• READ MORE: Musician, Pilot Jimmy Buffett Remembered

Buffett began his music career in Nashville but eventually migrated to the Florida Keys. The island lifestyle fueled his music, and symbiotically, the money from the music paid for his flying lessons. He owned and flew several aircraft, including Falcons for touring and amphibious aircraft for hopping around the Keys. His most recognizable aircraft was a Grumman Albatross, the Hemisphere Dancer, which was a much-anticipated visitor to airshows such as Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo and EAA AirVenture.

Buffett’s music was as much a part of aviation events as sharing stories of his first solo.

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The petition to rename Key West Airport in honor of Buffett surfaced on September 4 and, in a single day, gained close to 4,000 signatures. 

Buffett would not be the only celebrity to lend his name to an airport. There is John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California (KSNA), and Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California (KBUR).

Plane & Pilot reached out to the airport sponsor, but requests for information were not answered by the close of business Wednesday.

The post Petition To Rename Key West Airport appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

The FAA said it expects nearly 313,000 flights during the seven days it counts as the holiday period. This would surpass last year’s total for the same period but fall several thousand flights short of pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

On the other hand, the travel group AAA, which counts travelers instead of flights and over five days instead of seven, said it expects nearly 3.4 million people to venture out. By its calculations, air travel over the holiday weekend is expected to increase by 11 percent over last year and exceed 2019 levels by 5.4 percent, or about 170,000 travelers. AAA also said this Memorial Day weekend “could be the busiest at airports since 2005.”

But the AAA is talking about big airports and big transport category jets. What is the weekend outlook for personal general aviation flights? What can pilots expect as they arrive at their holiday destinations? FLYING checked with airport and FBO managers across the country to get a better sense of just how busy things are likely to get.

Our inquiry grew in part out of necessity. While planning to fly my family from Sussex, New Jersey (KFWN), to Bar Harbor, Maine (KBHB), this weekend I began to wonder how many others might have the same idea. Will there still be space to park on the ramp? Am I too late to reserve a rental car?

Luckily our timing was good. Cars are available and staffers at the FBO, Modern Aviation, said, “We can always make room.” Like most of the airports surveyed, KBHB is expecting a busy weekend with steady arrivals and departures, ranging from small piston aircraft like ours to turboprops, jets, and helicopters.

This is a fairly large county airport with intersecting runways, 5,200 and 3,363 feet long, and no control tower. It is the kind of place where a vintage taildragger and light jet have a good chance of approaching the traffic pattern at the same time. Etiquette is important.

Hot Creek Aviation at Mammoth Yosemite Airport (KMMH) in Mammoth Lakes, California, expects the vibe to be “pretty busy, especially with Mule Days going on in Bishop.” However, it is not expecting any record-breaking surges—nothing like the Presidents Day Weekend crowds of snow sports enthusiasts.

Dan Bartholomew, manager of Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (KASE) in Aspen, Colorado, expects the weekend to be busy but not unreasonably so.

“I was just talking with ATC about that, and we are not expecting to be overrun,” Bartholomew said. “This is really just the ramp-up.”

Aspen, which is towered, also has been more of a winter destination traditionally. However, Bartholomew said that has changed over the past few years as the list of food and wine festivals, concerts, and other summer attractions has grown.

At Hilton Head Airport (KHXD) in South Carolina, this weekend tends to be a bit more hectic as a mix of commercial and private aircraft, plus military jets from the nearby Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort (KBFT), share the congested airspace. People who use the airport regularly love it, though, because you can just about walk to the beach from the FBO.

The area known as the Hamptons on New York’s Long Island is notorious for monumental traffic snarls that reliably form in advance of Memorial Day. It’s the kind of highway traffic that makes a great case for GA. As a result, the folks at Sound Aircraft Services, the FBO for East Hampton Airport (KJPX), are expecting a “chaotic” weekend with a steady flow of light aircraft, jets, and helicopters. Still, they say July and August are busier.

Town residents have long complained about aircraft noise, especially from helicopters that have proliferated with the rise of on-demand charter flights. One way the FBO deals with this is by charging fees when the choppers linger after dropping off passengers.

Overall it sounds as if even the busiest GA airports will be a breeze to navigate compared with the crowds at international commercial hubs and on the highways. In my family’s case, a particular hours-long traffic jam in the Pocono Mountains in 2009 led to many years of us avoiding Memorial Day travel.

This year we look forward to trying again—the right way.

