Aviation View | Volume 2, Issue 2

49 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2 ER I E-OTTAWA INTERNAT IONAL A I RPORT diversity of wildlife. We are home to some of the largest wetlands preserves in the country; we have quite a reputation in the birding world, people come from all over to watch the migration of birds from South America to Canada each spring and to take part in “The Biggest Week in American Birding.” Erie-Ottawa International Airport is owned by the Erie-Ottawa Airport Authority and operates as its own Fixed Base Operator (FBO). Flights are about 60% tourist-based and 40% business travel. The general aviation facility has two runways: 18/36 runs north-south and is 4001 by 75 feet. Runway 9/27 is the east-west approach and comes in at 5646 feet long by 100 feet wide, it has grooved pavement with a precision GPS approach and LED lighting, including PAPIs and REILs. The airport accommodates traffic up to the Bombardier Global 6000. Jess Howard Electric Company has done most of the recent lighting work at the airport. Finken notes, “We have done several projects with them over the years. They are professional and very responsive to our questions and concerns, which makes them a wonderful company to work with.” Among the key aviation-related businesses on the field, Griffing Flying Service, offers a Part 135 charter service, a maintenance facility, and has a flight school. Their fleet consists of a large variety of aircraft from a Piper Archer to a Hawker 800. One of the more colorful bits of history celebrated at EOIA is that it was once home to the “World’s Shortest Airline.” In 1936, one of the early barnstormers, Milton Hersberger, purchased the first Ford Tri-Motor and began an air service to the nearby Lake Erie Islands. Affectionately known as the “Tin Goose”, the legendary all- metal aircraft, which pushed speeds of 85 miles an hour, took about 10 minutes to fly to each of 12 landing strips – averaging less than 45 minutes round trip.