Detroit City Airport

[Gistok]

^ What high rise buildings are in the way now? None that are in the way of the main runway. One big problem is that there are 2 cemeteries in the way of expansion... one to the north, and one to the south.

[O3H]

View of Detroit City Airport - Coleman A Young International

https://goo.gl/maps/tab2Drob5eA2

https://aeronav.faa.gov/d-tpp/1903/00118AD.PDF

Runway 15 = 5,090 feet

Runway 7 = 3,714 feet

Class C gateway airport - BUT the city hasn't staffed a Detroit Fire Department station on airport grounds for many years, which prevents some business aircraft from landing there because of insurance concerns.

Because of City Airport’s problems, flight operations have steadily declined in recent years, from 45,233 takeoffs and landings in 2014
to 37,264 Federal Aviation Administration data reports show.

Its main hangars date to the 1940s and remain too small to house today’s largest corporate jets. Of about 130 smaller so-called T-hangers — garage-like structures that house small private aircraft — fewer than half are in use and dozens have fallen into such disrepair as to be unusable.





The airport already looms large for Macomb County and other east-side communities. Carl Muhs of the Avflight fixed-base operation said
at least a quarter of the air traffic using City Airport today carries business travelers heading to Warren for the General Motors Tech Center
or the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command[[TACOM)

[Bigb23]

It would be nice to have something larger than small plane/drone traffic there.

At Pontiac/Oakland I remember trying to find a Lear Jet pickup for a Meadowbrook headliner, and walked into an empty control tower. Of course pre-911, but bizarre just the same.

I finally found them several hangers over, and I know that was upscale from the City Airport. We can do better.

[Bigb23]

And during WWII there were 15 airports within 6 miles of Utica, sorry, no link, but can be found.

[Pat001]

And during WWII there were 15 airports within 6 miles of Utica, sorry, no link, but can be found.

A lot of small airports in the Detroit area disappeared because land values and property taxes increased. Airports I flew into/out of that no longer exist: Oakland/Orion, Berz-Macomb, Big Beaver.

Little-known fact: There was an airport in Farmington Hills, west of Orchard Lake Road south of 13 mile. If you look at the building currently occupied by Gerber Collision [[28829 Orchard Lake Road) using Google street view you can still see what used to be the control tower on top of what is now a body shop.

[O3H]

Putzing around with flying also takes some available expendable money.
It's a hobby few jump into ,if their bank account is low on funds.

https://www.nmc.edu/programs/academi...ight-fees.html

[stasu1213]

Colema Young had Southwest Airlines flying out of the Airport in 1988. Many neighboring suburbs and some parts of the east side had complained of the loud jet noise coming from the airport. I think that the Airport still has the potential to be as big as Metro but some neighborhoods east or north of it will have to be demolished for the runway and terminals. It would be a win win for the city having a main airport within minutes from downtown Detroit and don’t have to drive through freeway congestion to get to it.

[O3H]

Airport noise is no joke : It spikes UP tremendously, repeatedly

https://www.citylab.com/transportati...lution/552983/

Any conversation on the telephone just stops, ceases, as a plane takes off
over the roof of a building at the end of the runway. You learn to say, "please wait a few seconds" .

[archfan]

A lot of small airports in the Detroit area disappeared because land values and property taxes increased. Airports I flew into/out of that no longer exist: Oakland/Orion, Berz-Macomb, Big Beaver.

Little-known fact: There was an airport in Farmington Hills, west of Orchard Lake Road south of 13 mile. If you look at the building currently occupied by Gerber Collision [[28829 Orchard Lake Road) using Google street view you can still see what used to be the control tower on top of what is now a body shop.

This is a site listing every field or subdivision that used to be an airfield. I spent several hours here [[several times), so be prepared.

[birwood]

Gistok....When I said High Rise, I probably should have said that any building over 3 stories is what we considered a high rise [[Birwood is DFD retired), not a high rise where you would clip a wing on during takeoff or approach. These structures, new housing or businesses, if built in close to the flight path can have an effect on the area winds, by changing their direction, increasing wind velocity possibly causing an up draft or windshear, especially if they decide to build a new runway and its pointed a few degrees off from the old one. A few degrees difference can mean the difference of maybe up to a mile or more, left or right, during an approach or takeoff flight paths. Do a simple experiment at home using a card board box, a sheet of plywood and a small box fan of desk fan set to the lowest speed, point it at the box either perpendicular or at 45 degree angle. Now remember theoretically an aircraft ideally supposed to take off and land into the wind. So make a paper airplane of buy a small balsa glider at the dollar store to use it to simulate and aircraft taking off or landing and you'll see how the air currents can alter the effect of flight. Or try this, catch a plane and fly into Chicago Midway Airport in the heart of the city...enjoy the ride. Moving the cemetery is the most logical BUT will also be the biggest nightmare in the making. I know, I have relatives resting along the E. McNichols fence, directly under the glide path, and the living ones really whine everytime the topic of moving comes up. Also, Ideally, the joint use of Selfridge and or enlarging Willow Run, where I work, for cargo and charter operations, should be brought into the equation.

[Pat001]

This is a site listing every field or subdivision that used to be an airfield. I spent several hours here [[several times), so be prepared.

