Published: October 20, 2007 11:32 pm      

Aviation And Recreation

PETERSBURG — The Grant County Airport - Robert C. Byrd Field offers some unique amenities to pilots who attend about four fly-ins held at the airport each year.

“They can fly in and taxi their planes to the campground and put up their tents and stay along the river,” said Gerald Sites of the Grant County Airport Authority as he hosted a tour of the airport for members of the West Virginia Aeronautics Commission and other aviation representatives from around the state Wednesday.

About 40 people toured the facility, including local elected officials, pilots and others associated with aviation, had lunch and attended the commission meeting.

The group filled two buses provided by Jay Carter, director of the Potomac Valley Transit Authority.

The tour route followed a fenced-in perimeter road that travels the circumference of the airfield, runways and taxiways. On the other side of the field from the terminal building, hangars, storage, fuel and maintenance facilities, the authority has constructed a pavilion with a covered picnic area that includes rest rooms, laundry and hot showers.

Set in a grassy field along the South Branch of the Potomac River, pilots and their passengers are invited to utilize the facility for camping, fishing and swimming as well as picnicking, said Sites.

“We just bought the land up to the river this past year,” he said.

Sites filled the visitors in on the background of the airport, noting that the first airfield in Petersburg was located in an area in 1921 where the county courthouse is now, known then as Cow Hill.

He said that in the early 1940s, a farmer named Samuel Hyre donated his land for what is now the airport and it was manned by the Civil Air Patrol as an emergency landing field.

In the 1960s, the runway was paved and extended from 2,700 feet to 3,200.

Another 800 feet was added later and a groundbreaking was held in 1989 that was attended by Sen. Robert Byrd.

Sites said that the county must credit Byrd with much of the improvements to the airport over the years, including federal money for hangars, the terminal building and some state-of-the-art aviation equipment. “Very little county money has gone into the airport,” he said.

With Byrd’s assistance, another 1,000 feet was added to the runway, bringing it to 5,000 feet and 75 feet wide.

He said that the county commission approved the addition of Robert C. Byrd Field to the airport name just recently and a dedication ceremony with the new signs reflecting the name change is expected to take place later this fall, when Byrd can attend.

Larry Stahl, airport manager, helped with the tour. He said that 30 aircraft are based at the facility, including two twin-engine corporate aircraft.

He said the newest T-hangars and the taxiway were finished about a year ago.

Sites said that Stahl lives at the airport and his house is one of the newest buildings at the facility.

He pointed out the maintenance hangar where Stahl does annual inspections and noted that the above-ground fuel farm provides two grades of aviation fuel.

“It is cheapest in the area,” he said.

Stahl said that everyone must have a security card to get into or out of the airport and the perimeter fence is locked at night to heighten security.

Following the tour of the airport, the group was served lunch in the terminal building and local pilots provided a glider flight demonstration.

Grant County Commission President Jim Wilson said the airport is considered the second best glider facility in the nation, with the first in Colorado.

Mona Ridder can be reached at mridder@times-news.com.