For more than 80 years, Runway 21R, one of the original paved runways at Cincinnati’s Lunken Airport (KLUK), has withstood generations of student pilots, none of whom I recall careening into nearby hangars or even digging serious divots in the adjacent grass. But the FAA is knuckling down about a long-time mandate that the runway has to go.
Why? Well, it’s old and has centerline drainage but, most importantly, it’s too close to a row of corporate hangars full of jets—used for both business and privately owned. I don’t know if FAA standards have changed or if they are just being enforced, but I do know that some of these “big operators” have expansion plans and there’s nowhere to go except into the runway’s safety area. The reality is, with 21R gone, accommodating traffic from three busy flight schools with a steady stream of “big iron” on a single runway is going to be a challenge…or, as one controller opined, “It sucks.”
