad I kept the hangar.  One day a friend asked why some hangars were enclosed but not mine.  Well, you can't get a building permit, the county is trying to choke off any development here.  He said we could measure it up, order some steel and sheet and do it.  We did.  Not pretty, but serviceable.  Went back to work for 9 months, going to see all the old customers.  IFR in an RV tended to be kind of … sporty.  Pittsburgh, Louisville, Chattanooga, Huntington, Monroeville.  Flew it to NM once to see Penny's brothers.  9 Years, 475 hours, good times but time to move on. 

Sold the RV and bought a Mooney the same day in Indiana.  Flew home to Wilgrove.  Charts used to say 3000 feet.  I've also seen 27 and 2800.  With obstacles and displaced thresholds.  Don't know what the book says now.  It ain't real generous.  I have always told students of the flight school, learn to land here and you can go anywhere.  Learn somewhere else and you might not come here.  First Mooney landing, final approach at 70 MPH, full flaps, looked like I knew what I was doing.  Turned around on the runway about halfway down.  That certainly is satisfying.

Back in the fall, the cookout and the rain date were both rained out.  Steve, Bill, Sam, Troy, Melvin, Bob and several others, all gone.  Edit: Gotta add in a few more names.  Helen, Hank and Richard. Stoke, cancer and old age tend to get most of us.  Still, there are always new faces with the flight school and people buying and selling, needing a hangar or leaving.  Guess there won't be many more new memories.  There were some sad times, but a lot of good times.  I'm gonna miss that place.  Rats!

I've got my name on hangar lists at a couple airports.  The lists are longer than the time I have left.  Don't know what to do.  I have a Bruce cover but that is temporary. I suspect lack of a hangar will speed my flying retirement.

Note the 114PL on the Bo (Penny's bday is 11/14), 224PL on the RV.  Was going to change EB to PL.  Don't know now.

[carusoam]

Well written story/ life history/ call to arms David!

Please share this post with our friends at AOPA... @mooneygirl might be able to assist...

There is always some sunshine after the storm... I hope. 

We need more Flying Octogenarians on MS... so it isn’t time to give up the long term aircraft goals yet...

Your memory is fantastic!  I can’t remember where I was last week.

Forever planes are often built by people in their 70s...

Thanks for sharing the details!

Best regards,

-a-

[MB65E]

Cheers David!! What a ride. It’s frustrating to think of all the airport closures. When I first started to fly all the old timers would say...”remember that strip over at that place” or “remember when we used to land there.” It was like ancient history to me, but seeing it all real time over the last 20 years makes you appreciate all of the past stories and all of the airports still around. 
Your eloquently written story is the voice of many unspoken tails.
EAA should publish it in Sport aviation too. 
All the best!

Hope the real estate folks loose their asses!! 
 

-Matt

 

[carusoam]

We have a few magazine writers around here as well...  

Best regards,

-a-

[Guest]

Reading David’s story makes me appreciate the airport I fly from and work from.  Owner by the regional government who spent lavishly to keep it in good condition, but haven’t priced it too highly.

Clarence

[Pasturepilot]

Plane and Pilot’s “Lessons Learned” (about flying and life) are broader than “I nearly died” tales. If you’d like to frame up a 1500 word story about how an airport can come to be more than just a patch of ground to park a plane,  I know some folks who might could make it happen. 
 

my username at gmail or PM me and we’ll get that ball rolling. 

[MarkD34M]

What a great read. Sums up flying - fun, friends, challenges and great memories. Thanks for the reminiscing!   

[Mooneymite]

Thanks for posting, David.  A great trip down memory lane for all of us who have seen way too many airports close.  It happens all too frequently and seems to be happening at an ever quickening pace.  Here in my local area, it seems virtually all of the private strips are either closed, closing, or threatened.

For those of you who remember airports of the past, there is a great web-site that collects and maintains information on closed airports in the US.  He's always happy to get up-dates and fresh material.  Send him a couple of bucks to keep the effort going:

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/

 

[carusoam]

@David Lloyd,

See the invite from our Pasture pilot above...

Spreading the word would be good... + it will make you feel better too... 

