Traverse City’s Airport – KTVC

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Mike Dole's World number four thirteen

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for

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the

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11/07/2025.

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I think it's time for Mike Dole's World.

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There it is.

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And there it is indeed. Hey. Today, we're

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gonna talk about

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the local airport,

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Traverse City Airport, KTVC.

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For those of you that

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follow such things, as you know, I'm a

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pilot,

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and I fly out of Traverse City, you

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know, when I go flying. I'm a, you

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know, I'm a completely,

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fair weather pilot and fly once in a

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while and all that good stuff. So but,

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yeah, fly out of there.

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But I thought it might be interesting to

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go into the history of Traverse City Airport.

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It wasn't always where it is now.

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Right now, it's

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literally

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a mile from me.

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No. It's actually less than that. If I

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go to the end of my driveway, I

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can kinda see the end of Runway 28,

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which is the long runway,

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coming from the, you know, planes land flying

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towards the west.

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And they fly right over three mile road.

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I think in my road trip episode a

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few days ago, I

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I actually,

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you know, drove past it and mentioned I

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just crossed the center line on 28.

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Anyway,

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but it's right

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in kind of on the East Side of

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Traverse City.

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Technically, the Traverse Heights,

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section of Traverse City,

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is on the West Side of it.

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And on the east side, of course, is

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three mile road in the north side, South

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Airport Road,

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appropriately named, I guess. And, on the

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north side of it is Parsons Road,

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which is, you know, kind of a,

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yeah, a semi main road that runs

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along well, basically,

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runs along the airport on the on the

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East side or on the

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North side. Jeez. I got my my directions

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all screwed up.

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Well, mainly because where I'm sitting in my

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studio, I'm facing south,

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so I always kinda turn everything,

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around

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unless I think about it.

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But, Traverse City Airport wasn't always where it

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is now, as I said.

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I

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guess the old airport was called Ransom Field,

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and it was located

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on what's now called Veterans Drive. And it's

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kind of a a bit of a shelf,

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on the West Side Of Traverse City, South

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And West Side

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of Traverse City.

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I guess if you're a local,

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kind of where Memorial Gardens,

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Cemetery is

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is, kind of where the old airport was,

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and that was opened in 1929.

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And then in 1936,

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they moved to what was then known as,

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Traverse City Naval Air Station or Naval Air

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Station Traverse City. I guess it's probably the

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nomenclature,

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but, they took over that. It was owned

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by

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Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties, a joint ownership

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in it.

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And now it's owned by the Northwest Michigan.

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Here, I'll I'll read it,

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just so I remember,

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what it's called.

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Where is it? Where is it? Where is

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it? I think it's the Northwest

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Regional Airport

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Commission or

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airport authority. There we go.

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And,

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so that that was just that's just, you

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know, an

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entity that was

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created by the two counties,

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to oversee the airport. But, it's a it's

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a pretty big

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chunk of land, especially where it is.

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They've talked about moving it again. But, anyway,

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1946,

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they moved to the the Naval Air Station

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grounds, which was kind of inactive after World

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War two.

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The naval air station

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pioneered a lot of,

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believe it or not, drones or,

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you

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know, non piloted vehicles,

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aerial vehicles. Now not

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to the extent that we're using them now,

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but

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that was kinda what they did back in

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the day.

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And originally, it had four runways, and I

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cannot find an old chart to

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figure out where those runways were.

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Currently, it has two pieces of pavement, which

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is technically four runways, but,

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for the sake of of what this says,

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there would have been eight possible runways with

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four pieces of pavement, or maybe it was

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some of them were grass. I don't know.

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But currently, it's Runway 28 And 10,

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you know, depending on which way you're coming

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in. And then there's another runway North South,

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it's 36 And 18.

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And

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I sort of remember 23,

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which kind of crisscross those two.

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That wasn't that long ago,

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that they got rid of that runway.

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Oh, I don't know. Probably in the seventies

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or early eighties.

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I do remember a story from my Saturday

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morning coffee klatch where

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the North Central Airlines, I believe it was,

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or Republic Airlines, one of those, airlines back

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in the day.

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We're bringing the first d c nine into

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Traverse City, and

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the pilots, they were all expecting them to

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land on 28, which is the longest runway,

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and they came in on 23

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or whatever that crisscrossy runway that doesn't exist

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anymore

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was, which was the shortest runway. So it's

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sort of sort of surprised everybody.

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But,

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anyway,

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it

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and now, you know, it it changed to

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a Coast Guard air station in 1946.

