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26th Nov 2004, 18:09
The little airport at College Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, is celebrating its 95th birthday.
quoting:
College Park Airport Still Flies High at 95
Updated: Friday, Nov. 26, 2004 - 10:11 AM
By JONATHAN MARINO
The Prince George's Journal
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - Immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the College Park Airport faced a dilemma.
The oldest operating airport in the U.S. would have to close its doors and hangars. The cautionary ban would last only six months, but it was long enough to have an impact on a unique local business.
The 94th Aero Squadron restaurant, next to the abandoned runway, lost some of its customers.
"Initially we thought business would decline," said the restaurant's auditor, Ahmed Chowdhury. "We lost maybe 15 percent of our business."
Now, the runway is up and running again, albeit restricted to about a quarter of its pre-Sept. 11 air traffic.
But the restaurant, frequented by locals and parents visiting students at the nearby University of Maryland, took only slight losses despite the restriction.
SNIP
The neighboring College Park Aviation Museum [has] plenty to offer.
The 27,000-square-foot museum showcases the little-known but historical airport's firsts. Though the Wright brothers will forever be synonymous with Kitty Hawk, N.C., Wilbur Wright in 1909 taught a pair of military officers to fly the government's first airplane [at College Park].
Over the next decade, the airport hosted the nation's first military school, the first testing of a bomb-dropping device from a plane, the initial testing of an airplane mounted machine gun ....
..... end quote ......
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KCGS
seacue
quoting:
College Park Airport Still Flies High at 95
Updated: Friday, Nov. 26, 2004 - 10:11 AM
By JONATHAN MARINO
The Prince George's Journal
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - Immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the College Park Airport faced a dilemma.
The oldest operating airport in the U.S. would have to close its doors and hangars. The cautionary ban would last only six months, but it was long enough to have an impact on a unique local business.
The 94th Aero Squadron restaurant, next to the abandoned runway, lost some of its customers.
"Initially we thought business would decline," said the restaurant's auditor, Ahmed Chowdhury. "We lost maybe 15 percent of our business."
Now, the runway is up and running again, albeit restricted to about a quarter of its pre-Sept. 11 air traffic.
But the restaurant, frequented by locals and parents visiting students at the nearby University of Maryland, took only slight losses despite the restriction.
SNIP
The neighboring College Park Aviation Museum [has] plenty to offer.
The 27,000-square-foot museum showcases the little-known but historical airport's firsts. Though the Wright brothers will forever be synonymous with Kitty Hawk, N.C., Wilbur Wright in 1909 taught a pair of military officers to fly the government's first airplane [at College Park].
Over the next decade, the airport hosted the nation's first military school, the first testing of a bomb-dropping device from a plane, the initial testing of an airplane mounted machine gun ....
..... end quote ......
http://www.airnav.com/airport/KCGS
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