The Virginia Highlands Airport started life as a grassy landing strip for hobby pilots.
In the 40-plus years since, it has become something else – a first-rate general aviation facility serving both weekend pleasure pilots and the business world. The planned runway expansion is the logical culminating step in that evolution.
But that doesn’t make it an easy step. Growth often brings consequences, some of which can be negative for those directly affected by them. That is the case here.
For the airport to grow, some adjacent farmland and a few homes must be purchased. A stand of trees at a nearby cemetery must be cut – although this change will come even without the expansion. Eventually, more planes will land and take off. Some will be larger jets.
Noise is a concern. So is the airport’s flight path, which has planes landing and taking off over the town of Abingdon. The local community college even has a written plan to deal with an airplane crash on campus, a section ominously titled, "aircraft disaster."
Tri-Cities
KVJI-Virgina Highlands Airport
In the 40-plus years since, it has become something else – a first-rate general aviation facility serving both weekend pleasure pilots and the business world. The planned runway expansion is the logical culminating step in that evolution.
But that doesn’t make it an easy step. Growth often brings consequences, some of which can be negative for those directly affected by them. That is the case here.
For the airport to grow, some adjacent farmland and a few homes must be purchased. A stand of trees at a nearby cemetery must be cut – although this change will come even without the expansion. Eventually, more planes will land and take off. Some will be larger jets.
Noise is a concern. So is the airport’s flight path, which has planes landing and taking off over the town of Abingdon. The local community college even has a written plan to deal with an airplane crash on campus, a section ominously titled, "aircraft disaster."
Tri-Cities
KVJI-Virgina Highlands Airport
