Aviation View | Volume 2, Issue 3

107 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 WHEEL ING-OHIO COUNTY A I RPORT training as our top priority, but with a secondary focus on an aircraft mechanics program. We have been pushing this program which we have seen work at other airports in West Virginia.” Again, this all comes from a love of aeronautics, and a history steeped in the tradition of what these small airports meant for the area. Having just celebrated its 75th anniversary, Wheeling- Ohio County Airport and those that run it are poised to start a slow growth back to the importance they once had in the area. “We are just finishing up a crack seal and asphalt patching job of our main runway,” says Russell (Rusty) W. Escue, Airport Manager, “and next year we are hoping to do the same with the other runway. We use grant money from the FAA to keep on top of that.” Sitting on more than a thousand acres of land, the airport has two asphalt runways: 3/21 is 5,002 x 150 feet while 16/34 is 4,499 x 150. They have a federally contracted control tower and terminal at the location. You can also buy aviation and jet fuel from the Wheeling-Ohio County Airport Aviation Centre (the FBO) which is run by the county. “Wheeling is a great place, it has a lot of rural charm,” Escue shares, adding, “We also have a few businesses here and they use our airport for corporate flights, employees, even the owner’s private use. We have some government and medivac usage, as well.” Currently, the airport has several T-hangars, two corporate hangars, and a waiting list. Curiously, both hangars are leased to helicopter outfits, the first is LaRoche Tree Service and the second is Superior Helicopter. Both are involved in the power line right-of-way surveying. When you add the medivac and police services that