N97533 parked in front of the gas pump at Simsbury airport

Simsbury airport is a small airport that fills people like me with a kind of fanciful nostalgia that's associated with flying small airplanes. It has a small single paved strip that's 2200 feet long. The single non-hangar building on the property hosts a pilot's lounge, the office for the local flying club and a single "learn to fly" business. There's no one in the building, but the door isn't locked. There is no front gate, you can just drive out onto the taxi area in your car - the only impediment is a sign that says "unauthorized access prohibited." The gas is entirely self-serve. You can find a variety of planes parked on the grass, but they all fall into the same category. Warriors, Archers, Cessna 150s and 172s, and a wide variety of taildraggers. A lone Piper Aztec twin sits on the pavement, probably too heavy for the muddy grass that the rest of the planes inhabit.

According to the airnav page the airport is operated by the local flying club, as opposed to most small airports at which often the local FBO or town airport commission runs the show. Small airports like this are a dying breed, but they are still the backbone of this country's aviation infrastructure. By aircraft, 75% of the flights made in this country are in small planes like this and these little airports are both their source and destination. They relieve traffic congestion on the larger airports while at the same time are the proving ground for the next generation of airline pilots. (There's nothing like trying to land an ornery plane on a 2200 foot strip in a gusty crosswind to hone your skills.) These airports fall to a variety of disasters. As these airports are surrounded by more and more sprawl, developers see them as prime real estate and often make deals to acquire the land from local towns and counties, replacing them with more McMansions. People who build houses or move into houses near these airports are shocked, shocked by the noises that the airplanes make. Often these people have been in those houses a fraction of the amount of time the airport has been around.

I figure that as a pilot I should enjoy these places while I can before they are all swallowed up and a large piece of our history is gone forever. I believe that all children have dreams of airplanes, I know I did. These airports are the places that those dreams are realized.