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Coast Guard air station Traverse City is still

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there, the Guardians of the Great Lakes,

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but they kinda compose about an eighth of

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the property

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there now.

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They're over on this side of the in

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fact, they're

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right close to where I live

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here on 3 Mile,

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and,

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they've got some helicopters. And, you know, over

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the years, they've had other things. I remember,

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you know, living

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10 miles west of town,

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I could hear the Coast Guard,

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or the albatrosses.

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Albatross is an amphibious

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plane with big radio engines on it, and

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those things were loud. And we could hear

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them take off and or land,

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mostly take off because they're, you know, full

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power, but we could hear them 10 miles

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away. Yeah. I can't imagine what it would

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have been like living, you know, where I

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live now.

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It's, you know, not bad, but, you know,

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I hear airliners

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and helicopters

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and

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all the stuff.

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Traverse City, believe it or not, is the

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fourth busiest airport in the state of Michigan.

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Only two that are busier are

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Wayne County

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or whatever it's called now.

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Detroit Metro Airport. That used to be called

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Wayne County. But Detroit Metro Airport,

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in Detroit

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and Grand Rapids,

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are the two other busiest airports, and Traverse

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City's third.

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And if you know anything about airspace, Traverse

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City is a class delta

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airspace, which is

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the least

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restrictive

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airspace compared to,

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you know,

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that has a control tower.

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Deltas are the ones that have control towers.

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Then Charlie's are usually bigger. That's what Grand

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Rapids is.

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And then,

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there's Bravos, and the Bravos are like, you

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know, Detroit, Chicago,

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you know, all the really big ones, Atlanta.

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But, Traverse City is a Delta, so that

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means they own the airspace from the ground

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to 3,600

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feet. Oh, jeez. I should know that. I'm

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that doesn't really matter because I don't fly

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over the airport, and I fly to it

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and and from it and around it, but

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not

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over it. But, some 3,000

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something feet, to the ground and four miles

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approximately,

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and it looks like just a cylinder of

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airspace. And and to fly into that, you

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have to have two way communications with the

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tower,

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and

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that's really about the only restriction.

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You know, you gotta kinda do what they

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tell you when you're in their airspace, of

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course. But

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again,

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it's not a super restrictive airspace

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compared to, say, Grand Rapids and Detroit,

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and

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and we're we're almost as busy. Well, we're

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not as busy as Detroit, not even close,

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but, I'd say we're

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on par at least in the summer with

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Grand Rapids,

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although they might, ramp up too in the

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summer. But,

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compare winter in Grand Rapids versus,

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summer up here, it's probably about the same

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amount of traffic. There's two big flight schools.

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Well, a big flight school and another flight

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school on the field here in Traverse City.

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The Northwest Michigan College

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has a flight program, and they have quite

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a bit of airplanes and and,

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quite a few students.

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So at any one time during nice weather,

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there'll

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be

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several students in the air around the airport.

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And then, Giving Wings Aviation, that's where I

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fly out of.

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They, you know, usually have three or four

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airplanes flying,

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during nice weather

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and a lot of training going on and

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lots of comings and goings.

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But,

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yeah, it can get busy. I remember that

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was probably a month ago. I was in

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the pattern,

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and,

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let's see. There was two or three airline

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flights,

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a bunch of business jets, and there was

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at least three or four of us in

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the pattern.

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I still ended up getting 11 takeoffs and

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landings. So

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the the controllers here are pretty darn good.

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I don't know if they really like the

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fact that a bunch of little airplanes are

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circling them all the time, but, they they

280
00:11:15,014 --> 00:11:16,855
deal with it. And then they get the

281
00:11:16,855 --> 00:11:18,554
big airplanes in as well.

282
00:11:21,450 --> 00:11:23,870
But, yeah, it's it's a it's a nice

283
00:11:23,929 --> 00:11:24,669
nice airport.

284
00:11:25,450 --> 00:11:26,750
I wouldn't call it little.

285
00:11:27,289 --> 00:11:30,089
Again, you know, Runway 2810

286
00:11:30,089 --> 00:11:30,589
is

287
00:11:30,889 --> 00:11:31,709
7,000

288
00:11:32,009 --> 00:11:33,629
plus feet long,

289
00:11:34,365 --> 00:11:38,125
and the crossing runway is 5,000 feet, which

290
00:11:38,125 --> 00:11:41,424
is plenty for most aircraft. We've had

291
00:11:41,884 --> 00:11:42,384
everything

292
00:11:43,245 --> 00:11:45,245
in here. You know, the Air Force One's

293
00:11:45,245 --> 00:11:46,784
been in here a few times.

