Greater Cumberland Regional Airport is a public airport in the town of Wiley Ford in

Mineral County, West Virginia Mineral County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,938. Its county seat is Keyser. The county was founded in 1866. Hi ...

, United States. It is two miles (3 km) south of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

(population 21,518) in

Allegany County, Maryland Allegany County is located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 68,106. Its county seat is Cumberland. The name ''Allegany'' may come from a local Lenape word, ''welhik hane'' or '' ...

. Although the airport is in the

Potomac Highlands of West Virginia The Potomac Highlands of West Virginia (or just the Potomac Highlands) () centers on five West Virginian counties (Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, and Pendleton) in the upper Potomac River watershed in the western portion of the state's Eastern P ...

, the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

lists this as a

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

airport. On the second level of the airport terminal is the Cohongaronta Gallery (''Cohongaronta'' being a

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

name for the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

) with an array of displays on the history of the Potomac Highlands area. The centerpiece of the gallery is a 40% scale replica of the Wright Brothers 1903 ''

Wright Flyer The ''Wright Flyer'' (also known as the ''Kitty Hawk'', ''Flyer'' I or the 1903 ''Flyer'') made the first sustained flight by a manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft—an airplane—on December 17, 1903. Invented and flown b ...

''. A time line highlights dates and events for the Potomac Highlands region. The gallery is open to the public during terminal business hours.

Facilities and aircraft

Greater Cumberland Regional Airport covers and has two

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

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 ...

s: 5/23, 5,048 x 150 ft (1,539 x 46 m) and 11/29, 2,442 x 150 ft (744 x 46 m). In the year ending August 2, 2006 the airport had 14,300 aircraft operations, an average of 39 per day: 98%

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

and 2% military. 69 aircraft are based at this airport: 81% single engine, 7% gliders, 6% multi-engine, 3% jet and 3%

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

Racing

The Cumberland Greater Regional Airport was used for a airport course run in

Wiley Ford, West Virginia Wiley Ford is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States and part of the 'Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 1,026 at the 2010 census. The community was named after Mr. Wiley ...

(just south of

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its s ...

) in the 1950s and 1960s. Currently National Road Autosport holds

autocross Autocross (also called "Solo", "Auto-x" or "Autoslalom") is a timed competition in which drivers navigate one at a time through a defined course on either a sealed or an unsealed surface. It is a form of motorsports that emphasizes safe competition ...

events at the airport on a monthly basis.

History

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called ...

began flights between Cumberland and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

in June 1991. US Airways discontinued the flights in September 2001 because of a lack of demand; the decision to end the flights had been made before the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

Boston-Maine Airways Boston-Maine Airways was an American airline headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. It operated scheduled commuter services as well as Boeing 727 jet flights under the Pan Am Clipper Connection name. Its main base was Pease ...

had flights between Cumberland and

Baltimore-Washington International Airport Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Internatio ...

starting in December 2001. Due to lack of demand, the service ended in June 2003.Commuter Airline Ends Its Service in Western Maryland
. ''The Baltimore Sun''. July 1, 2003. p. D2.

References

External links

Greater Cumberland Regional Airport
(official website)

at West Virginia Airport Directory
{{Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia Transportation in Cumberland, MD-WV-PA Airports in West Virginia Buildings and structures in Mineral County, West Virginia Motorsport venues in West Virginia Transportation in Mineral County, West Virginia