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on Flyingmag.com

The post Flying GA on the Holidays appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

“The interesting thing about Keymar Airpark (MD42) is that right now, we are actually not on the sectional chart because there is a Camp David text box over the airport. Hopefully that gets removed in the April revision of the sectionals, as I made the request with the FAA,” he said.

Peter, alongside his fiancée Chelsea Ingram, recently purchased the airport located in Keymar, Maryland. Buying an airport was a longtime dream for the Boeing 767 and Air National Guard F-16 pilot, who is a lifelong resident of the state.

“I had never known about Keymar Airpark, although I had flown in the vicinity of it many times. But I had always been looking for land within an hour or two of Washington, Baltimore, or Philadelphia. So about two years ago, I had a realtor set up a commercial property listing for me in the area. The airport popped up in that search, and that’s actually how I first heard about it. And it was horribly overpriced when it was first put out, but the price started coming down and we eventually thought that maybe we could look at it,” he said.

Chelsea was equally enthusiastic about the possibility of buying an airport. A meteorologist by training, she has embraced aviation since meeting Peter and is currently working towards her private pilot certificate. For several years, the couple had forecasted that owning an airport of their own was on the horizon.

“When Peter met and started dating, we always talked about what our five, 10-year plans look like. As well as what the ultimate place we want to live looks like. And of course, Peter always said that he would love to have his own grass strip,” she said.

Initially, purchasing this property seemed to be out of the young couple’s reach. Fortunately, Chelsea noted that their fortune changed.

“They parceled off a house that was initially being sold with the airpark, so the price came down a little bit. Then when it looked like something that we could actually entertain, I said that we should just go and look at it. Because when else do you get a chance to purchase a grass strip so close to where you live? And we did it!”

The couple formalized the purchase of Keymar Airpark in January 2023. This sale included 14 acres, as well as several structures and a strong spirit of aviation that dates back to 1971 when the airport was first opened.

“Its runway is registered as 1,950 feet by 50 feet, turf, but has clearways on both sides. So, there are no scary trees, which is pretty nice,” Mastropieri said. “There are two hangars, a community hangar, and a Quonset hangar, and I think we have 10 ultralights that are based there right now. Then we have a few fixed wing, certified airplanes here as well. We actually do not own an airplane yet, so that will be our next step.”

“We went a little backwards. Let’s just buy the airpark and then we will have a place to put a plane,” Chelsea added.

The two already have several ideas planned for the property. Hinting that they expect a strong, flying-focused future for Keymar, they reported that they are fortunate to have inherited an airport that has a history rooted in general aviation.

Peter said that, “There are about three acres with a homesite at the airport, and we are planning to build a house there, five or so years down the road. But we are actually going to develop basically a campsite on the property so we can go up there for the weekend and have a semi-permanent tent to use.”

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This will be the basis for the airport’s anticipated camping site that other aviators will be able to use as well.

“We want people to fly in and also have a place for them to stay. One of our main goals is to make Keymar Airpark a destination and bring the community back to it. There used to be a big flying community that used to be associated with the airport, and we want to bring that back. We would also like to include an affordable flying club here eventually. We also have quite a bit of land for follow-on hangars, so would like to build more here as demand allows. This year we are going to do the camping for ourselves but would like to think about the possibility of short-term rentals. So, you would be able to fly in, to either camp or stay in a cabin, and then have a courtesy car so that you can go hiking in the mountains or go to D.C, whatever you want to do,” he advised.

Chelsea added that everyone who has heard about their airport purchase has been pleased, especially when hearing about some of their goals for the property.

“I think that the reception from the pilot community to our efforts thus far has been extremely positive. I have a lot of people that have messaged me privately saying that ‘Oh I’ve gone to Keymar before and would love to come back and visit,’ or ‘Keymar is one of my favorite places to visit. It’s a great little grass strip!’ I think what’s so wonderful about the airport is that you have proximity to Washington, D.C., also to Baltimore, also to Frederick, which is the cutest town, and also to the Catoctin Mountains. It really is a great spot with so many things that you can do beyond the airpark. Reception has been very, very positive.”

Getting Keymar back on the map (literally) will help pilots see the airport as a possible place to visit in the future. But the two are not expecting visibility on the sectional to be the only way aviators hear about the airport. As a result, they have become vocal about inviting others to enjoy the grass airstrip alongside them.

“Right now, we are a private use airport and require permission to land. But we are trying to get the FAA database switched over to our names, so people can contact us,” Ingram said. “In the meantime, we will grant people permission to land via our email at keymaraviation@gmail.com. We definitely want people to visit, so we don’t want them to be afraid to reach out!”

The post A Washington D.C. Area Airport Gets a New Lease on Life appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.