Small local airports waning. Link to article:http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburgh...h/s_687969.html :( Sorry about header. Do not know why.

If you go to the Edit button, and then Full edit, you should be able to fix the title I believe.

I'll fix it.

That's sad to hear, but it's part of a larger trend...Guess it'll be little more difficult now to get to the most patriotic, god-loving place in America :(

As they say in the file 'One Six Right', once an airport is gone it will never come back. :(

That's sad to hear, but it's part of a larger trend...(Snipped political stuff)

Be very careful, politics and religion are off limits here on this forum for good reason. Tread lightly, because you can easily start flame wars with politics and religion, and that just makes life hard for moderators and divides the community.

It's simply a case of "use them or lose them"!

It's simply a case of "use them or lose them"!

More often it is a case that development erupts around the airport which may have once been in a rural area. Once that happens-people complain about the noise from the airport (duh-they built next to it), and the land values go way up-making it more financially profitable to sell the airport for its land. Often the original airport owner dies, and its family sells it off at that point. We have had two in my area go that way in the past 10 years.

Just like the golf courses. Someone builds a house along #9 fairway and wonders why they have golf balls in their back yard.......or in their living room if I'm teeing off.

It's simply a case of "use them or lose them"!

Flying is too expensive.

More often it is a case that development erupts around the airport which may have once been in a rural area. Once that happens-people complain about the noise from the airport (duh-they built next to it), and the land values go way up-making it more financially profitable to sell the airport for its land. Often the original airport owner dies, and its family sells it off at that point. We have had two in my area go that way in the past 10 years.

Same difference surely? Not enough people use the airport to make its retention viable in the face of alternative uses for the site.

Same difference surely? Not enough people use the airport to make its retention viablein the face of alternative uses for the site.

More often than not it is not the usage but the complaining neighbors and greedy developers.I flew from a small airport just 5nm north of a class C for 6 years. It was quite busy-but the locals who grew around it (the airport was there first) constantly tried (and still try) to shut it down with complaints of noise and safety. City councils are usually only too happy to oblige.Meigs field is an obvious example-and it was very busy. In that case it wasc learly not lack of usage, but backroom politics that defied even the faa.I think you will find Aopa spends more time keeping airports shut down from this phenomena, then lack of usage-at least in the U.S. Here is one that closed in my neck of the woods a few years ago and what took it down (Berz-Macomb):http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/Airfie...Detroit_NE.html

More often than not it is not the usage but the complaining neighbors and greedy developers.

And "greedy" airport owners who sell to "greedy" developers?If I can make $X/year from a site as an airport but can make $2X/year after developing it, I'd be a fool not to develop it?

And "greedy" airport owners who sell to "greedy" developers?If I can make $X/year from a site as an airport but can make $2X/year after developing it, I'd be a fool not to develop it?

You must have not read the link I posted very carefully. It was a combination of developers and local government that made them sell it-they drive the price of the surrounding property up, get the locals that are now living in their development to go complain, and at a point the airport owner can no longer justify keeping it and must sell it. Yes, they may make a nice profit but usually that was not their wish.The other airport in my area that has closed was Big Beaver;http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/Airfie...Detroit_NW.htmlIf you read this link you will see the local government tried all they could do to shut it down and grab the valuable property. The owner finally got them to agree not to take it until she had died-and believe me her body wasn't even cold before they were there with the bulldozers....and again there is Meigs field.But wasn't your point that they close due to lack of usage? In all the 3 that have closed in my area that wasn't a factor at all. There are of course some that do-but the majority at least in the U.S. seem to follow the developer/local govt. scenerio.

You must have not read the link I posted very carefully. It was a combination of developers and local government that made them sell it-they drive the price of the surrounding property up, get the locals that are now living in their development to go complain, and at a point the airport owner can no longer justify keeping it and must sell it. Yes, they may make a nice profit but usually that was not their wish.The other airport in my area that has closed was Big Beaver;http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MI/Airfie...Detroit_NW.htmlIf you read this link you will see the local government tried all they could do to shut it down and grab the valuable property. The owner finally got them to agree not to take it until she had died-and believe me her body wasn't even cold before they were there with the bulldozers....and again there is Meigs field.But wasn't your point that they close due to lack of usage? In all the 3 that have closed in my area that wasn't a factor at all. There are of course some that do-but the majority at least in the U.S. seem to follow the developer/local govt. scenerio.

And if more of those residents surrounding the airport actually flew, they would appreciate the resource. Again, flying is too expensive.