AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 68

Sidney L. Shannon Jr. opened Shannon
Airport in October 1950 and founded the
Shannon Air Museum in 1976, dedicating
the museum to his father (see "Shannon
Air Museum Reopens," p. 71). Sidney L.
Shannon Sr. was a pilot and an early investor in Eastern Air Lines when it flew mail
by night in single-engine aircraft, and
spent time with such aviation pioneers
as Dick Merrill and Eddie Rickenbacker.
After Shannon Jr.'s death in 1981, Billie
Toombs-who had worked with Shannon
at the airport since 1968-managed the
facility for the bank administering his
estate. By 1997 she and partner Robert
Stanley owned the airport. Nearly two
decades later, however, pressure from
developers was building, and in 2014
they sold the airport to Luke Curtas and
his wife, Kim.
"Billie worked hard to keep it an airport," Curtas said. "The only reason they
sold it to me was they got me into flying,
and they knew we'd keep it an airport."

68 | AOPA PILOT February 2018

"When Luke came
along, it was a real
revelation. We didn't
have to taxi through
the lakes on the
taxiway. It's made a
huge difference."
-Ray Wiseman

Kim Curtas initially thought her husband's flying lessons were a fad. When
he suggested they buy the airport, "I'd
think, hopefully, this one will pass. But I've
learned by now, since he's done so many
things, if it's strong on his mind-I'd better figure out a way to accept it.
"The airport doesn't seem to be a
phase," she added. "He definitely has a
calling."

When Curtas started flying for
business-he owns a Cirrus and a manufacturing company with key customers
in New York and North Carolina-"I kept
thinking, it would be a shame to lose this
airport." Curtas thought about buying the
airport, and building a factory on its grass
runway-until he realized how valuable
that runway is to the airport, both operationally and for aircraft parking during
events. He bought a nearby building for
the manufacturing operation instead.

Paid staff operate the airport, but a crew of
dedicated volunteers is primarily responsible for the museum, and they're quick
to help out elsewhere around the airport
when needed.
Tom Doran of King George, Virginia,
has flown out of the airport since 1980.
"The airport went downhill and we worried
about it closing," he said. "This has always
been a 'homey' airport-other airports are
like a business. Billie and Stan kept it going,
but Luke has turned it around."

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM SOME FRIENDS



AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 10
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 12
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 22
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 26
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 28
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 30
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 32
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 34
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 36
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 38
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 50
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 58
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 66
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 70
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 72
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 79
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 81
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - 112
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2018 - Cover4
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