294
00:11:47,570 --> 00:11:50,450
We we get routinely, you know, airbuses and

295
00:11:50,450 --> 00:11:53,169
seven twenty seven or seven thirty sevens, not

296
00:11:53,169 --> 00:11:54,950
so much seven twenty sevens anymore.

297
00:11:55,889 --> 00:11:59,350
DC nine variants like the seven one seven.

298
00:12:01,035 --> 00:12:03,615
Lots of regional jets, a lot of,

299
00:12:04,154 --> 00:12:05,835
fighter jets come in here. You know, we

300
00:12:05,835 --> 00:12:07,835
always have an air show every year. Usually,

301
00:12:07,835 --> 00:12:09,855
the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds

302
00:12:10,235 --> 00:12:12,174
are here for Cherry Festival,

303
00:12:12,539 --> 00:12:15,100
for the air show, and they fly in

304
00:12:15,100 --> 00:12:16,959
and out of here just just fine.

305
00:12:18,940 --> 00:12:20,539
He said not a not a problem. You

306
00:12:20,539 --> 00:12:22,539
know, one time I was in the pattern

307
00:12:22,539 --> 00:12:25,579
and got told by the controller, extend your

308
00:12:25,579 --> 00:12:27,279
downwind. I'll call your base.

309
00:12:28,014 --> 00:12:31,154
Okay. And I said your your traffic is

310
00:12:31,455 --> 00:12:33,235
a flight of four f eighteens,

311
00:12:34,254 --> 00:12:34,995
on final,

312
00:12:35,534 --> 00:12:38,095
four two eight. And then, ended up,

313
00:12:38,894 --> 00:12:40,514
they passed me, same altitude,

314
00:12:41,455 --> 00:12:42,995
about a half mile apart

315
00:12:43,799 --> 00:12:45,960
and go in the opposite direction, and then

316
00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,440
right after that controller said, okay, you can

317
00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,279
follow those f 18. So caution weight turbulence.

318
00:12:51,279 --> 00:12:52,860
I said, yeah, no duh.

319
00:12:54,519 --> 00:12:55,740
My airplane weighs

320
00:12:56,294 --> 00:12:57,115
1,300

321
00:12:57,254 --> 00:12:58,615
pounds or so, and,

322
00:12:59,014 --> 00:12:59,654
yeah. It's,

323
00:13:00,695 --> 00:13:02,855
that can be dangerous. So I extended out

324
00:13:02,855 --> 00:13:05,254
a little bit longer and, made sure I

325
00:13:05,254 --> 00:13:07,595
landed beyond where they touched down.

326
00:13:07,975 --> 00:13:10,455
Yeah. No no problem with wake turbulence, but

327
00:13:10,455 --> 00:13:11,674
that was kinda cool.

328
00:13:12,110 --> 00:13:13,009
One other time

329
00:13:13,550 --> 00:13:15,470
during the 2024

330
00:13:15,470 --> 00:13:15,970
campaign,

331
00:13:17,629 --> 00:13:19,330
I was taxiing out

332
00:13:19,870 --> 00:13:21,710
and had to taxi to 36, so I

333
00:13:21,710 --> 00:13:23,570
had to cross 28.

334
00:13:24,269 --> 00:13:24,769
And

335
00:13:25,875 --> 00:13:28,695
he said, you know, hold short of 28,

336
00:13:29,154 --> 00:13:30,934
incoming 737.

337
00:13:30,995 --> 00:13:32,054
Oh, okay. Cool.

338
00:13:32,434 --> 00:13:33,554
737

339
00:13:34,274 --> 00:13:35,154
and it was,

340
00:13:35,554 --> 00:13:36,455
JD Vance,

341
00:13:37,394 --> 00:13:39,634
campaign plane. And as we were taxing out,

342
00:13:39,634 --> 00:13:40,855
I looked over and

343
00:13:41,399 --> 00:13:43,799
I saw a whole bunch of, state police

344
00:13:43,799 --> 00:13:45,820
cars over by one of the hangars.

345
00:13:46,519 --> 00:13:48,440
Wondered what was going on and then, okay,

346
00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:50,759
I figured it out. JD was coming in

347
00:13:50,759 --> 00:13:51,579
for a campaign

348
00:13:51,879 --> 00:13:54,860
appearance. So, anyway, then as soon as he

349
00:13:55,345 --> 00:13:57,424
landed and got down the runway a bit,

350
00:13:57,424 --> 00:13:59,825
I crossed the runway, went over to 36,

351
00:13:59,825 --> 00:14:01,284
took off, got out of here.

