Many seniors at our local high school are scrambling to make those last few campus visits before choosing which college they will attend in the fall. For younger students, perhaps even a few middle-schoolers, college tour season seems to have stretched into a year-round phenomenon. I imagine it’s the same across the country.
A small airplane can be an ideal tool for improving the efficiency of college visits. They make it easier to bundle several stops during a loop through, say, New England into a day or two instead of three or four. This is one of the cases in which our vast network of general aviation airports really shows its potential. Many fields are within a few miles of college campuses and others are within a short walk. A few are even on campus, especially at universities with specialized aviation programs.
College towns also tend to be fun places to visit. You can almost always find good scenery, food, shopping and nice places to stay. Here are a few to consider:
Ohio State University Airport (KOSU), Columbus, Ohio
Aviation came to Ohio State in 1917 as World War I stoked demand for trained pilots. The university kicked off its School of Aeronautics with a class of 16 cadets, who assembled aircraft in the school building and rolled them down a hill to an adjacent field for test flights and training. Within a few years, the school built a stadium on the field and bought land off campus for the airport, which was built in 1943 and today houses the university’s aviation program.
Max B. Swisher Skyhaven Airport (KRCM), Warrensburg, Missouri
Owned by the University of Central Missouri, the airport serves the local community and is the home of the school’s aviation program. The airport is named for the local entrepreneur and former UCM student who developed Swisher lawnmowers, including early versions of the highly maneuverable zero-turn radius riding mowers that are popular today. Max Swisher donated the airport to the school and sparked its aviation program, which today has a fleet of more than 24 light aircraft and nearly 500 students.
Northampton Airport (7B2), Northampton, Massachusetts
Call it the unofficial airport of Smith College, because while it does not share its name with the school, it takes only a few minutes to walk there from the ramp. The area truly is a liberal arts hub, with Mount Holyoke, Amherst College, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, within a few miles. The airport opened in 1929 and counts aviation pioneers Charles Lindbergh, Ruth Nichols, and the Granville brothers, designers of the Gee Bee racers, among the pilots it has served.
Easterwood Field Airport (KCLL), College Station, Texas
In 1938, the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M) began developing an airport and applied for flight school certification from the Civil Aeronautics Authority. Easterwood Field opened in 1940 with a single hangar and a turf runway. Today, it has two runways measuring 7,000 and 5,158 feet in length and is a busy hub for general aviation and limited airline service. The airport is a few miles from College Station but only about a quarter-mile from campus.
Cochise College Airport (P03), Douglas, Arizona
This on-campus airport is within walking distance of student housing and is home base for the college aviation program’s fleet of Piper Archers, Cessna R182s, and a Beechcraft Baron 55. The aviation program includes professional pilot and aircraft maintenance training. Cochise was among the first community colleges in Arizona when it opened in 1964. The college opened its public-use airport in 1973 to house its aviation department.
University Park Airport (KUNV), State College, Pennsylvania
What started as a small airstrip on land leased from Pennsylvania State University in the 1950s is now a busy airport with airlines making nonstop flights to several cities, including Chicago, Detroit, Newark, Orlando, and Tampa. In 1972, Penn State took over the airport’s lease and a number of improvements followed over several years, including a new passenger terminal in 1985, a second terminal in 1993, and a lengthening of the runway in 1997 to its current length of 6,701 feet.
