by RKittine » Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:26 am
Most of the light planes did in fact depart via the taxi way. There were some larger aircraft that also left via the taxi way and as I remember they were the ones that had issues with the local government. Simmons (the local American Beagle) had some part 121 scheduled flights in and out of there. Beech 1900s and Saab 340Bs. I used that airport a lot in the mid to late 80s.
Midway was another one, like East Hampton though much more complicated, where people bought lower cost homes around the airport grounds, converted old buildings to condos etc. and then set out to shut the airport down, which never happened. It was actually expanded as much as possible, though not runway lengths.
When I started instructing part time at Clow in 1986 it was in the middle of a corn field surrounded by farms. There was a glider operation on the one side of the airport and there was a parallel grass runway to the paved one. I remember taking off in a J-3 or BC-12 and landing on farm strips all over the area. Now there is an industrial park on one side, houses at the one end of the runway, a Home Depot at the other and the glider group is gone.
When you have a moment find the Movie FOLKS, all the flight sequences were filled at Clow and along the Fox River. I did some of the flying and got to spend some time with the actors, including Tom Selleck, who was trying to convince everyone he was straight, during that filming. The scene where the planes goes through the hanger and the wings come off was fun to watch how they pulled that off.
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- Sure didn't look like this in 1986
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SUPPORTING MEMBERBobWest Nyack Aviation, L.L.C. New York, New York - East Hampton, New York & Warwick, New York 631.374.9652rkittine@aol.com WA2YDV