Gettysburg (W05) in danger?

Yesterday seemed like such a nice day, with high pressure dominating
here, that I thought I'd take a flight up to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,
walk around the battlefield, and reflect. I flew from my home base in
the good old ADIZ at Gaithersburg, Maryland to Gettysburg Travel
Center, W05. It's pretty close to the monument, a 3,100 X 60' strip
(but with a threshold displaced 542' due to houses having been built
just about at the end of the runway (!).

When I landed someone came on the CTAF and directed me to a tiedown.
The guiding voice came from a guy who I assumed worked at the FBO, and
who pulled up in a car and offered to give us a ride into town. A
flight of two Top Cubs on amphibious floats came in behind me, and he
drove down to them and told them he would give them a ride after he got
back from taking us. (Sidenote: the Top Cubs had come from Washington
State and were en route to New York!)

Anyway, on the way into town I learned that the guy driving me in fact
did not work at the airport. He was just a local pilot helping out
other pilots! He informed me that the guy who owned the airport wasn't
around much, and that the airport was up for sale. He said folks were
hoping the regional airport authority would buy it.

This gentleman bid us goodbye at the monument, gave me the name of the
local transportation company (Ace transportation) and, in case we
needed it, his cell number. We called Ace immediately to arrange a
ride back, got a recording, left a message, and never heard from them.
After touring the historic site, and not wanting to bother the guy who
was nice enough to drive us in, we started walking back to the airport.
On the way we asked a local for directions to the airport. "Airport?"
she said, "that's not there anymore, it closed." News to me since I
had just landed there a few hours ago... "Anyway," she continued upon
being informed of this, "it's up for sale."

On the way back, the guy who dropped us off passed us along the road.
He was headed back into town for dinner with his wife, recognized us,
turned around, and gave us a lift back to the airport. Gotta love the
comraderie among pilots! We took off in dead calm, clear blue skies,
picked up a slight tailwind, and prepared for the waiting game of
circling outside the ADIZ waiting for our unique transponder code from
Potomac allowing us to enter the ADIZ and go home.

It would be a real shame to lose a GA airport next to an historic
attraction like this. I hope someone buys it and keeps it going. In
the meantime, if you are looking for a daytrip in the area, I recommend
you check it out.

Cheers,
Wiz

Yes it would be a shame but last time I was there (4 years ago) the
writing was on the wall. I flew in there 3 or 4 times for the nearby
attractions but ended up flying into an airport on the Chambersburg side
where I felt a little more secure leaving my airplane. BTW, what
happened to Doersom? Wasn't that a nearby airport too?

Anyway, it's short for many, was in poor shape, and the 'transportation
company' aka taxi company, couldn't get out of their own way.

I hate to see any airport die. Check it out while you can but be
careful in there.


Wiz wrote:
I flew from my home base in
the good old ADIZ at Gaithersburg, Maryland to Gettysburg Travel
Center, W05. It's pretty close to the monument, a 3,100 X 60' strip
(but with a threshold displaced 542' due to houses having been built
just about at the end of the runway (!).

It would be a real shame to lose a GA airport next to an historic
attraction like this. I hope someone buys it and keeps it going. In
the meantime, if you are looking for a daytrip in the area, I recommend
you check it out.

Cheers,
Wiz

I think Doersom is the same airport. I have a vague recollection of
seeing that name on a sign there. Poked around the web; one site ID'd
Doersom as W09, but that ID now belongs to an airport in Washington
state. I found a CAP list of airports in PA that lists W05 as Doersom
airport, and a site that described W05 as "Gettysburg Travel Center
(formerly Doersom Airport)."

Cheers,
Wiz

Maule Driver wrote:
Yes it would be a shame but last time I was there (4 years ago) the
writing was on the wall. I flew in there 3 or 4 times for the nearby
attractions but ended up flying into an airport on the Chambersburg side
where I felt a little more secure leaving my airplane. BTW, what
happened to Doersom? Wasn't that a nearby airport too?

Anyway, it's short for many, was in poor shape, and the 'transportation
company' aka taxi company, couldn't get out of their own way.

I hate to see any airport die. Check it out while you can but be
careful in there.

Curiousity: Gettysburg is listed as America's top most-dangered
battlefied because of the plan to build casinos just outside one a part of
the battlefield. (Maybe they can put them at Arlington and Andersonville,
too, they way McDonald's put a roadsign outside the KZ Mauthausen
concentration camp in Austria.) *fiddles with the point/rant mixture*

If there's a silver lining, maybe this will draw sufficient GA traffic to
resurrect the airfield. Or, who knows. Maybe they don't WANT planes
buzzing over the battlefield. At nearby filming of a full-scale the
Pickett's Charge in 1997, helicopters circled over an otherwise-pristine
view (ground charges, etc. Great idea.) until some ingenious bluecoats
formed giant human letters in the grass. When GO AWAY didn't work, the
yanks chose a more effective phrase starting with F and ending with YOU.
The helicopters left after a few moments..

-c

"Tom Fleischman" wrote in message
news:2006041218011416807-bodhioneeightyeightatmacdotcom@junkjunk...
I flew into W05 many times when my son was attending college in Gettysburg.
The airport was owned for many years by a family named Doersom and went by
that name when they owned it. It had deteriorated, but then about 5 years
ago it was sold and the runway was repaved and repainted and the owner had
big plans for developing the airport. I guess that didn't work out. My son
graduated in 2005 and I haven't flown in there in over a year, but it's a
really nice little field and Gettysburg is a great destination, so it would
be a real shame if that airport closed.

On 2006-04-10 12:28:51 -0400, Maule Driver said:

Yes it would be a shame but last time I was there (4 years ago) the
writing was on the wall. I flew in there 3 or 4 times for the nearby
attractions but ended up flying into an airport on the Chambersburg side
where I felt a little more secure leaving my airplane. BTW, what
happened to Doersom? Wasn't that a nearby airport too?

Anyway, it's short for many, was in poor shape, and the 'transportation
company' aka taxi company, couldn't get out of their own way.

I hate to see any airport die. Check it out while you can but be careful
in there.


Wiz wrote:
I flew from my home base in
the good old ADIZ at Gaithersburg, Maryland to Gettysburg Travel
Center, W05. It's pretty close to the monument, a 3,100 X 60' strip
(but with a threshold displaced 542' due to houses having been built
just about at the end of the runway (!).

It would be a real shame to lose a GA airport next to an historic
attraction like this. I hope someone buys it and keeps it going. In
the meantime, if you are looking for a daytrip in the area, I recommend
you check it out.

Cheers,
Wiz