Houses can be built anywhere and everywhere... airports, not so much...

Best regards,

-a-

[MooneyMitch]

It's my opinion, many of us don't truly comprehend the danger of airport closures and the actual frequency of such throughout our country.

Losing airports has the obvious affect.................no place to store and fly our airplanes!

 

I too had no idea until it hit me right in my own backyard several years ago....................I'm speaking of L52, Oceano County Airport here in the County of San Luis Obispo, CA.  Oceano airport is 1 NM from my home!

 

Once we received word the developer had intentions of bulldozing the airport and putting up condos and such, we swung into immediate action.  The fight was on!  NO ONE WAS GOING TO TEAR UP THIS OCEAN FRONT LITTLE GEM!  You can easily read of our efforts all over the internet and beyond!

 

With this enlightenment and through our efforts at L52, we were asked to become Vice Presidents of California Pilots Association.  The main purpose of that organization is to fight for California airports, keeping them safe from obstructions, up to and including closures.  Quickly I learned just how rampant these dangers were, all over California, and specifically in our District 4

 

Suddenly we were faced with challenges such as local developers, in bed with the City Councill, in Tehachapi, CA, that were intending to build a hospital within the Airport Land Use Commissions designated safety zones..............just off the departure end of the runway.   Next came San Luis Obispo, again in our own backyard.  City Council was in bed with out of town developers, with the intent of seriously encroaching on San Luis Airports ALUC designated safety zones.  Guess what? The builder was able to convince the city to create their own redesigned safety zones, thereby over riding the official ALUC safety zones.  The development WILL take place.  Again, guess what happens!  Development happens around the airport and then the residents begin to complain about the airport........and it gets eventually closed................can you say SANTA MONICA?  This list goes on friends!  It's real!!

 

Harping on saving and protecting our local airports is something we've done over the years.............probably to the point of ad nauseam to many!  Yet, this issue can't be casually ignored!!

 

So, the danger is real, as it is still happening, and obviously it can and does happen in your own backyard.

 

Monitor, stay informed, stay vigilant and get involved............please!

[Austintatious]

Great story

 

Seems like we (the USA) are trying as hard as we can to become like Europe.... hope everyone likes it when we get there... ain't no going back.

Maybe when trying to get public support to keep these airports open, you should remind everyone that "affordable electric planes are just around the corner, if you tear up all the airports how will you fly one!"

 

[tmo]

2 hours ago, Austintatious said:

"affordable electric planes are just around the corner, if you tear up all the airports how will you fly one!"

VTOL

[MooneyMitch]

6 minutes ago, tmo said:

VTOL

My new Mooney Electra drone!  Hopefully it will have a Mooney tail on it somewhere....... 

[David Lloyd]

Thank you guys for the nice comments.  Wilgrove has been privately owned since inception.  Never received any federal, state or local money.  It changed owners about 30 years ago, those owners were actively flying and wanted to keep Wilgrove as an airport.  They are in their late 80s now, two in poor health, family not interested in flying.  Several of us talked several years ago about making an offer.  Too much money, too much commitment.  The investment would have far exceeded the benefit for any individual.  We all knew it was inevitable. 

Guess I was spoiled, all those years driving 2 miles to the airport.  One traffic light, no traffic, about 5 minutes. Before 5:30 AM, that light was blinking yellow. When we moved 3 years ago it became a 15 mile drive, divided highway, a couple of small town traffic lights, about 20 minutes.

This afternoon I drove 33 miles to AFP in 40 minutes.  Most of it was winding country road. Hangar might be available in 6 months.  Might.

The alternative is closer at 21 miles, maybe 30 minutes.  Local wag said I would be an old man before coming up on the hangar list.  I said I already was an old man.  He said I would be dead before coming up on the list.  Thanks old buddy.  ++@#!

I've spent a lifetime of making lemonade from lemons.  I think this needs a lot more sugar.

[carusoam]

Similar things have happened in NJ...

Plane Owners formed a coalition... bought the airport...

It has houses, hangars, planes, fuel, restaurant, maintenance...

Look up Sky Manor N40... the story has been published around a decade ago...