352
00:14:01,664 --> 00:14:03,365
But, that was kinda cool.

353
00:14:04,705 --> 00:14:06,865
Of course, when the president's here, and he's

354
00:14:06,865 --> 00:14:08,544
he's come in here a couple times as

355
00:14:08,544 --> 00:14:10,404
well, there's a a TFR,

356
00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,399
temporary flight restriction, so they don't allow you

357
00:14:15,399 --> 00:14:17,720
to fly when he's on the ground here

358
00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:18,539
at the airport.

359
00:14:19,399 --> 00:14:21,720
But, anyway but back to the airport, you

360
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,120
know, Cherry Capital's turning and that's the the

361
00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:26,379
official name of it, Cherry Capital Airport.

362
00:14:27,725 --> 00:14:28,465
And it,

363
00:14:30,044 --> 00:14:31,424
it's getting kinda large.

364
00:14:32,924 --> 00:14:34,865
You know, back in the day, they had

365
00:14:35,965 --> 00:14:38,225
a terminal building on the

366
00:14:38,605 --> 00:14:39,345
south side

367
00:14:40,709 --> 00:14:42,789
of of the main runway, south side of

368
00:14:42,789 --> 00:14:45,110
the airport. And, you know, it had a

369
00:14:45,110 --> 00:14:47,909
couple of gates, and that was really about

370
00:14:47,909 --> 00:14:48,409
it.

371
00:14:49,029 --> 00:14:51,209
There really wasn't a lot there.

372
00:14:51,829 --> 00:14:54,745
And they built a new terminal across the

373
00:14:54,745 --> 00:14:57,485
field. And this, I believe, was somewhere

374
00:14:59,544 --> 00:15:00,605
in February,

375
00:15:01,544 --> 00:15:03,784
early two thousands. What had to be because

376
00:15:03,784 --> 00:15:04,605
during the,

377
00:15:05,944 --> 00:15:08,125
what was it, February,

378
00:15:09,459 --> 00:15:11,080
president Bush came in here,

379
00:15:12,019 --> 00:15:14,339
and he was the first user of the

380
00:15:14,339 --> 00:15:16,580
new terminal. They parked Air Force One out

381
00:15:16,580 --> 00:15:18,820
on the, airline ramp at the new terminal,

382
00:15:18,820 --> 00:15:19,320
and

383
00:15:19,700 --> 00:15:22,339
he, walked through the new terminal building to

384
00:15:22,339 --> 00:15:24,794
get to his motorcade and to go to

385
00:15:24,794 --> 00:15:26,894
whatever event he was going to.

386
00:15:27,274 --> 00:15:28,875
So they got pictures of him in that

387
00:15:28,875 --> 00:15:29,375
new,

388
00:15:30,394 --> 00:15:33,034
airport terminal. And I say new because it

389
00:15:33,034 --> 00:15:35,514
was from 2004. It's almost twenty years ago

390
00:15:35,514 --> 00:15:36,975
or over twenty years ago.

391
00:15:38,399 --> 00:15:40,740
But now they're they're expanding it again.

392
00:15:41,279 --> 00:15:42,899
We have quite a few flights.

393
00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:45,600
You know, it used to be that the

394
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:47,600
only place you could go out of Traverse

395
00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:48,899
City was on,

396
00:15:50,485 --> 00:15:52,664
I believe it was Republic Airlines

397
00:15:53,204 --> 00:15:53,764
and then,

398
00:15:54,245 --> 00:15:57,225
North Central Airlines, and then it switched to

399
00:15:57,365 --> 00:15:59,384
Northwest Airlines and then Delta,

400
00:16:00,485 --> 00:16:01,865
as all these have

401
00:16:02,490 --> 00:16:04,730
merged together. And then a little while later,

402
00:16:04,730 --> 00:16:06,570
American came in, but they're really the only

403
00:16:06,570 --> 00:16:09,870
flights we had were between here and Detroit

404
00:16:09,929 --> 00:16:10,909
and here in

405
00:16:11,370 --> 00:16:11,870
Minneapolis.

406
00:16:13,450 --> 00:16:14,830
So now year around,

407
00:16:15,450 --> 00:16:16,090
they have,

408
00:16:16,570 --> 00:16:17,629
Allegiant Airlines,

409
00:16:18,434 --> 00:16:20,934
and they fly to Fort Lauderdale, Phoenix,

410
00:16:21,715 --> 00:16:23,335
Saint Petersburg, Florida.

