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Jan. 17, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: There are few second chances in life, whether it be for an individual or for a community. Now our community has a second chance to do what we failed to do 30 years ago. The money is still on the table, along with the need. As for our moral compass, it is still pointing in the right direction.
This issue is not about taking a chance. What is there to lose when the feds (90%) and the commonwealth (8%) are willing to pay for its cost? As for those who fear that paying 2% for the project is still too much, pull over the covers and go back to sleep. Folks, what we are talking about is not much more than a long strip of concrete, some security fence and a few prefab hangers. You mean that this issue is not about Rockbridge International Airport? Sorry, you will still need to drive elsewhere to catch a flight to Europe. As for all those small general aviation planes taking off and landing, most days they won’t be.
So why waste money to build it? Because, if God forbid, a plane of any size signals May Day and it is over Rockbridge County’s 600 square miles, there is an “aviation back hole” below. There’s no safe place to land.
Air safety became a major issue after June 30, 1956, when two jets collided over the Grand Canyon and 127 lives were lost and today’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was born: Question: Should we cooperate with FAA in providing safe and efficient airspace or not?
Yet I tend to agree with those who like our little neck of the woods just the way it is, no changes, not even a small airport. However, there is a problem. The Rev. Martin Luther King spotted it: “If you can’t fly then run, If you can’t run then walk, If you can’t walk then crawl, But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”
So, let’s keep moving forward as a community so we can keep the place just the way we like it. DAVID REYNOLDS Rockbridge County