Amazingly... it didn’t require outrageous amounts of Money to do so... sure there are some people that have more and others have less... but working together... they got what they needed out of it... it often takes various areas of expertise...

Best  regards,

-a-

 

[steingar]

I recall landing a shortish strip nestled in the hills of Charlotte years ago.  There was a rather idiosyncratic fuel system, and a old guy riding a mower.  When asked about the fuel he said "I'm just in charge 'a mowin' this here side o th' airport".

Can't seem to reproduce that twang in writing.

I suspect that's the field in question.  Nice little place.  

[David Lloyd]

Sounds like it.  That would have been Alan, the airport manager. Airport was his love.  That hayseed twang was an act, he owned an electrical engineering firm designing and installing municipal substations.  He wore some mowers out.  That fuel pump used to wear me out.  Slowest pump in the world.  Monday mornings at oh dark thirty, I would usually top off 55-60 gallons in the Bo.  Didn't matter if it was cold or pouring rain, that pump was never in a hurry.  Alan replaced the pump a few years ago.

[MooneyDreamer]

@David Lloyd, nooo say it ain't so! I learned to fly out of KEQY a few years ago and had always heard of Wilgrove, but never gotten to visit. That was until about 8 months ago when my wife and I were seriously on the hunt to purchase an airplane (first a M20J and then progressed to a Bonanza P35, before we abandoned it). During that time though, we discovered the insane waiting list at the surround area airports for a hangar. I ended up stumbling upon Wilgrove and it's shade ports, as well as Alan and his beautiful A36. Nice, little tucked away airport 15 minutes from my house, with the nicest airport manager I've ever met, and the only place around that had space available (and affordable, too!). I still see the cherokee the the flight school uses sometimes when I'm at Concord or Monroe.

Will be a sad day when it is no more

[MooneyMitch]

Town will shut down 81-year-old airport it bought for $2.3M

By Rob Jennings | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Updated Jan 19, 2020; Posted Jan 19, 2020.

The township’s governing committee has voted to close Trinca Airport, which the Sussex County municipality bought for $2.28 million 18 years ago, and continues to review possible future uses for the 121-acre site, officials said Friday.

Pilots who sought to save the airport are expressing dismay at the impending shutdown.

“It’s a little piece of history that’s going to disappear,” said Damian DelGaizo, owner of the nearby Andover Flight Academy.

The Green Township Committee began holding public discussions on the airport’s future in 2018, about a year after the pilot of an amateur-built aircraft was killed in a crash at the end of the runway. It voted 5-0 to close it, effective Sept. 1, at a meeting four months ago.

Green Mayor Margaret Phillips, who serves on the committee, said financial and safety considerations drove the decision.

“We understand the history and nostalgia that goes along with that property. That doesn’t help our tax base,” Phillips told NJ Advance Media.

Phillips said Green Township receives zero revenues from Trinca Airport, which is one of 42 public-use airports in New Jersey and does not charge for flying in or out. Annual expenses are $15,000, including approximately $6,000 for a part-time airport manager and maintenance, such as cutting grass on the turf runway.

While tie-downs are available for any pilot wishing to store their plane - there used to be a hangar, but it was removed in 2009 - the airport does not offer fuel and it has been at least several years since anyone rented an anchor, Phillips said.

A bigger financial concern is the “unknown future cost to taxpayers,” Phillips said, such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or Department of Homeland Security ordering improvements.

“The expense to make-over the airport would be huge. There’s no water or septic. There’s nothing there,” Phillips said, adding that the lone building services mostly as a storage shed.

However, the airport property is potentially lucrative to Green Township, though Phillips said municipal officials are not considering selling any of the three lots making up the 121 acres.

Asked about options, Phillips said one company has expressed interest in leasing land and installing solar panels, while others have proposed a medicinal marijuana facility.

“There is nothing definitive about that property. The only thing that is definitive is, the town committee wanted to close the airport,” Phillips said.

DelGaizo said the airport is used by flight schools, since learning how to land on a soft field is among the requirements in getting a pilot’s license.

It is also popular among pilots of antique planes, such as World War II-era Piper Cubs, that “fare better on grass,” he added.

He said that, even before the airport opened in 1939, it was used unofficially by air mail pilots.