411
00:16:24,595 --> 00:16:26,774
And then seasonal, they do Orlando,

412
00:16:27,154 --> 00:16:30,274
Sanford, and Punta Gorda, Florida. Those are all

413
00:16:30,274 --> 00:16:30,774
nonstops.

414
00:16:31,649 --> 00:16:33,829
Allegiant, you know, they're an up and comer

415
00:16:34,769 --> 00:16:37,409
discount airlines. My my wife flies them quite

416
00:16:37,409 --> 00:16:39,409
a bit when she goes to Florida. It's

417
00:16:39,409 --> 00:16:40,149
kinda cool

418
00:16:40,690 --> 00:16:43,250
and I believe they're seasonal for the two

419
00:16:43,250 --> 00:16:45,730
other Florida flights in the winter, where most

420
00:16:45,730 --> 00:16:47,324
of the rest of these that have seasonal

421
00:16:47,324 --> 00:16:47,824
flights

422
00:16:48,684 --> 00:16:49,084
are,

423
00:16:49,564 --> 00:16:51,105
are summer only

424
00:16:51,564 --> 00:16:53,504
seasonal flights. Like, American,

425
00:16:54,125 --> 00:16:55,804
they most of the time, they fly back

426
00:16:55,804 --> 00:16:58,284
and forth to Chicago. That's kind of their

427
00:16:58,284 --> 00:16:59,184
their gig.

428
00:17:00,125 --> 00:17:00,605
But,

429
00:17:01,004 --> 00:17:01,664
in the

430
00:17:03,429 --> 00:17:05,609
in the summer months, they have a

431
00:17:06,390 --> 00:17:08,730
a direct flight to Charlotte, Dallas,

432
00:17:09,029 --> 00:17:10,410
and Washington National.

433
00:17:11,029 --> 00:17:12,630
And what was cool about that is I

434
00:17:12,630 --> 00:17:14,089
was able to use those

435
00:17:14,390 --> 00:17:14,890
flights,

436
00:17:16,595 --> 00:17:18,595
or at least the Dallas one and the

437
00:17:18,595 --> 00:17:19,095
Washington

438
00:17:19,474 --> 00:17:19,974
one.

439
00:17:21,234 --> 00:17:22,055
And, also,

440
00:17:22,515 --> 00:17:25,815
on another airline, I was able to

441
00:17:26,355 --> 00:17:28,410
use one to Denver, a non stop flight.

442
00:17:28,410 --> 00:17:29,809
We don't get a lot of non stop

443
00:17:29,809 --> 00:17:31,490
flights here, you know, like when I fly

444
00:17:31,490 --> 00:17:34,150
out I'm usually going to Detroit or Chicago

445
00:17:34,289 --> 00:17:35,350
to switch airplanes,

446
00:17:36,289 --> 00:17:40,070
but anyway, American, the mainline American has Charlotte,

447
00:17:40,210 --> 00:17:40,710
Dallas,

448
00:17:41,515 --> 00:17:44,974
Washington, and then American Eagle, the

449
00:17:45,355 --> 00:17:45,855
the,

450
00:17:47,994 --> 00:17:49,694
you know, affiliate, obviously.

451
00:17:50,315 --> 00:17:52,654
They do Chicago, O'Hare, Boston,

452
00:17:53,035 --> 00:17:53,535
Charlotte,

453
00:17:54,315 --> 00:17:54,815
Dallas,

454
00:17:55,980 --> 00:17:56,480
LaGuardia,

455
00:17:56,779 --> 00:17:58,240
New York, and Philadelphia.

456
00:17:59,180 --> 00:18:01,420
All but the Chicago one is seasonal in

457
00:18:01,420 --> 00:18:02,000
the summer.

458
00:18:03,420 --> 00:18:04,640
AVEO Airlines

459
00:18:05,180 --> 00:18:08,044
or Avelo or I don't know how to

460
00:18:08,044 --> 00:18:10,444
pronounce that, but they only have one flight

461
00:18:10,444 --> 00:18:11,744
and they go to New Haven,

462
00:18:12,125 --> 00:18:12,625
Connecticut

463
00:18:13,085 --> 00:18:15,744
of all places and that's just seasonal.

464
00:18:16,525 --> 00:18:18,944
Delta, that's kind of the main airline

465
00:18:19,565 --> 00:18:21,265
here, but not necessarily

466
00:18:22,710 --> 00:18:23,750
anymore because,

467
00:18:24,390 --> 00:18:26,069
United is here as well. But,

468
00:18:27,109 --> 00:18:29,769
they mainly go to Detroit and seasonally

469
00:18:30,230 --> 00:18:31,049
to Minneapolis

470
00:18:31,509 --> 00:18:32,409
and New York.

