Dixon Municipal Airport and Erie Airpark had been amongst solely six statewide to be singled out as Illinois Division of Transportation 2022 airports of the yr Tuesday on the Illinois Public Airports Affiliation Fall Convention in Galena.
Dixon’s Charles R. Walgreen Discipline, at 1650 Franklin Grove Highway, received the class of Normal Aviation Airport of the Yr, with a runway fewer than 5,000 ft.
The airport, FAA identifier C73, was established one mile east of Dixon in April 1940. It has two runways; its longest is a 3,899-foot paved runway.
It’s managed by Jim Canterbury.
Erie Airpark, 8689 Star Highway, was named Personal Airport of the Yr. Since 1999, it’s been owned by Jim Robinson and his spouse of 56 years, Su. It’s residence base for the Illowa Sport Flyers Membership.
Jim Robinson, a light-weight sports activities pilot and former flying teacher, was stunned and delighted by the popularity, he stated Wednesday.
“We take a number of satisfaction in our property,” Robinson stated, including that the airpark has every kind of actions – picnics, bonfires, and the membership assembly and occasions, to call a number of.
“It’s not only a place to park your aircraft. We actually encourage the blokes to be flying. We’ve been busy for the reason that day we purchased it. We simply love the journey.
“We’re very lively, and that exercise is what state likes to see.”
The airpark, FFA identifier 3H5, has 30 hangars, solely two of that are empty in the intervening time, and a 2,300-foot grass runway strip.
It’s the camaraderie, although, that makes the public-use park so particular, Robinson stated.
Discover Erie Airpark or Jim Robinson on Fb to study extra.
Winners had been chosen primarily based within the facility’s accomplishments, together with an impressive partnership with IDOT and a robust dedication to buyer security and satisfaction, IDOT stated in a information launch Tuesday saying the awards.
Cooperation and coordination with the state, security information, upkeep of the ability, and promotion of aviation and academic occasions had been components thought of.
“Aviation is significant to our state’s financial system and a pillar of our multimodal system that makes us the North American transportation hub we’re as we speak,” Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman stated within the launch.
“Our aviation companions help a wide range of industries and make quite a few contributions to boost the standard of life in Illinois. We current these awards as tokens of recognition and gratitude for his or her efforts.”
The opposite recipients had been the Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington-Regular, Main Airport of the Yr; DuPage Airport in West Chicago, Reliever Airport of the Yr; Better Kankakee Airport, Normal Aviation Airport of the Yr (runway larger than 5,000 ft); and AbbVie Heliport in North Chicago,Heliport of the Yr.
Illinois is residence to 100 public-use airports and heliports, with practically 3,000 plane registered with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The system of airports helps greater than 492,000 jobs, with a mixed payroll of $21.9 billion and a complete financial affect of $95.4 billion. Throughout the state, there are greater than 700 aviation services, together with heliports, balloon, glider and ultra-light touchdown services, and grass touchdown strips, the discharge stated.