Airports Archives

Drawn to small airports that will not chase me away from the runway’s sideline where I capture the ground-t0-air photos of the homebuilt airplane builders I profile, each is a still-life statement on the vitality of general aviation. All too often it is unequivocally dire, with signs offering airport hangars for rent as storage units for stuff people no longer use, not airplanes.

But not at Noblesville, Indiana, Airport (I-80), about 4 miles southeast of its eponymous hometown about 20 miles northeast of Indianapolis, which in 2016 estimated its population at 60,183. Driving between the cast concrete bald eagles that flanked its entrance was a portal to a vital small-town airport that Richard Bach could have written about in his biplane barnstorming days.

A line of lights outlined the east-west runway on the well manicured spring greensward. To the south, new small and medium enclosed hangars flanked a tidy line of open T-hangars. From each poked the nose of an winged puppy patiently awaiting its master’s return. Ahead, an unfrayed American flag before a small white frame building spoke of a middling northeast breeze, which the more distant windsock confirmed.

The structure was clearly older and well cared for. The sign said it was the home of of EAA Chapter 67, and that it would hold its 2018 Pancake Fly-ins on June 9 and August 18. As expected on this Thursday afternoon in late April, the door was locked. AirNav.com said the privately owned public-use airport was unattended. Peeking past the plethora of aviation stickers that adorned the door’s window, the interior seemed clean and tidy and decorated in a style traditionally small airport eclectic.

To the left of the door, signs reminded pilots to “ALWAYS! Stop Engine When Loading and Unloading Passengers” and that those passengers should “NEVER! Turn Your Back on a Spinning Propeller.” Finally, “All Children MUST be Supervised at all Times!” Benches and picnic tables and a porch swing by a large shrouded propane grill standing guard over a squad of cylinders ready for coming cookouts suggested that Noblesville was well attended on weekends.

I’ve been really touched by how many regular readers noticed that Jetwhine just turned one.

A year ago I had dinner with a buddy in Wichita who seriously questioned why I was trying to blend a little new media talk with the rest of the aviation world about well, anything.

The reason was simple.

I believed I had a 40-year perspective on the aviation industry that no one else did. I also thought I could thought I could say it like no one else, as some of you have taken me to task on over the past 12 months.

But that comes with the territory.

A year later, I think we’ve only begun with a little “Aviation Buzz and Bold Opinion.”

Whether it’s the FAA and user fees, the need to completely rebuild the way we pay the pilots who teach others to fly, the pilot shortage or the need to educate communities about the value of their airports, Jetwhine offers you a perspective on the industry you won’t read anywhere.

And we’ve asked nothing from you … until now that is.

Some of the things we talk about at Jetwhine evolve from the tips you send us, so keep those ideas coming.

But since blogs propagate based on the their popularity, won’t you please take a minute to pass the Jetwhine.com address on to your friends if you’ve enjoyed what you read here each week.

And ask them to pass Jetwhine on to their friends too.

So now where’s the cake?

Thanks,

Rob Mark

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Signs of Life at Indiana’s Noblesville Airport

Thanks From Jetwhine