1956 FAA document shows three
runways in use at Wings Field.


WHAT WINGS HAS DONE TO HELP

From its opening day in 1930, the owners of Wings Field have repeatedly driven home to aviators the need for flying quietly, safely, and with due consideration for its neighbors. The following is a list of the many programs Wings has initiated over the years to help it coexist with the neighborhoods that have been built around it.

Volume and Operational Controls

  • Closed two of the three runways that were originally built at the field
  • Limited the length of its runway to 3700’, making it too short for airliners and most business jets
  • Pledged never to extend the length of its runway beyond 3700’
  • Provide no aircraft support services – fueling, maintenance, support – between midnight and 6 am
  • Charge significantly higher landing and parking fees for larger corporate and charter aircraft
  • Require prior permission for aircraft weighing more than 12,500 lbs.
  • Installed a shade on one side of the airport beacon to keep light out of the windows of neighbors
  • Turn runway lights off at night and provide pilots with special procedure for turning them on when landing
  • Discontinued scheduled airline service and pledged not to become a scheduled commercial service airport

Noise and Fume Controls

  • Enacted strict noise abatement procedures
    • Applied to all aircraft
    • Higher than standard traffic pattern
    • Special procedures for jets and helicopters
    • Prior permission required for use of the airport by aircraft weighing more than 12,500 lbs.
    • “Touch and go” landings are not permitted
    • Relocated aircraft runup areas to the center of the airport, far away from noise sensitive areas
    • Set 5 minute time limit for waits with engines running in the ramp and terminal area
    • Set 10 minute time limit for use of Auxiliary Power Units (APU)
    • Weather and safety permitting, has designated runway 6 as the preferred runway for jet operations
  • Operate an aggressive and on-going communication program to promote noise abatement procedures to base, transient, corporate, and helicopter pilots. These procedures are included in:
    • Audio reminder on airport’s AWOS-3 weather broadcasting system
    • Brochures and maps
    • Information in Airport/Facility Directory, other airport directories
    • Lease agreement for hangar and tie-down tenants
    • Pilot training sessions
    • Letters to operators of high noise aircraft
  • Plan to move parking for visitor aircraft from the terminal area to a new location down the hill and next to the taxiway/runway area -- see and hear for yourself how the plan will reduce the impact of noise on our neighbors. See below to watch a 13-minute video that shows helicopters, jets, and piston airplanes taxiing from the runway to the current and proposed visitor aircraft parking lots. You will notice the difference in noise levels that result simply by moving the visiting aircraft parking lot from the upper terminal area to an area down the hill, near the runway, and 135 yards further away from the homes on Huntsman Lane.
  • Ban high noise aircraft
  • Video surveillance to identify aircraft operating at night
  • Engine tests by mechanics confined to runup area near the Sentry Park office complex


Community Compatibility

  • Magnet for economic development – commercial center of township has grown up around Wings Field
  • Wings is a major transportation center for area businesses and residents
  • Among oldest employers in Whitpain Township
  • Actively preserves, using private funds, the largest remaining tract of open space in Whitpain Township
  • Preserves the only remaining farmland in Whitpain
  • Preserves valuable wetlands, scenic vistas, woods, wildlife, and historic resources
  • Does not contribute to congestion on area roads
  • Makes minimal use of township resources
  • Planted hundreds of trees, shrubs, and grasslands in northeast part of the field to provide landscape buffer for neighbors on Dundee Drive
  • Flight school and maintenance shop serve as education and career development centers
  • Discontinued scheduled airline service and pledged not to become a scheduled commercial service airport
  • On-going support and partner with local police, fire, and search/rescue services
  • Home base for PennSTAR, the University of Pennsylvania Health System’s medevac helicopter
  • Home base for Angel Flight East, a non-profit organization whose pilots use their aircraft to fly patients on a voluntary basis to specialized medical centers throughout the east coast
  • Popular site for tours by school children
  • Polling site for elections
  • Consistency in airport operations throughout our history since 1930 – same traffic pattern, hours of operation, services, sizes and types of aircraft, facilities
  • Regular sharing of airport activities and plans with community – Connections newsletter, open houses and workshops, meetings with neighborhood associations, Issue Briefs, airport vision, Long Term Plan, pilot education, Congressman Joseph Hoeffel’s Wings Community Advisory Committee