Steve Noyes in front of his retired Cessna T-418 - photo by Gillian R. Swart
The historic Plum Island Airport has emerged from years of tearing down, controversy, and semi-stagnation into a flurry of activity under its new manager.
“What I have in mind is to bring it back to the fun old airport it used to be,” Steve Noyes says. Noyes is the president of the new non-profit company, Plum Island Aerodrome Inc., which has taken over day-to-day operations at the privately owned, public use field. “I’ll be the chief cook and bottle washer.”
The chief cook has already made a few changes. For one, the licensed pilot is now running the aerial tours, which had been run by an outside company, in his vintage, ex-Army Cessna T-41B. For another, he has re-built the hangar that was torn down by a previous operator.
“I’m doing,” Noyes says, “and actions speak louder than words.” Noyes hopes that the changes will give small aircraft owners a reason to be at the airport. The new hangar, and aircraft repair and aviation fuel services, will translate into more traffic. The airport has had a couple of good years as far as people flying in to go into town or to the beach, but now will have more practical drawing power.
The airport—while always a local draw from the time aviation pioneers began test flights over the marshes in 1910—has been flying below the radar regionally speaking for years. When previous operators Kathy and Dick Hordon in 1999 asked Historic New England (known then as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, or SPNEA) for a 30-year lease on the land, SPNEA declined, indicating that there was probably a better use for the land. It also cited safety concerns about planes flying close to its historic property, the adjacent circa 1690 farmhouse on the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm.
The public rallied behind its historic airfield and SPNEA rethought its decision. In late 2000, it solicited proposals from persons or groups interested in operating the airport, including the Hordons. Another proposal came from Plum Island Community Airfield (PICA), a community group that was ultimately granted a five-year lease in July 2001.
The airport was closed for a period in late 2000, and re-opened with a flourish under PICA in August 2001. Four generations of his family watched as Noyes landed his vintage aircraft to open the ceremonies.
PICA appointed Noyes—who had also submitted a proposal to SPNEA—as fixed base operator a year ago and still maintains oversight of the operation. Noyes signed a ten-year lease agreement between Plum Island Aerodrome Inc. and Historic New England last summer.
While Noyes has a degree in airport management, is a certified aircraft mechanic, and has run a business restoring vintage aircraft for years, he says that running a non-profit is a big learning curve for him. He has a lot of incentive, however—he lives practically at the end of the runway, he used to have a hangar at the field, and his great, great maternal uncle, aviator Harry Atwood, was at 2B2 (the field’s official designation) when those 1910 test flights took place. He is directly descended from James Noyes, one of the first settlers of Newbury, and has a distant familial connection to the Little family, who donated their ancestral farm to SPNEA.
Speaking from a personal standpoint, running a non-profit is a challenge he’s more than willing to take on.
“This is the first [manager] in some time who has a direct relationship with the airport,” said Charlie Eaton, one of the airport’s daily attendants who first visited the airport in 1947. Eaton’s father, cousin, and two uncles were flying out of 2B2 back in the day when there were multiple hangars and a café on the site. “This is his primary concern, not his secondary concern.”
It’s a concern that is not overly worried about the bottom line. “The airport’s going to run on people more than money,” Noyes says.
So it’s a good thing that the field has so much community support. People turned out late last November to help Noyes and other regulars build the hangar, which will not only be a service area, but a working museum. Two Newburyport High School students inquired about doing work-study there, and Noyes encourages school groups to come over for tours. The Burgess Aviation Museum, named for aviation pioneer W. Starling Burgess and featuring models built by Eaton, will be housed in the main building for now.
Legend has it that the field’s beacon was the last light that Charles Lindbergh saw as he headed out over the Atlantic on his historic 1927 flight. The beacon is gone, but the beloved airport remains on course.
