brian
Well Known Member
My sister lives near Marlboro, MA, and I was thinking of flying down there. The runway is only 1600x40 feet, so at first I was leery, but I've been wondering about the feasibility of landing there. The shortest runway I've ever landed on was 3000'. I don't use the whole runway, but I'm not sure I use less than half.
Oddly, though, it's claimed in various sources that 25-40 planes are based there, with 37-48 operations/day. That seems like quite a lot for such a small runway. I've called and emailed the airport manager and FBO to get more details, but no answer, no response. They also list having fuel, repairs, and even a flight school at the airport. If so many others, including students, can land there, I should be able to.
After googling lots more info about the airport, it's a pretty sad story. Some articles mentioned greatly declining operations, another mentioned the runway needing $1M in repairs. The present owner/manager's husband passed away in 2012, and the airport has been for sale since January. From what I read, apparently there's little or no interest in purchasing it as an airport, so that means real estate developers, and that will be the end of another airport.
A couple articles mentioned the newest plane based there is over 30 years old, and there's an antiques-based EAA chapter there. It'll be especially sad for them if the airport gets turned into a housing tract.
However, the more I've read about it, the more intrigued I've gotten about flying there. I don't think, from what I've read, that it's going to be around much longer, so I'd like to try it while I still can. I plan to mark off 1600' on the runway at my airport, and confirm that I can consistently land in that distance OK.
So, after all that introductory info, I'm wondering if any other VAF pilots have landed there or know any other details about the airport.
If you haven't been there, and you feel up to a 1600' landing, you might want to try it before it's gone
Oddly, though, it's claimed in various sources that 25-40 planes are based there, with 37-48 operations/day. That seems like quite a lot for such a small runway. I've called and emailed the airport manager and FBO to get more details, but no answer, no response. They also list having fuel, repairs, and even a flight school at the airport. If so many others, including students, can land there, I should be able to.
After googling lots more info about the airport, it's a pretty sad story. Some articles mentioned greatly declining operations, another mentioned the runway needing $1M in repairs. The present owner/manager's husband passed away in 2012, and the airport has been for sale since January. From what I read, apparently there's little or no interest in purchasing it as an airport, so that means real estate developers, and that will be the end of another airport.
A couple articles mentioned the newest plane based there is over 30 years old, and there's an antiques-based EAA chapter there. It'll be especially sad for them if the airport gets turned into a housing tract.
However, the more I've read about it, the more intrigued I've gotten about flying there. I don't think, from what I've read, that it's going to be around much longer, so I'd like to try it while I still can. I plan to mark off 1600' on the runway at my airport, and confirm that I can consistently land in that distance OK.
So, after all that introductory info, I'm wondering if any other VAF pilots have landed there or know any other details about the airport.
If you haven't been there, and you feel up to a 1600' landing, you might want to try it before it's gone