“It really is a shame,” DelGaizo said of losing the airport.

Trinca Airport long has been a source of debate and discussion in Green Township, a rural municipality that is home to 3,400.

It was under private ownership in the 1990s when residents opposed a proposal to pave and expand the runway in order to attract corporate jets and even commercial aircraft.

After the N.J. Department of Transportation blocked the proposal, the owner sought to close the airport and build 225 houses, including 21 that would have been set aside for low-income families.

Green Township headed off that possibility by buying the airport in 2002, for $2.28 million.

The New Jersey Aviation Association, which supported the failed expansion in the 1990s and testified last year in opposition to closing the airport, expressed regret at the outcome Friday.

“Green Township as the owner of this public-use airport has the right to close the airport. It is unfortunate though for general aviation that this basic and historic transport facility in New Jersey will close,” said the association’s executive director, Suzanne Solberg Nagle.

Nagle said that public-use airports in New Jersey declined from 82 in 1950, to 42 last year and that the remaining airports deserve additional funding from the state’s Transportation Trust Fund.

A public use airport is an airport available for use by the general public without a requirement for prior approval of the airport owner or operator, she explained.

Nagle said that the state DOT has authority over public-use airports and that the commissioner “should exercise this authority when necessary to preserve airports and meet the needs of 21st century aviation.”

The runway at Trinca Airport is open from sunrise to sunset, seven days per week. It is among at least seven public-use airports in New Jersey with turf runways that remain in use, Nagle said.

When it is snowing, as was the case on Saturday, pilots typically use skis with their landing gear, the mayor said.

The airport’s entrance was gated around 1 p.m. Friday and no planes were in sight. The part-time airport manager was not in.

Asked about the decision to delay the airport’s closure until Sept. 1, Phillips said that was the earliest it could be shut down without requiring the township to repay a portion of the state grant it received in 2010 to study airport improvements.

“That’s why we have delayed the closing,” she said.

DelGaizo said he is looking forward to a final summer at the airport.

“I’ll use it right up until the day it closes,” he said.

 

[DrBill]

Sold my Mooney in 18 to a returning cobra pilot. Now it’s in Arkansas. Know David and flown with him several times. Had a hangar at Wilgrove from 03-19. Bill

 

[MATTS875]

Thanks for posting such a wonderful story. Enjoyed reading it

[carusoam]

Hey Dr. Bill is in the house!

Hope all is well.  How is the car project?

Best regards,

-a-

[carusoam]

More info on Trinca in NJ... A small grass field in NW NJ...

https://airnav.com/airport/13N

-a-

[DrBill]

Hey, guys, miss the action. After some hot laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway in July of 18, I found myself lifting on the throttle in turn 3 where I never did that before so that told me I was losing it. In October at another track, was doing same when a guy walks up to me and says” nice car, know of any like it for sale?”.  I thought a few seconds and told him that one just went up for sale and gave him a price. He took it around the track twice and said sold. He lives in Columbus Ohio, and came the next week with his trailer and cash and took it home. I don’t miss the maintenance. Now have a travel trailer and go to Dutch Oven Gatherings 6 times a year. Going to the first of 2020 this Thursday thru Sunday. This is a safe activity for a 70 yr old ex cancer survivor. Saw where Mooney came out with a 2 door version and then closed. Too bad. Miss the reunions.

[MooneyMitch]

1 hour ago, DrBill said:

Hey, guys, miss the action. After some hot laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway in July of 18, I found myself lifting on the throttle in turn 3 where I never did that before so that told me I was losing it. In October at another track, was doing same when a guy walks up to me and says” nice car, know of any like it for sale?”.  I thought a few seconds and told him that one just went up for sale and gave him a price. He took it around the track twice and said sold. He lives in Columbus Ohio, and came the next week with his trailer and cash and took it home. I don’t miss the maintenance. Now have a travel trailer and go to Dutch Oven Gatherings 6 times a year. Going to the first of 2020 this Thursday thru Sunday. This is a safe activity for a 70 yr old ex cancer survivor. Saw where Mooney came out with a 2 door version and then closed. Too bad. Miss the reunions.

So good to hear from you .