Aviation View Magazine | Volume 1, Issue 4

69 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4 O ne of the original 13 Colonies of America, the birthplace of no less than eight former presidents, Cherokee territory from way back, and covered with rolling hills, lush fields, dappled forests, and the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia truly is beautiful to behold. There is a little place tucked away in the southwest corner of the state known as Washington County, in which the county seat is Abingdon, a town with some 8,000 people and a storied history all its own. Crossroads of two Cherokee trading routes, a fort during the Indian Wars, and home of the famous Martha Washington College for girls, from 1860 to 1932. Abingdon is served by the Virginia Highlands Airport that is located just a couple of miles outside of town. The airport was built around the same time that the Interstate Highway System was being developed and Southwest Virginia was becoming more connected to the rest of the country. The Appalachian Power Company began construction of its Clinch River Power Plant in the area in the late 1950s. There was an employee who flew to work at the site, some 30 miles north of Abingdon, and leased a field from the St. John farm just next to U.S. Highway 11 to take off and land. Growing in fits and starts, this makeshift airstrip began to change into something larger in the early ‘80s, when local groups and government met with the FAA and convinced them of the economic need for a local airport. Today, Virginia Highlands Airport sits on 185 acres of land. It has a terminal, 49 T-Hangars, seven corporate hangars, and five clear-span hangars. There are general aviation aircraft based on site. Aside from GA and business aircraft, Virginia Highlands is also home to 55 other private and government aircraft. Notably, it is home to one of only two Virginia State Virginia Hig Onwards and upwards