Economic impact

Most airports in Southwestern Pennsylvania opened in the 1930s and '40s. Excitement generated by Charles A. Lindbergh's flight from New York to Paris in 1928 combined with a post-World War II economic boom to draw thousands of men and women to airfields.

The airport Cortis manages outside Connellsville was one of the first in Western Pennsylvania, opening in 1938. It was the product of a cooperative effort between the city of Connellsville, Fayette County and the federal Works Progress Administration program.

It had been the site of a Taylorcraft airplane maintenance facility and a U.S. Marine Corps training base before falling into disrepair in the late 1980s and '90s.

A new passenger terminal and plans for a runway extension have revived interest in the facility. The Fayette County Airport Authority has been criticized by Connellsville residents after it dropped Connellsville from the name in favor of Joseph A. Hardy Regional Airport early this year. Hardy, a county commissioner, founder of 84 Lumber and developer of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, has given the airport a line of credit and cash grants for its operations.

Cortis, who has been manager of the Connellsville airport for four years, says the $2.4 million terminal building brought credibility to the airport. "This building was something that we needed. We had a little tiny facility before."

The previous facility was "more on the order of an auto-repair garage," he says. "There was a big hangar that we stored planes in with a little office area and kind of a little room next to it and some bathrooms."

He says pilots were willing to go down there, but tourists weren't comfortable when they were dropped off by a commuter service.

The county airport authority cites the economic effect the updated facility will have. Cortis says corporations have come to expect the ability to fly in and out of their facilities.

Cortis, who also is a pilot, says he hopes the airport's hangars will be improved and expanded. He also expects tourism will play a big part in the airport's future.

"I've seen a big jump in tourism the last couple of years," he says. "I can't believe that people would come from Florida and Canada to go to Fallingwater. We get that."

Hanging on

Jim Barclay grew up along the grass runways outside Mt. Pleasant that his grandfather developed in 1946. He bought the airport from his father in 1978 and became a flight instructor and successful owner despite having cerebral palsy.

"In the 1980s, it was super-profitable," Barclay says. "Instructors were making more than steelworkers were. But we were working a lot harder, putting in long days."

Barclay, 64, says he no longer sells fuel at the airport, and post-9/11 restrictions on when, where and how pilots use their airplanes have taken a lot of the joy out of flying.

"Back in the 1950s and '60s, those were the golden years," he says. "You could get out and really enjoy yourself without worrying about getting smacked in the fingers every time you do something wrong."

Barclay's wife of 40 years, Carol, died in May, and he says he's lost his passion for the airport. Carol paid the bills, he says, and he's not sure what he wants to do with the operation now.

Barclay's friend, Kozar, 75, a licensed airplane mechanic and owner of a Cessna 150, keeps the 14 acres of runways cut and helps with maintenance of the buildings.

"I don't know what (Barclay) is going to do," Kozar says. "The one time he says he's gonna sell it, and the next time he says he doesn't know. I hope it stays an airport."

Keeping the faith

Dick Eyler stays in a home just a few steps from the 2,000-foot runway at Inter-County Airport that can accommodate single-engine recreation and sport airplanes. Just a few planes are stored there, including Eyler's, a 1946 Aeronca Chief.

His brother, Robert "Buzz" Eyler, is a flight instructor, and the Eyler boys inherited their love of flying from their dad, Frank Eyler, a stunt pilot who opened the airport.

"My parents are gone now; my brother and I have inherited the place," Dick Eyler says. "We're trying to build it back up a little bit and get a little business back here. It was never a money-maker. My dad built it in the 1940s. It was just a way where he could fly his own airplane. He got a commercial license on it so he could take in a few fellas to keep their own airplanes here and just help pay expenses."

Eyler says there have been fewer than 10 landings this summer at the airport. A tank that stored fuel for 30 years was taken out in the face of new Environmental Protection Agency regulations, he says. One of the hangars where the family stored its planes was damaged in a winter storm and will be torn down.

"We're doing this pretty much ourselves. Everybody in the family was determined to keep it. I knew my brother and I did, but my sisters also consider this home. Everybody comes here for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and the Fourth of July.

"It's never going to be a big operation because there's not room here. A little airport like this, the simple fact is we love this or we wouldn't be here."

 

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History of flight in Western Pennsylvania

1793

Jan. 9, 1793, marked the beginning of aviation history in America, when Francois Jean Pierre Blanchard launched his hot air balloon from the exercise yard of the Walnut Street Gaol in Philadelphia. Present to witness the event were President George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Mifflin, then governor of Pennsylvania.

1925

Contract Air Mail Act (referred to as the Kelley Act after its chief sponsor, Rep. Clyde Kelly of Pennsylvania) was the first major legislative step toward the creation of a private airline industry.

1927

Gov. Gifford Pinchot created a State Bureau of Aeronautics.

1929
Sept. 27

Dedication of the Butler County Airport.

Oct, 7

Opening of the Grube Airport, now known as the Punxsutawney Airport.

1930

Watres Act, named after one of its chief sponsors, Rep. Laurence H. Watres of Pennsylvania, authorized the Post Office to enter into long-term contracts for air mail.

1931
Sept. 11

Opening of the Allegheny County Airport.

1938
May 15

The first U.S. Airmail flight in Pennsylvania -- from Ebensburg to Johnstown -- is completed.

Oct. 1

Opening of the Connellsville Airport.

Oct. 22

Formal dedication at Martinsburg Airport (Altoona-Blair County Airport).

1939

All American Aviation, a Pennsylvania company, was licensed to carry mail to 54 communities in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware and West Viriginia. All American entered a period of rapid expansion and became Allegheny Airline.

1946
July 4

Dedication of the Mt. Pleasant-Scottdale Airport.

Dec. 16

The Johnstown-Cambria County Airport opens.

1949
April 7

Opening of the Washington County Airport.

1952
May 31

Opening of Pittsburgh International Airport.

1953
May 2

Dedication of the Beaver County Airport.

June 22

Dedication of the Somerset County Airport.

1955
May 15

Opening of the Zelienople Municipal Airport.

1960
June 1

Dedication of the Dubois-Jefferson County Airport.

Aug. 12

Opening of the Butler Farm Show Airport.

Oct. 31

Opening of the Ebensburg Airport.

1961
March 9

The Pittsburgh Air Terminal, now known as the Pittsburgh Monroeville Airport, is licensed as a commercial facility.

1967
April 10

Rostraver Airport is licensed to Rostraver Township.

1969
Nov. 19

Opening of the Pittsburgh Bouquet Airpark (now known as the Greensburg-Jeannette Regional Airport).

1972
June 19

Opening of the Inter County Airport.

Sept. 25

Opening of the Seven Springs Airport.

1994
May 20

Opening of the Bedford County Airport.

1998
Sept. 1

Opening of the Rock Airport in Tarentum. This facility first opened in the 1960s as the Remich Airport and then later as West Penn Airport.

 

1999
Sept. 10

Dedication of the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, which originally was established in 1924 as the Longview Flying Field.

Source: Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation