Pilots Bill Leff and Bob Steele said they want to build side-by-side structures because the lease is not being renewed on the unit they now share at airport.
FIRST REPORT:
Two new hangars are proposed for Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport, as a veteran pilot said he wants to add to the growth at the general aviation site he has used over nearly five decades.
Bill Leff’s application to build the hangars — which he said would be a combined investment of about $370,000 — comes at a time when he said development at the airport on Montgomery County’s southern tip is on the upswing.
“They’ve done a lot of improvements — the last few years especially,” said Leff.
Plans set to be heard by the Miami Twp. Zoning Commission Tuesday night include a hangar for Leff’s company — Dreamland Ohio LLC — and another for SSKY Hangar Ltd., records show.
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If approved, they would become the third and fourth new hangars built in recent years at the general aviation airport owned by the city of Dayton, and located near Interstate 75 and Austin Landing.
A hangar built by the city of Dayton in 2017 cost about $1 million while one built later by The Connor Group was valued at about $5 million, township records show.
The hangars in Leff’s application don’t compare to the cost of the other two – especially the one built by The Connor Group. That structure featuring a considerable amount of glass – similar to the company’s headquarters next door - is considered a top-of-the-line facility and is nearly 2.5 times the size as each of the two proposed sites.
Yet, the proposal is “a substantial investment in the community and the airport development,” said the longtime Dayton Air Show pilot who has worked with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
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Leff said the lease he has on a 10,000 square foot hangar that’s next to The Connor Group’s site is set to expire and he wasn’t offered a renewal. So he and Bob Steele – who shares the hangar and operates SSKY – both plan to build new ones just south of the hangar owned by Aviation Sales Inc., he said.
Both proposed hangars would each total about 7,200 square feet and be located between the airport taxiway and Ohio 741, according to Miami Twp. records.
Both hangars would be built of steel on a plot of land just under one half acre. The larger one would be 85 feet by 85 feet while Leff’s would be 80 feet by 90 feet, records show.
A facility of that size will accommodate Leff’s four aircraft, he said.
“They are both big enough to accommodate most of the smaller corporate jets,” he said.
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Neither hangar will exceed 30 feet in height, records show.
Both sites are a part of the current airport layout plan – which has received Federal Aviation Administration approval – and will comply with the DWB’s stormwater pollution prevention plan, according to the application.
Pending passage by the township, approval for permit requests for the two proposed hangars are targeted for Sept. 25 and construction completion by the end of the year, records show.
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