Aviation View Jan 2023

36 AVIATION VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 2, ISSUE 4 N ewton, Kansas is a town of about 19,000 people. The county it sits in, Harvey County, has about 35,000 people. “All told, these are some of the hardest working people you’ll ever meet,” says Brian T. Palmer, Aviation Director for the Newton City-County Airport. “They help their neighbors, there is a sense that everybody is there for everyone.” While Newton is just 20 minutes north of downtown Wichita, it’s not really a bedroom community. As Palmer explains, “It’s just that some people live here and work there, while others live there and work here. The history is Mennonite – and that means wheat fields. The whole area grew up around wheat farms at the time of western migration. Agriculture is still a big part of who we are and what we do.” One of the biggest enterprises in Harvey County is AGCO, which is a farm implement manufacturing company. There is also a significant presence in the aerospace sector. The Newton City-County Airport, specifically, has almost 500 people employed throughout the businesses on the property. Dating back to the mid-1940s, Newton City-County Airport was built as an auxiliary flight training facility for the U.S. Navy. After World War II it was converted into a municipal facility that is jointly owned by the City of Newton AT A GLANCE NEWTON CITY-COUNTY AIRPORT WHAT: A public general aviation airport and reliever airport for Wichita’s Mid-Continent Airport WHERE: City of Newton, and Harvey County, Kansas WEBSITE: www.flyewk.com OUNTY AIRPORT A true Kansas aviation gem