Plum Island Airfield, 24 Plum Island Turnpike, Newbury, MA. For more photos and updates on the status and events at the airfield, go to http://2b2-flyby.blogspot.com
Business Spotlight: A New Era Takes Off at Plum Island Airfield
Steve Noyes in front of his retired Cessna T-418 - photo by Gillian R. Swart
The historic Plum Island Airport has emerged from years of tearing down, controversy, and semi-stagnation into a flurry of activity under its new manager.
“What I have in mind is to bring it back to the fun old airport it used to be,” Steve Noyes says. Noyes is the president of the new non-profit company, Plum Island Aerodrome Inc., which has taken over day-to-day operations at the privately owned, public use field. “I’ll be the chief cook and bottle washer.”
The chief cook has already made a few changes. For one, the licensed pilot is now running the aerial tours, which had been run by an outside company, in his vintage, ex-Army Cessna T-41B. For another, he has re-built the hangar that was torn down by a previous operator.
“I’m doing,” Noyes says, “and actions speak louder than words.” Noyes hopes that the changes will give small aircraft owners a reason to be at the airport. The new hangar, and aircraft repair and aviation fuel services, will translate into more traffic. The airport has had a couple of good years as far as people flying in to go into town or to the beach, but now will have more practical drawing power.
The airport—while always a local draw from the time aviation pioneers began test flights over the marshes in 1910—has been flying below the radar regionally speaking for years. When previous operators Kathy and Dick Hordon in 1999 asked Historic New England (known then as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, or SPNEA) for a 30-year lease on the land, SPNEA declined, indicating that there was probably a better use for the land. It also cited safety concerns about planes flying close to its historic property, the adjacent circa 1690 farmhouse on the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm.
The public rallied behind its historic airfield and SPNEA rethought its decision. In late 2000, it solicited proposals from persons or groups interested in operating the airport, including the Hordons. Another proposal came from Plum Island Community Airfield (PICA), a community group that was ultimately granted a five-year lease in July 2001.
The airport was closed for a period in late 2000, and re-opened with a flourish under PICA in August 2001. Four generations of his family watched as Noyes landed his vintage aircraft to open the ceremonies.
PICA appointed Noyes—who had also submitted a proposal to SPNEA—as fixed base operator a year ago and still maintains oversight of the operation. Noyes signed a ten-year lease agreement between Plum Island Aerodrome Inc. and Historic New England last summer.
While Noyes has a degree in airport management, is a certified aircraft mechanic, and has run a business restoring vintage aircraft for years, he says that running a non-profit is a big learning curve for him. He has a lot of incentive, however—he lives practically at the end of the runway, he used to have a hangar at the field, and his great, great maternal uncle, aviator Harry Atwood, was at 2B2 (the field’s official designation) when those 1910 test flights took place. He is directly descended from James Noyes, one of the first settlers of Newbury, and has a distant familial connection to the Little family, who donated their ancestral farm to SPNEA.
Speaking from a personal standpoint, running a non-profit is a challenge he’s more than willing to take on.
“This is the first [manager] in some time who has a direct relationship with the airport,” said Charlie Eaton, one of the airport’s daily attendants who first visited the airport in 1947. Eaton’s father, cousin, and two uncles were flying out of 2B2 back in the day when there were multiple hangars and a café on the site. “This is his primary concern, not his secondary concern.”
It’s a concern that is not overly worried about the bottom line. “The airport’s going to run on people more than money,” Noyes says.
So it’s a good thing that the field has so much community support. People turned out late last November to help Noyes and other regulars build the hangar, which will not only be a service area, but a working museum. Two Newburyport High School students inquired about doing work-study there, and Noyes encourages school groups to come over for tours. The Burgess Aviation Museum, named for aviation pioneer W. Starling Burgess and featuring models built by Eaton, will be housed in the main building for now.
Legend has it that the field’s beacon was the last light that Charles Lindbergh saw as he headed out over the Atlantic on his historic 1927 flight. The beacon is gone, but the beloved airport remains on course.
Plum Island Airfield, 24 Plum Island Turnpike, Newbury, MA. For more photos and updates on the status and events at the airfield, go to http://2b2-flyby.blogspot.com