WHAT: Community forums for Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport layout plan.
WHEN: Tuesday (three sessions – 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.; 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; 4:30 to 7 p.m.)
WHERE: The Aviation Sales Inc. building at Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport, 10550 N. Springboro Pike, Miami Twp.
Proposals to extend the runway at the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport and relocate a portion of Austin Boulevard will be part of a plan outlined this week.
A series of community forums scheduled for Tuesday will focus on the layout plan for the 527-acre general aviation airport on Ohio 741.
“The biggest thing that probably people will see on the plan is the proposed extension of the runway, the relocation of Austin Road and then…. a lot of the improvements to the plan is future development,” said Terry Slaybaugh, director of aviation at Dayton International Airport, which owns Dayton-Wright Brothers.
The three forums are set for the morning, midday and early evening in the Aviation Sales Inc. building, said Linda Hughes, airport public relations and marketing manager.
Relocating a portion of the recently-widened Austin Boulevard has been discussed in recent weeks because of changes sought for the airport’s runway. In September, officials met to examine a multi-million dollar plan to realign a section of Austin Boulevard north of the airport to allow aircraft greater use of the 5,000-foot runway.
While discussion at that time included getting greater use of the existing runway, the plan presented Tuesday will include a proposal to extend it 500 feet, Slaybaugh said.
“This update proposes adding pavement to the runway,” he said. “And that’ really just based on the size and type of aircraft that through our survey we found are utilizing the airport now”. The changes should make the airport safer and provide better utilization, Slaybaugh said.
“As operators of the airport, we feel very strongly that the runway should be at least 5,000 feet and on this latest version 5,500 feet should be the optimum length,” he said, adding that the current proposal does not have “any more impact because it’s still within the footprint of the vacant land north of Austin,” which the airport owns.
The plan also calls for realigning taxiways, and addressing hangar space and other land use issues, he said.
“This is a 20-year look out. I think that’s important too that people need to know it’s a plan, it’s a blueprint that we present to the FAA,” Slaybaugh said. “One of the reasons we do update it and the reason we do include as much on it as we can is because if we go to the FAA for funding for any aviation improvement and if its not in the plan then we’re not eligible for funding.”
Miami Twp. works with airport officials to keep abreast of their plans and what – if any – impact they would have on the community, said township Planning and Zoning Director Chris Snyder, who plans on attending a forum session.
About the Author