471
00:18:33,990 --> 00:18:35,929
And, they just added a

472
00:18:36,995 --> 00:18:39,315
year round flight to Atlanta. I just saw

473
00:18:39,315 --> 00:18:41,575
that in the news. And then Delta Connection,

474
00:18:42,355 --> 00:18:45,875
which is Delta's affiliate airline there. They also

475
00:18:45,875 --> 00:18:47,575
do seasonal to Boston,

476
00:18:48,355 --> 00:18:50,055
which, and then Minneapolis.

477
00:18:50,434 --> 00:18:53,279
But, Anyway, kind of cool. JetBlue just got

478
00:18:53,279 --> 00:18:54,660
here, and they're doing

479
00:18:55,039 --> 00:18:57,220
seasonal routes to Boston. So

480
00:18:57,519 --> 00:18:59,599
they're probably not here in the wintertime, but

481
00:18:59,599 --> 00:19:01,140
they're here in the summer.

482
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:03,539
And, Sun Country

483
00:19:03,865 --> 00:19:04,765
flies to Minneapolis

484
00:19:05,224 --> 00:19:06,524
only, and it's seasonal.

485
00:19:07,304 --> 00:19:10,845
United, that's another big one. They do Chicago

486
00:19:11,224 --> 00:19:11,964
year round,

487
00:19:12,904 --> 00:19:15,784
and United Express does Chicago year round. And

488
00:19:15,784 --> 00:19:19,565
then, seasonally, they do Denver and Washington, Dulles,

489
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:20,180
and,

490
00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,880
and then in Houston, I guess, and New

491
00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:26,500
York. Newark. Newark.

492
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:29,840
Anyway, so that's quite a bit for a

493
00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:31,220
little airport like this.

494
00:19:31,850 --> 00:19:32,350
Definitely

495
00:19:32,894 --> 00:19:34,575
not what it used to be like.

496
00:19:34,894 --> 00:19:36,734
You know, I'd go to Kofi Klatch with

497
00:19:36,734 --> 00:19:39,295
a lot of, ex airline pilots that were

498
00:19:39,295 --> 00:19:40,115
around here,

499
00:19:40,414 --> 00:19:42,515
you know, back when Republic and

500
00:19:42,934 --> 00:19:43,434
and,

501
00:19:44,174 --> 00:19:44,994
North Central

502
00:19:45,700 --> 00:19:47,700
were the things. And, one of the guys

503
00:19:47,700 --> 00:19:49,640
was saying, he says, yeah. They'd leave

504
00:19:50,420 --> 00:19:50,920
Detroit.

505
00:19:52,019 --> 00:19:53,480
They would fly to

506
00:19:54,259 --> 00:19:57,140
Grand Rapids and then Muskegon and then Traverse

507
00:19:57,140 --> 00:19:59,140
City and then Pellston, which is kind of

508
00:19:59,140 --> 00:20:01,365
an interesting little airport. I'm gonna do another

509
00:20:01,365 --> 00:20:03,865
episode about aviation up north here

510
00:20:04,164 --> 00:20:05,785
and I'll be talking about Pellston

511
00:20:06,085 --> 00:20:06,805
Airport, but,

512
00:20:08,565 --> 00:20:11,045
anyway, you know, they would do, you know,

513
00:20:11,045 --> 00:20:13,305
eight, ten stops and end up in Minneapolis.

514
00:20:14,369 --> 00:20:16,210
They don't do that kind of thing anymore.

515
00:20:16,210 --> 00:20:18,390
Now it's all hub and spoke with

516
00:20:18,690 --> 00:20:21,089
the little commuters with the exception of some

517
00:20:21,089 --> 00:20:23,570
of these newer airlines that are now doing

518
00:20:23,570 --> 00:20:25,109
some non stops, but

519
00:20:25,410 --> 00:20:27,410
for the most part it's hub and spoke.

520
00:20:27,410 --> 00:20:27,910
So

521
00:20:28,275 --> 00:20:30,595
you know, they don't have these routes that,

522
00:20:30,994 --> 00:20:32,855
the airliners used to fly.

523
00:20:33,555 --> 00:20:35,955
You know, they save the bigger airplanes for

524
00:20:35,955 --> 00:20:39,234
the longer flights and the smaller airplanes getting

525
00:20:39,234 --> 00:20:40,615
people to the bigger airports.

526
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:42,840
Nothing wrong with that and, you know, Traverse

527
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:44,460
City is not a hub to anywhere.

