Some airports that exist for general aviation, not for scheduled airliners, are showing strength in Montana even though such facilities elsewhere in the country are in decline.
Plains is getting a new $4 million, 4,700-foot airstrip. The Thompson Falls airport expanded so parents of children at a private reform school could more easily fly in by jet, for visits.
During the wildfire season, air tankers for fighting fires no longer will be limited to light loads at Plains so the tankers can clear the end of the Depression-era runway. Fixed-wing medical aircraft will be able to pick up patients from the hospital nearby, and the runway will accommodate all general aviation aircraft except the largest private jets.
Across the country, general aviation airports are declining as cities and counties sell valuable flat land for development, said Chris Dancy, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Billings Gazette
Plains is getting a new $4 million, 4,700-foot airstrip. The Thompson Falls airport expanded so parents of children at a private reform school could more easily fly in by jet, for visits.
During the wildfire season, air tankers for fighting fires no longer will be limited to light loads at Plains so the tankers can clear the end of the Depression-era runway. Fixed-wing medical aircraft will be able to pick up patients from the hospital nearby, and the runway will accommodate all general aviation aircraft except the largest private jets.
Across the country, general aviation airports are declining as cities and counties sell valuable flat land for development, said Chris Dancy, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Billings Gazette
