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Warwick Municipal Airport hosts Tenant Appreciation Day

| 27 Sep 2018 | 07:23
    Photos by Roger Gavan Warwick Municipal Airport hosted Tenant Appreciation Day on Sunday, Sept. 9.
    Photos by Roger Gavan Warwick Municipal Airport hosted Tenant Appreciation Day on Sunday, Sept. 9.
    Guests also had an opportunity to take a spin and a splash down on Greenwood Lake with Steve Kent, Cessna regional sales manager and vice president of the Warwick Valley Pilots Association, in his amphibious Cessna aircraft.
    Guests also had an opportunity to take a spin and a splash down on Greenwood Lake with Steve Kent, Cessna regional sales manager and vice president of the Warwick Valley Pilots Association, in his amphibious Cessna aircraft.
    More than a few of the tenants are owners of vintage airplanes with historic manufacturers’ designations like this Stearman P17 owned by Airport Manager Dave MacMillan.
    More than a few of the tenants are owners of vintage airplanes with historic manufacturers’ designations like this Stearman P17 owned by Airport Manager Dave MacMillan.
    Both front and rear seats in World War II trainers had a full sit of controls and instruments but were soloed from the back seat only so that the pilot would be seated behind the aircraft's center of gravity.
    Both front and rear seats in World War II trainers had a full sit of controls and instruments but were soloed from the back seat only so that the pilot would be seated behind the aircraft's center of gravity.

WARWICK — On Sunday, Sept. 9, Town of Warwick Supervisor Michael Sweeton was among the guests at the annual Warwick Municipal Airport Tenant Appreciation Day.
Everyone enjoyed a display of antique aircraft, musical entertainment and lots of food.
And Sweeton was among those who had an opportunity to take a spin and a splash down on Greenwood Lake with Steve Kent, Cessna regional sales manager and vice president of the Warwick Valley Pilots Association, in his amphibious Cessna aircraft.
The town, which leases the field to the Pilots Association, owns Warwick Municipal Airport.
Unlike many of the airport's community events, this event is geared to thanking the approximately 50 local pilots and their families who base their aircraft at the airport.
And more than a few of the tenants are owners of vintage airplanes with historic manufacturers' designations like Stearman P17, Boeing P23, Cessna L-19 Bird Dog, Ryan PT-22 and Tiger Moth.
HistoryAccording to "Orange County Airports Past and Present," by June Simpson, Warwick-Wickham Airport, now known as Warwick Municipal Airport, has a history dating back to 1926 when Mary F. Clark deeded farmland to the Wickham Lake Development Corporation, which had plans for the establishment of an airport for early pilots.
In 1932 development of the airport became a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, which was completed in 1938. By that time, the Town of Warwick had already purchased the 86 acre airport for $5,000.
Ed Gorski, who had served as Amelia Earhart's mechanic, and his wife, Julia, managed the airport in 1942 when it was selected as a Civilian Pilot Training Program during World War II.
In 1967 the Town of Warwick purchased an additional 41 acres for the airport.
Good neighbor rulesDuring the 1970s the airport fell into disrepair but in 1983 the Warwick Valley Pilots Association leased the field from the Town of Warwick and immediately made dramatic improvements.
The association also initiated its own "good neighbor" rules and regulations for the direction of flight in the local traffic pattern and banned "touch and go" practice landings and take-offs as well as transient night landings.
"We have a lot to offer here," said Airport Manager Dave MacMillan. "It's a beautiful small airport. The views are magnificent. The area is fenced in along with a security gate. And we're all here to help."
For additional information about the Warwick Municipal Airport, call MacMillan at 845-987-1320.
- Roger Gavan