I was at a port meeting to correlate our annual car show with the "fly in". We have the car show at the airport, I have to have the ports blessing & give them a rundown on our plans. When they asked what was on the agenda I jokingly said 1/8th mile drags on the runway, funny thing they started talking about the possibility of making it happen. I always assumed that the FAA would never let it happen but was invited to the next meeting to discuss the possibility of shutting down the runway for a few hours of straight line racing. Anybody had a hand in making this happen that may shed some light on it? I live on a small island in Washington with 4,000 residents & about a 1/2 mile runway.
I have never organized a drag race at a airport, but I do know the airport operator owns the airport and the FAA "owns" the airspace above it. Many smaller airports close temporarily for a varitey of reasons including construction activites,rountine maintenance,fly ins and air shows. If you were talking about shutting down an Commercial Airport like LAX, the FAA would step in because it would impact the national air traffic system, but I doubt the General Aviation airport you are talking about would have such a impact. If the operator of the airport is willing to shut the runway down so you can race....jump on it before they change thier minds!!!!!!! .
I'm hoping to push my little town into doing something like this one day soon this year, or perhaps next year in conjunction with building in another little holiday into our tourism calendar. Let me know how it goes - we may want to tap your knowledge and info you've obtained in order to do our own racing event.
search Eaglefield drags here on the hamb video at you tube photo my A & the green slime falcon at recent eaglefield event
Our rural town of 3500 people has 1/8 mile runway drags every year on the August long weekend. They usually get 80 or so racers. It's quite a blast!
They run drag races at the airport in Wendover, often on the same weekend as Speedweek. You may try to contact someone there and see what they do. I doubt they have any more traffic than Orcas does.
We use to have airport drags in across the river from Bismarck ND in Mandan. From the stories I have been told was that the first one had to be strong armed to be allowed by the Governor of the state (who was a big car guy). Subsequently there was two more events within 10 years. From what I've been told is that insurance is a bugger, and that the airport manager will flat out not allow it to happen any more. I even called the guy to inquire about it, and was rudely told no way no how would it happen again, kinda like he though rather poorly of the drags. Even though in our little area we had a HUGE turnout of spectators and cars.
The "problem" is IF the FAA provides ANY financial support to an airport, it just is'nt going to happen very easily, as they have the major say. There are many drag strips at airports with inactive runways/condemned runways that, dispite the fact they have been operating for years, their time is limited. Wendover Raceway can no longer race on a runway it has used for years, and now uses a street for 1/8 mile drags (while they look for another location)(the Enola Gay was stationed at Wendover Field, the plane that dropped the nuclear bombs on Japan in WW II). I was a member of the Handlers Racing Association for four years, operators of Bremerton Raceway since 1959, and dispite many improvements in recent years, they are on thin ice also. The port has offered to sell property across from the airport to the Bremerton Motorsports Park (the orginization that now controls the leases and assigns who gets the condemned runway on what days). The FAA EVEN has a say in that however(selling the property NEAR an airport). The lease can be pulled at any time, without much notice. We can all thank 9/11 for a lot of what the FAA is doing now. The 1/8 mile drag strip at the Forks Municipal Airport is fighting the FAA's 5 year only lease on that airport (the city also owns the much larger Quilyute Airport); why does a SMALL city need two airports? IF your city is ready and willing to jump at it, then you should too. On Whidbey Island, near Coupeville, is a Navy auxilary field, a NOLF field (Naval Outlying Field) that is currently INACTIVE, and would be perfect for a drag strip; wide, long, somewhat isolated, and exempt from FAA control. There are two airports on Vancouver Island that host airports drags a few times a year, course they don't have our FAA, Port Alberni and Sechelt Airports. I wish you luck, and keep us posted. Butch/56sedandelivery. Maybe with a lot of luck, you can get Colton Harris Moore to M.C. it. HA HA! For those that don't know about him, he stole or crashed a plane he stole at this Orca Island Airport; among a lot of others, and various other crimes.
They used to drag race in Youngstown ,OH on the airport. I used to fly auto parts charters to YNG and land there. It was closer to the plant for the trucks than the big airport. This was in the '80's. Don't know if it still goes on or not. A small private airport that doesn't accept FAA funding can do anything they want as long as they issue a NOTAM that the airport will be closed. It's done all the time for airshows at small events.
Our hometown strip in Grand Island Ne. was at the airport. And at one time Lincoln, Ne. had a strip at the airport. Kearney Ne. still has drag racing at its airport. These three airports were bases for military aircraft during ww2 and had dormant runways to use. Thats my story and I am stickin to it. ~sololobo~
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