The differences between Freeway and Gaithersburg are many.
I did not intend to progress into a rant, but the difference between the close in airports and GAI are the reason that I no longer fly in this area. I live between CGS and WOO, they are my natural choice for convenient flying. In the morning, GAI is an hour or more of tough driving unless i use the country roads, I have been a member of TSS, an outstanding club at GAI, but the logistics do not work for me.
GAI is government owned, and heavily subsidized through the initial disruptions. The losses at Freeway came straight out of Stanleys pocket.
The road to Freeway is a disgrace, but there is no pressure for the PG gov to improve it, there is little political influence there.
Gaithersburg is owned by a County Revenue Authority, and the County Council is dedicated to getting the most out of their investment. The roads and nearby facilities are great. Even though the distance is twice as far, the drive time is roughly equal to downtown DC
Getting zoning approval for new buildings at Freeway is near impossible, NIMBY is alive and well, has been for years.
GAI is twice as far from the White House, the daily impact on flying is less.
WOO is much closer to Andrews AFB, and presidential events there do not impact GAI.
I do not think GAI closes every time a presidential helicopter arrives at the white house. These sudden, unexpected shutdowns drive owners to airports further from the white house and such disruptions.
The initial altitude restriction is 1500 feet MSL, not AGL, less than 500 feet above pattern altitude. GAI is 3500 feet, the chance of getting a violation at GAI is negligible. For training flights, the instructor sees to it that you are not worrying about that.
Trainees are not aware of some of the shutdowns, as the instructor simply opt for some ground school instead of flying, the student may be unaware the airspace is closed.
Arriving at the airport with an approved flight plan and finding you are not leaving until an unknown time occurs can be a disaster if yur trip is business. One such closure lasted until 3 PM, but the FAA would not predict when it would lift. I had a flight scheduled that morning, and an IFR flight plan in the system. I just could not pick it up at the airport prior to departure. Unpleasant surprise, made my day. At 3 pm, I was at home, and the plan for the day canceled, but no one called to tell me that I could now fly. The only way to find out was to call and try to open the plan, and get an affirmative answer. I had quit calling at noon.
GAI was not closed that day, a more than subtle difference that serious users of the airspace plan to avoid by avoiding the impacted airports.
Returning to home, I was "locked out for a sort time, then directed to FME, required to land and wait for a person from Homeland Security to come from BWI and inspect the plane and search my wife and me before we could continue to CGS, my vase at that time. The total "flight time" from in the air at the east end of the Bay Bridge to CGS was well over an hour. To Freeway would have been the same.