Aviation View | Volume 2, Issue 3

106 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 AT A GLANCE WHEELING – OHIO COUNTY AIRPORT WHAT: A public general aviation airport WHERE: Eight miles northeast of downtown Wheeling, West Virginia WEBSITE: www.ohiocountywv.gov/departments/wheeling-ohio-county-airport/108 T he City of Wheeling in Ohio County, West Virginia lies steeped in history along the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. This is a place that traces its history back long before the Civil War, before Independence, to the British Colony of Virginia – so you can imagine that tradition weighs heavily in the culture. Stepping into the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport transports you back in time to the last century, but don’t let the art deco glass doors and memorabilia fool you, this is tradition with a purpose – and a strong belief that we still have a lot to learn from the past. “So, this September we are having a special event at the airport,” says Randy Russell, Ohio County Administrator who has responsibility for the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport. “It is called Wheels over Wheeling, and we are bringing in some vintage planes, cars, trucks, even old-time equipment. Two special planes are coming, a Whiskey 7 (one of the old C47 cargo planes), and a C123K. In the past, the airport was a very important center of community life. And we are trying to re- engage the local community, get them back on site and realize what a beautiful location the airport is, and perhaps remember what it used to be like.” This focus on the historical importance of the airport is playing hand in hand with a thrust towards the future of not only the airport but the industry itself. In a time when there are shortages of everything from pilots to mechanics, Wheeling-Ohio County Airport is launching a new program hand in hand with the local university to develop new aeronautics programs across the field. “We have reached out to quite a few entities with this new objective,” Russell explains, “We want to put together an educational component through the airport with pilot Celebrating history and blue sky thinking County Airport