Goodspeed Airport is located in

East Haddam East Haddam is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut. The population was 8,875 at the time of the 2020 census. History Until 1650, the area of East Haddam was inhabited by at least three Indigenous peoples: the Wangunk, the Mohegan and the Ni ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It has been under new ownership with the support of the

Recreational Aviation Foundation The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) is an IRS 501(c)(3) Charitable organization that focuses on preserving, improving, and creating backcountry airstrips for general aviation use. The RAF works with many national and state government orga ...

since November 2020. The new owners, Eric Zipkin and Bill McEnery, plan to revitalize the airport and bring back the vibrant aviation community that once existed there.

Facilities and aircraft

Goodspeed Airport is situated 1 mile southeast of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, and contains two runways. The longest

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...

, 16/34, is water measuring 4,500 x 1,000 ft (1372 x 305 m). A second runway, 14/32, paved with asphalt, measures 2,120 x 50 ft (646 x 15 m). The airport has been featured in videos and articles by a number of prominent aviation figures and organizations, including

Matt Guthmiller Matthew Lee Guthmiller (born November 29, 1994) is an American aviator, YouTuber, entrepreneur, professional speaker, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumnus. In 2007, aged 12, he founded an early iPhone unlocking company, AnySIMiPhones ...

and

AOPA The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is a Frederick, Maryland-based American non-profit political organization that advocates for general aviation. AOPA's membership consists mainly of general aviation pilots in the United States ...

, mainly centering on its somewhat unusual position and approaches, and its short paved runway, as well as the nearby

Goodspeed Opera House Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. A distinctive feature of the view from the Connecticut River, th ...

and the town of

. For the 12-month period ending April 30, 2010, the airport had 6,188 aircraft operations, an average of 119 per week: 80% local general aviation, and 19% transient general aviation. At that time there were 33 aircraft based at this airport: 87% single-engine and 4% multi-engine, and 9% ultra-light. The largest aircraft to ever land at Goodspeed Airport is the

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

, which has been brought in by the Tunison Foundation several times as a visiting exhibit.

Revitalization Plan

In the fall of 2020, Goodspeed Airport was acquired by New England Airport Associates, LLC, a partnership between Eric Zipkin, Bill McEnery, and the

, from

Timothy Mellon Timothy Mellon (born July 22, 1942) is an American businessman, and the chairman and majority owner of Pan Am Systems, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based transportation holding company. He is a grandson of Andrew W. Mellon and an heir to the Mell ...

, who purchased the airport in 1999 for $2.33 million. Both Zipkin and McEnery are pilots and aircraft owners who had previously stored aircraft at the airport; McEnery owns the Pedal Power line of bicycle shops, while Zipkin is the founder of

Tradewind Aviation Tradewind Aviation, LLC, doing business as Tradewind Aviation and Tradewind Shuttle, is an American airline headquartered at the Waterbury-Oxford Airport in Oxford, Connecticut, United States. Tradewind Aviation provides shared charter in the N ...

. Initial plans to revitalize the airport include making

Avgas Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in motor vehicles, w ...

available again, as well as installing previously permitted seaplane docks. Zipkin and McEnery hope that the airport will see renewed aviation activity. Property development is limited by a conservation easement, so major structural changes to the airport will not occur. As of August 2022, the airport has attracted renewed community interest, including hosting various local events, and now has both a seaplane flight school (Learn 2 Fly CT) and maintenance facility (Goodspeed Aero Craft) on-site.

References

Airports in Connecticut Transportation buildings and structures in Middlesex County, Connecticut East Haddam, Connecticut {{Connecticut-airport-stub