Dan Jones wrote:
Sounds like a bunch of flag-burnin', splay toed, long-haired, dope smokin', tree-huggin', bunny humpin' hippies and Commies!!
There is something else to consider. Over the past fifty years or so, numerous general aviation aiports have been turned into housing tracts and commercial sites. Who benefited? Real estate developers.
It's easy to see why developers lust after airports. After all, airports are level and clear. A certain amount of infrastructure is already in place. If you are a real estate developer, you can easily get your hands on that nice level land. Just start spreading malicious rumors about those "crazy reckless pilots flying dangerous little airplanes RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR HOMES AND SCHOOLS!" Fan the flames of fear, and pretty soon you'll have an anti-aviation mob on your hands. In short order, the local government will close the airport, and the land is yours for peanuts.
Sure, there is a chance that "hippies and Commies" are behind this. But there is a better chance the anti-aviation fears are organized and hyped by conservative, short-haired, suit-wearing, profit-seeking businessmen who are certainly not averse to throwing a bunch of pilots under the bus. Remember the line from the film
All The President's Men: "Follow The Money."
If you think I'm being unfair - count up the number of ex-airports in your state that are now housing tracts or shopping malls and ask yourself, "Who profited?"