Interesting web site! I didn’t know the Salem Airport was closed. I never landed at Salem but I used the Salem VOR navaid [[114.3) as my final position fix when flying into Pontiac Airport.

[ndavies]

City airport runways can't be lengthend without the huge cost of relocating at least one cemetary. There are cemetaries at both ends of city airports main runway. There are two major streets at the ends of the secondary [[shorter runway.)

Between the cemeteries and the airport there is already a 3 mile section where you can't go east or west. You either have to go south to Gratiot or north to 7 mile to get around the airport.

[Gistok]

Yeah the cemeteries would be a nightmare to relocate. Although some folks would actually welcome it. Talked to my brother-in-law recently who's grandparents are buried at Gethsemane Cemetery on the south side of city airport. He would welcome a "paid for" relocation of his grandparents, to be relocated at Troy's White Chapel Cemetery, to where his parents are interred, and closer to where he lives. I bet there is a significant number of folks who, along with their "white flight" from the city.... would welcome a relocation of their loved ones.

According to news reports [[dated 2008)... white flight from Detroit is not just for the living... about 400-500 relocations happen each year when suburban living family members are having their dearly departed family members moved as well....

https://www.foxnews.com/story/report...oit-cemeteries

[Maof]

Yeah the cemeteries would be a nightmare to relocate. Although some folks would actually welcome it. Talked to my brother-in-law recently who's grandparents are buried at Gethsemane Cemetery on the south side of city airport. He would welcome a "paid for" relocation of his grandparents, to be relocated at Troy's White Chapel Cemetery, to where his parents are interred, and closer to where he lives. I bet there is a significant number of folks who, along with their "white flight" from the city.... would welcome a relocation of their loved ones.

According to news reports [[dated 2008)... white flight from Detroit is not just for the living... about 400-500 relocations happen each year when suburban living family members are having their dearly departed family members moved as well....

https://www.foxnews.com/story/report...oit-cemeteries

I would. My parents [[1973 and 2002) are both buried at Mt. Olivet along with numerous other relatives. I can't get any of my other siblings to go once or twice a year and I don't like going by myself.

[dtowncitylover]

I would. My parents [[1973 and 2002) are both buried at Mt. Olivet along with numerous other relatives. I can't get any of my other siblings to go once or twice a year and I don't like going by myself.

That's disappointing to hear. Mt. Olivet is a beautiful cemetery.

[ABetterDetroit]

Who in Gods name is going to pay for this multi Billion dollar airport renovation?

Does anybody seriously believe that The City of Detroit could? Get real, they do not have the money, not even close. Just getting the grass cut without volunteers is a major accomplishment.

Relocate those cemeteries? That is a expensive undertaking all by itself and you haven’t started a lick of airport construction.

Nobody has the funds. Not the city, certainly not the State of Michigan and you can forget about uncle sugar, not a chance. They will point at metro and tell whoever to “get lost”.

[O3H]

IF - the Coleman Airport merely upgraded - the existing infrastructure,
had a full time Fire Crew aka appeased the insurance folks, it is still
a very viable working airport. It just needs some real TLC for 2019+

[Maof]

That's disappointing to hear. Mt. Olivet is a beautiful cemetery.

Yes, it absolutely is a beautiful cemetery. I just don't feel safe going alone.

[Meddle]

I think that the Airport still has the potential to be as big as Metro ...

That may be the most ridiculously silly post in the history of the internet.

[hybridy]

That's disappointing to hear. Mt. Olivet is a beautiful cemetery.

Final resting in a cemetery that has permanent land right is an American invention. In Europe ceremteries have a limited lifespan due age/space constraints. Traditional burial is a dying trend. We now turn to green/natural burial and cremation due to costs and personal preference. Golf courses and cemeteries...they will be more victims of the millennials and for that I am glad.

I love my deceased family members dearly, but as we move away from traditional Sunday church worship and cemetery visitation, we celebrate our ancestors in the oral and digital tradition. We don’t need to litter an excessive granite stone with some plastic flower bouquet that blows away and becomes litter. We have to do better for the environment.

[Meddle]

Not exactly to scale, but close enough for this thread [[roughly three miles from top to bottom):

[Meddle]

Also, Ideally, the joint use of Selfridge and or enlarging Willow Run, where I work, for cargo and charter operations, should be brought into the equation.

My proposal has always been to expand either Selfridge or Port Huron.

City should be abandoned, demolished and put out of the collective misery.

[poobert]

My proposal has always been to expand either Selfridge or Port Huron.

City should be abandoned, demolished and put out of the collective misery.

Selfridge is a military installation, and not much of one at that - a golf course with a grocery store. You still can't just waltz on there unless you've got a military ID or can get on the access list which I'm sure anyone who flies Spirit wouldn't be eligible for.

[softailrider]

That's disappointing to hear. Mt. Olivet is a beautiful cemetery.

They have a groundskeeper or grounds crew that really knows what they’re doing at that place. Every time I drive by I cannot believe how well kept up it is - every shrub, every bush is beautifully trimmed.

[Meddle]

Selfridge is a military installation, and not much of one at that - a golf course with a grocery store. You still can't just waltz on there unless you've got a military ID or can get on the access list which I'm sure anyone who flies Spirit wouldn't be eligible for.

Selfridge North [[Phelps Collins) at Alpena is mixed use, or it was in the 80s when I was there. It isn't uncommon.