Aviation View | Volume 1, Issue 2

43 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 SAWYER COUNTY A I RPORT for growth. “Back in the ‘50s when they built the airport here the idea that they would need 50 or 100 hangars was probably inconceivable,” says Leslie, “and so they picked a beautiful scenic location along the Namekagon River which leaves us little room for expansion. I think this is our primary challenge when it comes to what we do next and we need to be looking at that in our Master Plan – expansion now means moving a lot of infrastructure including roads.” Reflecting back on earlier days, he muses, “When I was a kid growing up, it wouldn’t be uncommon to have 30 or even 40 piston aircraft tied down or chocked down or strapped to anything that we could find to keep them from blowing away. On weekends the ramps were filled with smaller planes and people just getting away for a couple days. Perhaps it is just that I grew up at the airport when all that was happening, and I know that business jets keep the airport open, but we have a real aviation tradition in Wisconsin, and I would love to see that come back. We joke and call it the $100 burger – where people fly in for a meal, but there is something nostalgic about that tourist season use of the airport, and we have the perfect place here for you to come and take advantage of that.”