528
00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:46,859
I don't believe it's it's

529
00:20:48,039 --> 00:20:51,160
normal for somebody to fly through Traverse City

530
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:54,680
to get somewhere else. They usually originate here

531
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:55,820
or end up here,

532
00:20:56,505 --> 00:20:56,825
not,

533
00:20:57,305 --> 00:20:59,065
not flying through. So there's not a lot

534
00:20:59,065 --> 00:21:01,305
of switching airplanes in Traverse City. It's,

535
00:21:02,345 --> 00:21:04,265
at least that's not normal. Now once in

536
00:21:04,265 --> 00:21:06,345
a while, if the weather in Pellston's bad

537
00:21:06,345 --> 00:21:08,605
and the Delta flight that's going up there,

538
00:21:09,299 --> 00:21:11,559
has to land in Traverse City instead.

539
00:21:12,580 --> 00:21:14,980
Some sometimes they'll hang out and then fly

540
00:21:14,980 --> 00:21:17,940
up to Pellston, and other times they'll bring

541
00:21:17,940 --> 00:21:20,200
a bus and, just haul them up there

542
00:21:20,259 --> 00:21:22,420
on the bus. Yeah. You know, I paid

543
00:21:22,420 --> 00:21:24,019
for an airline ticket. I don't wanna go

544
00:21:24,019 --> 00:21:24,759
on a bus.

545
00:21:25,775 --> 00:21:26,275
Anyway,

546
00:21:26,654 --> 00:21:27,694
haven't had any,

547
00:21:28,095 --> 00:21:28,914
any major

548
00:21:29,294 --> 00:21:31,615
wrecks here at Traverse City as long as

549
00:21:31,615 --> 00:21:33,474
I can remember. We've had some interesting,

550
00:21:33,775 --> 00:21:35,154
you know, small plane,

551
00:21:36,335 --> 00:21:38,734
you know, quote unquote crashes, but,

552
00:21:40,099 --> 00:21:40,599
nothing

553
00:21:40,980 --> 00:21:43,619
too crazy, you know. Usually, it's gear up

554
00:21:43,619 --> 00:21:45,640
landings or collapsed gear

555
00:21:45,940 --> 00:21:48,279
or something on the runway totally expected

556
00:21:48,580 --> 00:21:49,400
or unexpected.

557
00:21:50,339 --> 00:21:51,480
But they did have

558
00:21:52,580 --> 00:21:54,759
a CRJ run off the runway

559
00:21:56,125 --> 00:21:59,025
landing in Traverse City back in 2007.

560
00:21:59,884 --> 00:22:01,105
And, he just

561
00:22:01,404 --> 00:22:02,464
overran the runway

562
00:22:02,845 --> 00:22:05,105
and ended up in the in the snowbank

563
00:22:05,325 --> 00:22:06,785
at the end of the runway. And

564
00:22:07,779 --> 00:22:09,619
they did a little damage to the airplane,

565
00:22:09,619 --> 00:22:12,579
but, there were 52 people on board, and

566
00:22:12,579 --> 00:22:13,720
nobody was injured.

567
00:22:14,579 --> 00:22:16,759
And, it was a really snowy

568
00:22:17,700 --> 00:22:18,339
night, and,

569
00:22:18,900 --> 00:22:19,619
I don't think,

570
00:22:20,134 --> 00:22:21,894
the pilots realized that when they got on

571
00:22:21,894 --> 00:22:23,735
the ground, the brakes aren't gonna work that

572
00:22:23,735 --> 00:22:24,555
good and,

573
00:22:25,255 --> 00:22:27,815
apparently didn't get the thrust reversers in enough

574
00:22:27,815 --> 00:22:29,835
to, get it stopped. But,

575
00:22:30,455 --> 00:22:32,134
like I said, no harm, no foul. That

576
00:22:32,134 --> 00:22:32,634
airplane

577
00:22:33,015 --> 00:22:35,250
sat on the ramp probably a couple of

578
00:22:35,250 --> 00:22:37,570
weeks before they, got it fixed and flew

579
00:22:37,570 --> 00:22:39,089
it out of here, so it was no

580
00:22:39,089 --> 00:22:41,670
big deal. Had one of the college airplanes

581
00:22:41,809 --> 00:22:43,109
land in the graveyard

582
00:22:43,970 --> 00:22:45,830
off the end of one eight

583
00:22:46,289 --> 00:22:47,349
or not the graveyard.

584
00:22:47,730 --> 00:22:48,390
That's right.

