Airparks: a plane in your garage
Article
from
http://fogonazos.blogspot.com/
Located in Ocala, Florida, Jumbolair is
probably the best known
fly-in
community in the world. One of
the first purchasers in
the development was actor John Travolta who
keeps his own
Boeing 707 in his garage. Jumbolair contains
America's largest
private airstrip, but it’s not the only
airpark in the country.
According to the "Living With Your Plane"
Association, there are
about 430 airparks with a total of 22,000
home sites in the United
States.
Here you will see some interesting examples:
1. Jumbolair and Travolta's home Jumbolair is a luxury fly-in residential in
Florida with several million-dollar homes
and the longest private airstrip in the
country. In its 550 acres, 125 families use
to fly their particular planes along the
7,550-foot runway.
According to CNN, its most popular
neighbour, actor John Travolta, is
considered an extremist even among aviation
buffs. He's the
only private citizen in the U.S. to own and
operate a Boeing 707, a former commercial
airliner. He employs a cockpit crew of six,
who
along with Travolta wear navy-blue uniforms
and jaunty white caps.
John Travolta is qualified in several types
of single and multi-
engine aircraft, and has the highest pilot
medical certification possible.
His house is located immediately off the
main airstrip, and is designed
so his jets can taxi right up to two
outbuildings connected to the
main structure, which is shaped like a squat
air-control tower. "He uses
the 707 as the family van," says Jumbolair
developer Terri Jones.
"The Gulfstream is his sports car."
2. A plane in every garage
Residential airparks have proliferated in recent years in the US. Exact numbers are difficult to obtain, but since the first opened in California more than 60 years ago, over 500 have been built, and in all but four states, says Dave Sclair, founder of Living With Your Plane. A brief look through Google Maps into airparks like the one in Cameron (California) will show you that in some neighborhoods,
Residential airparks have proliferated in recent years in the US. Exact numbers are difficult to obtain, but since the first opened in California more than 60 years ago, over 500 have been built, and in all but four states, says Dave Sclair, founder of Living With Your Plane. A brief look through Google Maps into airparks like the one in Cameron (California) will show you that in some neighborhoods,
people park airplanes rather than minivans
in garages attached to their homes.
In many cases, roads are dual-use for both,
cars and planes. This issue has
become extremely controversial at a number
of residential airparks, but in all these
years, only one serious accident occurred:
when a taxiing airplane and a bicycle
collided on a taxiway. The youngster riding the bike was killed.
Most airpark communities are located in
warmer Southern
states - Florida is a popular location - and
in rural areas. Some
are situated at airports where nonresident
pilots are permitted to
land their aircraft. Others reserve landing
rights for residents only.
They range in size from a few small houses
near a landing strip to
full neighborhoods with multimillion-dollar
houses built near runways
able to accommodate private jets.
The houses are built on runways. Step into
the garage, taxi your plane onto a grass or
paved airstrip, and 10 minutes later you're
airborne.
Since 9/11, safety and security have become touchy topics in residential airpark communities. Airpark residents are quick to counter this argument, saying their communities are far safer than most small airports because the airplanes are kept close to people's homes.
Many people move to airparks simply to spend
more time with their airplanes, but it’s not
the only reason for residing at an airpark.
For
others, air parks are simply an extension of
the American obsession with the open road.
But perhaps, the most important reason for
all
is to experience that freeedom feeling:
being able to fly wherever and whenever you
want.
