Staff Writer
rseaborn@pickenssentinel.com
PICKENS COUNTY - With construction scheduled to begin later this fall on a new terminal and hangars at the Pickens County Airport, the new facilities could not be more needed, said Skeets Cooper, director of the airport.
Another 15 pilots, along with their planes, are calling the local airport home, however temporarily, he said.
With the June 30 closing of the Oconee County Airport for repairs, many of that area's pilots who went looking for a transitory location found their way to Pickens County, he said.
"We are enjoying the growth, and the business this has created," Cooper said.
The Oconee County facility is to be closed to air traffic until September 1, while crews lengthen that runway and remove a small hump that disrupts a pilot's line of sight vision, said Harrison Smith, a flight instructor with the Clemson University Flying Club.
"It's a line of sight issue," he said. "A pilot at one end of the runway should be able to see the pilot at the opposite end, and right now, with that hump, they can't," he said.
Because of the closing, pilots and planes were forced to find other locations, either in Pickens, Anderson or Toccoa, he said.
"The Clemson University Flying Club decided to relocate to Pickens," Smith said.
The club, with operates independent from the university, has about 125 members, with five flying instructors and between 20 and 30 students, he said.
The future of the Pickens County looks bright, he said.
"The new hangars and terminal will create a lot of revenue," Smith said. "Big businesses flying into an area will first look at the airport and the accommodations before putting any money into an area.
"The new facilities will certainly benefit the local economy and government," he said.
Pickens County Council's decision to support the construction of new, more modern facilities is an indication that they are looking toward the future of the county, Smith said.
"Unlike other areas, Pickens County recognizes the importance of an airport to an area," he said.
The new facility, with which construction hopefully to begin around the first weeks of September, will feature an open waiting area, a kitchenette, and a conference room, Cooper said earlier.
"The current terminal is a lean-to built on the side of a hanger," he said. "And it was built in 1969."
In addition, the planned 16 new hangars - ten small and six large - have already been rented, even before construction on the units have yet to be started, he said
The airport will be able to accommodate 16 more aircraft, with six of the hangars being large enough to house the larger planes.
"Those hangers will be 60 feet by 60 feet," Cooper said.
And when the construction on the Oconee County Airport is completed, sometime in early September, perhaps some of the pilots will decide to remain in Pickens, he said.
"If they choose to stay because they like our facility, and they see the progress we are making, I can understand that," he said.
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