A unique place that I have landed.
November 16, 1969, I took off from College Park, MD CGS, in a 1959 Cessna 150, and flew to Monticello, UVA. There I landed on the terrace below the right side of the mansion. I walked up to the building, and had an employee document that I had landed there.
He made a short entry in my log book.
“Landed OK, 11/16/69 UVA Apt. Monticello”, followed by scribbled initials.
The flight time was 1:40 going and 1:30 returning. 10 flying hours later, I passed my check ride.
That grassy expanse is now a garden, and impossible to land on. Back then, it was well trimmed grass, 1,000 feet long and 50 feet wide. The University of Virginia Flying Club used it, which explains the UVA name, but at that time, there were no airplanes present. The official who initialed my log was completely casual, as if that was a normal part of a day, but mentioned that he had not signed a log for years. There was no wear on the grass from aircraft use; there was no indication that the UVA club was then active.
Sometime later, it disappeared from the air charts. I did not think of going again, so did not notice.
The use of UVA for Monticello must have ceased soon after I landed there. It is possible that X markings came soon, and on 11/16/1969 I was the last legal landing there.
I have flown into a number of airports that no longer exist, but that one stands out as special.
Have any other members of POA landed a fixed wing plane there?
The more conventional 4 letter version exists, KUVA, Garner Field Airport, in Uvalde, Texas, if you search for UVA these days. That gives an idea how long the original has been gone from the air charts. I often wished that I kept the original sectional I used for my training and cross countries before achieving my certificate. There were a surprising number of airfields that no longer exist.
The Uvalde airport had converted to civilian from a military training field. V.P. Garner died in 1969. The name change to Garner Field may have come soon after that, but when the UVA designation occurred is not easily found.
November 16, 1969, I took off from College Park, MD CGS, in a 1959 Cessna 150, and flew to Monticello, UVA. There I landed on the terrace below the right side of the mansion. I walked up to the building, and had an employee document that I had landed there.
He made a short entry in my log book.
“Landed OK, 11/16/69 UVA Apt. Monticello”, followed by scribbled initials.
The flight time was 1:40 going and 1:30 returning. 10 flying hours later, I passed my check ride.
That grassy expanse is now a garden, and impossible to land on. Back then, it was well trimmed grass, 1,000 feet long and 50 feet wide. The University of Virginia Flying Club used it, which explains the UVA name, but at that time, there were no airplanes present. The official who initialed my log was completely casual, as if that was a normal part of a day, but mentioned that he had not signed a log for years. There was no wear on the grass from aircraft use; there was no indication that the UVA club was then active.
Sometime later, it disappeared from the air charts. I did not think of going again, so did not notice.
The use of UVA for Monticello must have ceased soon after I landed there. It is possible that X markings came soon, and on 11/16/1969 I was the last legal landing there.
I have flown into a number of airports that no longer exist, but that one stands out as special.
Have any other members of POA landed a fixed wing plane there?
The more conventional 4 letter version exists, KUVA, Garner Field Airport, in Uvalde, Texas, if you search for UVA these days. That gives an idea how long the original has been gone from the air charts. I often wished that I kept the original sectional I used for my training and cross countries before achieving my certificate. There were a surprising number of airfields that no longer exist.
The Uvalde airport had converted to civilian from a military training field. V.P. Garner died in 1969. The name change to Garner Field may have come soon after that, but when the UVA designation occurred is not easily found.
