[ApS]

Originally Posted by Seeker

If it's privately owned and they have not received any funds from the FAA for improvements, etc then they can do whatever they want. That's what happened to White Mountain in North Conway and Lakes Region in Wolfeboro.

The airport at Moultonborough had a black helicopter taxiing on it yesterday—Noon. At the same moment, a large State helicopter flew over the same runway.

White Mountain Airport was where my Dad flew tourists over the White Mountains in one red Waco biplane nicknamed the "Red Baron". (Or its twin Waco, but in blue). Mom took tourist flight orders at the hanger desk.



The two commuted daily from Wolfeboro Airpark by Cessna 180—Life was good.

Former owner Wiley Apte, Jr., later attempted to open a Heliport near his present home on Birch Mountain Road, but that effort seems to have not endured the years.

His father, Wiley Apte, Sr.—of whom I have a photograph—was a beribboned WWI fighter pilot. Both senior Aptes are buried in a North Conway cemetery located near Noth Conway's Eastern Slope Inn.

Wiley Apte, Jr., was a veteran military pilot (AAF) and later a TWA pilot. His first wife, Mary, was a crime victim in the condos that replaced the airport and later died as a result of the criminal assault. His second wife (Keller) was a former FAA inspector. His daughter is employed by the State Department.

One successful, but unregistered, Heliport was near the West Side Road home of the late helicopter pilot Eddy Lord. (The Heliport was located on a ledge on Moat Mountain). Eddy is described by my Dad as a professional electrician and "a good pilot".

(Coming from my Dad, this is rare praise for a pilot—indeed ).

White Mountain Airport was bulldozed into "new" condominiums—of which, a local restaurant owner tells us, is now in disrepair.

From the main drag in North Conway, you can see that the airport's hanger is clearly retained in the design of an outlet store.

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The Committee to Save Wolfeboro Airpark (TCTSWA) tried to keep The Lakes Region Airpark, Wolfeboro Neck, as an airport. This effort was based on a NH law reserving the NH Legislature's right to keep private airports from impending development. Buoyed by support from the New Hampshire Attorney General, the Committee "kept hope alive" for several years.

On this "grass-roots" venture, I've kept some names and telephone/FAX numbers—if anyone in Moultonborough is interested in the "real-life" experiences of TCTSWA.

Also collected were some revealing news-clippings of those contentious years—printed by a local newspaper formerly not renowned for investigative reporting. From that publication, a redacted copy of a local bank document makes for some v-e-r-y interesting reading.

The shenanigans in print—taken by one bank, the new owner, and a local insider ("I am not a developer")...("I am not an insider")...remain as proof that the takeover of one private airport had became "nasty business".

Sometime around 2004 (photo below), Wolfeboro's "best shot" at a local airport had its forested margins cut down, the runway bulldozed, and its soil sifted.

Interestingly, the new paved roadways are arrayed in such a manner that a runway could be returned to the area. Even the hanger has been retained. Pilots who today "shoot" the new roadways, would observe that the most challenging runway approach is now cleared of those annoying "old-growth" treetops—and—it could become a much better airport today than formerly!

The edges of the new (private) roadways are becoming a bit "crumbly", due to the unauthorized bike- and drag-racing going on behind the chained-off entrance.

Most recently, I understand that the lots (newly resurveyed) are now displayed as "For Sale".

ETA:
As of August 2010, the flyers are no longer there, and the chain (which was to be "temporary") hasn't been taken down.