CONNECTIING FLIGHTS: Finding Comfort In An Expanded Airport

Joe Hornaday

Thirty-two years ago, the Mount Comfort Airport in northwest Hancock County was activated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Indianapolis Airport Authority.

Since then, it has become home of the fixed-base operator Indy Aero LLC and the Indianapolis Air Show. It also serves as a “reliever airport” for the Indianapolis International Airport with two concrete paved runways measuring 5,500 feet by 100 feet and 3,901 feet by 75 feet.

Because the Mount Comfort Airport is owned and operated by the Indianapolis Airport Authority, the situation facing the Greensburg Board of Aviation Commissioners (BOAC) is very different. Currently, plans are to upgrade and expand the existing Greensburg Municipal Airport with a larger runway. The present runway at the local airport is 3,433 feet by 40 feet, a relatively small runway compared to neighboring airports and the FAA’s requirements for bigger aircraft. The latest Airport Layout Plan (ALP) explains that, once expanded, the runway would measure about 5,405 feet by 100 feet, almost exactly as large as one of the Mount Comfort Airport’s runways.

According to Pat Robinson of Indy Aero, the Indianapolis Airport Authority began spearheading airport initiatives around the state in the 1960s. Those included the Indianapolis Metropolitan Airport in Fishers, the Eagle Creek Airport, Mount Comfort and the Hendricks County Airport. The company’s goal then was to establish a series of reliever airports that would create a network of neighboring airports that could handle business jet traffic and owner-operated aircraft, relieving some of the potential congestion at the Indianapolis International Airport.

At the time the Mount Comfort Airport was constructed, there were not many residential neighbors, Robinson explained. The Airport Authority was able to purchase several hundreds of acres of land without real problems. However, Robinson did note that any future expansion would impact nearby farmland, thrusting the owners and operators into a similar situation in which the city of Greensburg finds itself now.

Mount Comfort also has virtually no neighbors to the north, east or south, Robinson said. To the west is a nearby Hancock County commerce park.

“Hancock County doesn’t own the airport, but they do benefit,” Robinson explained.

However, he noted that the history of Mount Comfort is a unique one for a rural airport. Years of pre-planning went into the site and development before the airport was established and grown. What is not unique is the expansion of smaller airports, like Greensburg Municipal. More and more, land-locked airports are trying to expand, Robinson said. Often, they encounter opposition from neighboring property owners and others.

“It’s easy to rally a group of protesters,” Robinson said.

Whatever the futures are for the Greensburg Municipal Airport and the Mount Comfort Airport, Robinson says that, for the most part, airports are good neighbors. They are not like a Wal-Mart or a shopping center that generates problems like increased traffic and other headaches for neighbors, Robinson said. Plus, the economic impact that a reliever airport has is high, he added.

While the men and women behind the local expansion of the Greensburg Municipal Airport continue their work, so too do the organizers behind the Mount Comfort Airport. According to Robinson, the Indianapolis Airport Authority purchases much of the land adjacent to the airport that becomes available.

“Thirty years from now, we’ll need it,” Robinson said.

When that time comes in Hancock County like it is in Decatur County, Robinson said the biggest problem to be faced would be locating the balance between growing infrastructure and not alienating property owners and taxpayers.

Text Only