DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – For the first time in 60 years, airplanes won’t be roaring down the runway at the airstrip in Onawa, Iowa, this summer. Racing dragsters will.
Like many small cities across the country, Onawa is closing its airfield largely because of the steady decline in the number of pilots, especially in rural areas. After June 30, dragsters will be using the 3,400-foot-long concrete runway.
“It was a very hard decision for our council, but they decided, it’s just not working,” said Bradley Hanson, administrator of the western Iowa city, tucked between the Missouri River and scenic Loess Hills.
Many small towns have had airfields almost since the early barnstorming days and expanded them after World War II when military pilots returned home, ready to resume work but eager to keep flying. The number of pilots with private certificates peaked at 357,000 in 1980.
Since then, though, that number has nose-dived to 188,000, and hundreds of local airfields have been closing.