Airfield Letter - January 2026

January 4 2026

We made it! Looking back at the Airfield Letters for 2025, it’s just amazing what we accomplished together during this past year after being literally washed away by Hurricane Helene. We all took a role in the recovery, whether through cleanup and restoration work or just keeping the hangar rents coming in – many contributing both ways. Thank you for all you have done. (Don’t worry, there’s more to do and we’ll be asking for more help this new year).

A farewell of note to one of our recent and welcome contributors: Sean (Superman) Stoskopf and his wife, Heidi, stopped off at Hendersonville during their quest for the perfect place to settle down after Sean sold his auto repair business in Kansas. They’ve moved on to BluVton SC this time, where Sean is continuing to fly his Cherokee as a CFI-I and where, if his stopover here is any indication, he will become a most welcome addition to their community. Thanks for everything, Sean, and Happy Landings!

Our Airfield runway will be the focus of activity during the next few months as we work to level, stabilize and pack the surface. Glenn Gordon and Jerry Moore from the Museum did great things to put us back in business as an Airfield in 2025, from Jerry’s finding a fire engine to hose down the empty museum hangar and a new tractor to mow the runway to Glenn’s groundskeeping and hauling scrap to the metal recycler’s. We’ll need your help as they come up with a plan to iron out the details, and we’ll tackle the project one piece at a time.

There is some great news for our hangar residents in Hangars 7, 8 and 9 this past month: They have electricity at long last!! Thank Pete Leonard and Jerry Moore for getting this done! It’s been a couple of years coming, but finally here!

There’s more good news indirectly about the grounds: Museum Director Jerry Moore learned last week that FEMA will be replacing the culvert under Gilbert St – the street that serves as the access street for the Museum proper. The old culvert nearly collapsed completely after the big storm and has dumped a lot of debris onto Museum property. Hopefully there will be screens to filter some of that debris out and reinforcement for the bank as well.

Welcome Dennis Carlson and John Wilkinson to the Airfield … they’re bringing their airplanes to Hangar 1- - John has a Hummer that he built and kept at Jim and Judy Paine’s on the north end until Helene wiped everything out ….. after a complete restoration John based at Landrum SC.

Dennis is at the covering and finishing stage on his Highlander in his home workshop and should be joining John in March or April. If you’d like some covering experience, Dennis said he’d welcome the company.Dennis is at the covering and finishing stage on his Highlander in his home workshop and should be joining John in March or April. If you’d like some covering experience, Dennis said he’d welcome the company.

Steve Murray is back from an extended trip on the continent of Africa and xis already hard at work with Mark Cigal on their RV-4 project.

Our friendly neighbor EAA chapter at Morristown TN has invited any and all to fly over on just about any Monday and check out the progress on their RV-12 school project. For more information or to verify they’ll be working when you can go over, contact Karen at eaachapter1494@gmail.com. The legendary Morristown EAA breakfasts, held on the first Saturday of the month, will resume in March or April . . . stay tuned!

HANGAR WAITLIST

1. Norm Earle (Private hangar by request) 6. James Spurgeon (Museum Hgr due to size)

2. Ben Flaspoehler 7. John Duncan

3. Mike Lynch

4. Barry Duncan

5. Roger Benton (Museum Hgr due to size)

As always: Contact us with any questions: Alex Nelon 828-595-5950, Mark Cigal 860-930-5453