585
00:22:49,825 --> 00:22:51,585
That would be a good place to land

586
00:22:51,585 --> 00:22:52,805
if you had to, but,

587
00:22:53,505 --> 00:22:55,664
no. They, they landed at the Traverse City

588
00:22:55,664 --> 00:22:57,744
Civic Center. That's right. And so they landed

589
00:22:57,744 --> 00:22:58,884
on a ball diamond

590
00:22:59,505 --> 00:23:00,144
there and,

591
00:23:00,865 --> 00:23:03,009
and it ran up against a fence. They

592
00:23:03,009 --> 00:23:05,910
had an engine failure on, on final and

593
00:23:06,130 --> 00:23:07,190
couldn't make the runway

594
00:23:07,490 --> 00:23:08,710
from wherever they were.

595
00:23:09,410 --> 00:23:12,849
And, that airplane's still flying. In fact, I

596
00:23:12,849 --> 00:23:14,929
know they're not flying today. It's kinda crappy

597
00:23:14,929 --> 00:23:16,769
out, but, I see it all the time

598
00:23:16,769 --> 00:23:17,990
on flight radar

599
00:23:19,065 --> 00:23:20,444
on, you know, the ADSB

600
00:23:21,304 --> 00:23:23,724
thing that you can watch airplanes on.

601
00:23:24,345 --> 00:23:24,845
And,

602
00:23:25,704 --> 00:23:28,345
so that one's five November whiskey. It's the

603
00:23:28,345 --> 00:23:29,964
last part of his call sign.

604
00:23:30,664 --> 00:23:31,164
But,

605
00:23:31,544 --> 00:23:33,630
yeah, they they got it hauled back to

606
00:23:33,630 --> 00:23:36,029
the airport, fixed the engine, and a couple

607
00:23:36,029 --> 00:23:37,730
little dents from hitting the fence.

608
00:23:38,670 --> 00:23:41,410
And it was back flying no no time

609
00:23:42,269 --> 00:23:43,250
in no time.

610
00:23:44,109 --> 00:23:46,509
So, anyway, that's kind of the rundown Traverse

611
00:23:46,509 --> 00:23:47,325
City Airport.

612
00:23:47,724 --> 00:23:49,984
Pretty important to Northern Michigan,

613
00:23:50,605 --> 00:23:52,284
as far as, you know, getting in and

614
00:23:52,284 --> 00:23:53,024
out of here.

615
00:23:54,125 --> 00:23:56,524
I mentioned Paulson Airport. They actually have a

616
00:23:56,524 --> 00:23:58,524
Delta flight that flies out of there. That's,

617
00:23:58,684 --> 00:24:01,005
pretty close to the Mackinac Bridge, so it's

618
00:24:01,005 --> 00:24:03,329
it's a bit north of us and a

619
00:24:03,329 --> 00:24:05,089
lot of the Yoopers, you know, fly in

620
00:24:05,089 --> 00:24:07,730
and out of there. Although there's another airport

621
00:24:07,730 --> 00:24:08,690
on the other side,

622
00:24:09,970 --> 00:24:12,049
used to be the old Kinslow Air Force

623
00:24:12,049 --> 00:24:12,549
Base.

624
00:24:13,490 --> 00:24:16,529
And, they have a couple of Delta flights

625
00:24:16,529 --> 00:24:18,230
in and out of there every day.

626
00:24:19,025 --> 00:24:21,765
That's part of that essential air service thing.

627
00:24:21,984 --> 00:24:24,384
There's a airport about an hour away by

628
00:24:24,384 --> 00:24:24,884
driving

629
00:24:25,664 --> 00:24:28,724
called Manistee Airport, and, they have an airliner

630
00:24:28,784 --> 00:24:31,365
there that just goes back and forth to

631
00:24:32,950 --> 00:24:35,690
Chicago. I've actually taken that a couple times,

632
00:24:36,470 --> 00:24:38,250
in my travels just because

633
00:24:39,750 --> 00:24:41,829
sometimes it's easier just to go over there.

634
00:24:41,829 --> 00:24:44,169
Although, I'm a mile from the terminal building

635
00:24:45,125 --> 00:24:47,204
at Traverse City, so it's really not a

636
00:24:47,204 --> 00:24:48,504
big deal. But,

637
00:24:49,924 --> 00:24:52,504
anyhoo, that's it for today.

638
00:24:52,884 --> 00:24:54,664
And, let's see. Tomorrow,

639
00:24:55,605 --> 00:24:57,144
I got a rant for you,

640
00:24:57,845 --> 00:24:59,625
so stay tuned for that.