Can you imagine a community where people own planes instead of cars?
Yes, this is also a reality. However, isn't it shocking that this is the same world where you have to wait for your cabs, someone can easily avail his or her personal plane for their daily engagements?
Residential Airpark
Residential Airpark is also known as a "fly-in community". It is a community settled around an airport where the residents have their aeroplane, which they park at the hangar, attached to their home. Their homes are connected to the runways so that the aeroplanes won't face any trouble while they are out of the hangar. These airparks are owned privately, and most of them are not being used for commercial purposes. This idea of residential airparks was generated in 1944, and the first Airpark was Sierra Sky Park in Fresno, California, which was established in 1946.
Difference between airparks and airports
As we come to know from the definition, an airpark is an airport with two or more homes located just beside the runway, and the runway is connected to the home. There are many airports adjacent to homes, but these are not airparks if the legal and official access to the airport is missing. Therefore, we can conclude that all the airparks are airports, but not all are airparks.
The history behind the Residential Airparks
You must be wondering about the possible reasons behind the establishment of such communities. It is the outcome of a historical event. After the Second World War, there were so many vacant airfields used by the armies between 1939 and 1945. As a result, the population of pilots increased rapidly from 34000 to 400000. So, the Civil Aeronautics Administration thought of building residential airparks across the United States to use the lands in accommodating a vast number of war pilots. That's why you will always find at least one pilot in these families.
There are 630 residential airparks found globally, of which 610 are in the United States. Amongst them, Sierra Sky Park is the first. Another critical example is -
Cameron Airpark, California
There are more than 100 homes in the Cameron Airpark. Their lifestyle and the overall condition of the society are a bit different in terms of a few factors. These airparks are financially separate from the airport regarding the matter of management of the properties. Therefore, the guests of these airparks should be cautious, and they must coordinate with the residents.
Let me know what you consider as the most interesting fact about these airparks?
