Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2019.001.037 |
Object Name |
Clipping, Newspaper |
Title |
Fast Pulse Beats at Wiley Post |
Collection |
Wiley Post Collection |
Creator |
Vince Hennigan |
Scope & Content |
A Daily Oklahoman article which describes the growing popularity of Wiley Post Airport. |
Date |
04/20/1982 |
Transcription |
[Image 1: Top] Tuesday, April 20, 1982 | THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN —————————————————————————— [[Picture of Wiley Post Airport]] [Image 1: Middle Right] [[Picture of a bust of Wiley Post, with a caption that reads: "A bust of Wiley Post looks toward the airport's runway."]] [Image 1: Middle] Fast pulse beats at Wiley Post THE PULSE of Oklahoma City's growth can be measured by the roar of jet aircraft landing and taking off at Wiley Post Airport. What was once an airfield scraped from the red earth of a country wheat field is now the busiest civilian airport in central Oklahoma. Wiley Post Airport, the city's second largest city airport (compared to Will Rogers International), handles more aircraft landings and takeoffs, called flight operations, than Will Rogers International. H.R. McKissack, Wiley Post control tower chief, said more than 180,000 flight operations were handled in 1981, or about one operation every three minutes. The record was set in 1976 when 204,000 flight operations were logged, he said. McKissack said Wiley Post is a general aviation airport handling single-engine pleasure flyers and other non-commercial aircraft. The airport also is home base of hundreds of multi-engine jet propeller planes and small business jets. Will Rogers handles fewer flight operations annually, he said, but receives considerably more passengers because it handles mostly commercial airline traffic. Bryan Ferrell, Wiley Post Airport supervisor, said an increasing number of corporate pilots use Wiley Post because of its closeness to Oklahoma City's newest commercial area - Northwest Expressway. Ferrell said the airport "has a tremendous economic impact on northwest Oklahoma City" because this [sic] popularity. Wiley Post is also convenient, he said. One of the airport's features is the Federal Aviation Administration's Flight Service Center, directed by facility chief Pete Melton. Melton said the center is staffed with 41 specialists who keep up-to-the-minute weather and flying condition reports throughout the county. Before take off, pilots can file flight plans at the center and receive last minute flight information before departure. Pilots flying through Oklahoma can contact the center, via airplane radios, to get needed flight information. He explained that the airport was started on Jan. 6, 1941, because Oklahoma City needed another airport to handle the increasing general aviation traffic in the area. The airport was renamed in memorial to famous aviator Wiley Post in the late 1930s. Post, who discovered high altitude jet streams, was the first pilot to circumnavigate the globe in a solo flight in 1931 and designed a [sic] the first "space suit" to protect pilots in the low oxygen level of a high altitude thus making him an early day astronaut. Post and his good friend, comedian Will Rogers, were both killed Aug. 15, 1936, in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska. A bust of Wiley Post, along with a large photograph of Post with his favorite plane the "Winnie Mae," is in the lobby of the airport terminal. —————————————————————————— [[Picture of three people working on a plane, with a caption that reads: "A work crew from a [sic] aircraft service company refuels a corporate jet that just landed at the airport. Staff photos by Jim Argo. Text by Vince Hennigan."]] [Image 1: Bottom Left] [[Picture of a man with binoculars, with a caption that reads: "Flight controller Karl Power uses binoculars to spot an aircraft landing in a dust storm."]] [Image 1: Bottom Right] [[Picture of a front-facing plane, with a caption that reads: "This corporate-owned twin-engine jet aircraft is one of several multi-engine planes based at Wiley Post Airport."]] |
People |
Jim Argo Vince Hannigan Wiley Post Will Rogers Karl Power H. R. McKissack Bryan Ferrell |
Search Terms |
Airport Aircraft Article Commercial Single-engine Multi-engine Jet Corporate Northwest Oklahoma City Central Oklahoma Will Rogers International Wiley Post Airport Tuesday, April 20, 1982 Passenger Record Report Take-off Aviation Jet Stream Operations Flight Northwest Expressway |