Wend Valley Airport is a privately-owned, public-use
general aviation airport located northwest of
Charlotte in
Eaton County
Eaton County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 109,175. The county seat is Charlotte. The county was organized in 1837 and was named for John Eaton, who was Secretary of War ...
,
Michigan,
United States.
Facilities and aircraft
Wend Valley Airport has one runway. It is designated as runway 18/36 and measures 1800 x 100 ft (549 x 30 m), and it is made of
turf.
The airport is closed from December through March, and also when
snow-covered. The airport is accessible by road from Valley Highway, and is located approximately 1 mile north of
M-79.
There is no
fuel
A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...
at the airport.
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2014, the airport had 456 aircraft operations, an average of 38 per month. It was composed entirely of
general aviation. For the same time period, there were 5
aircraft based at the field, all single-
engine airplanes.
Accidents and incidents
* On August 9, 1996, an
Aeronca 11AC crashed due to the pilot's improper use of engine controls (carburetor heat and/or throttle) while making a relatively high speed approach, low pass, and pull-up. The sequence resulted in partial loss of engine power, and the pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed after the partial loss of power resulted in an inadvertent
stall/
spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
.
* On April 11, 2007, a
Cessna 210 Centurion was substantially damaged during a hard landing and subsequent runway excursion. At 1 foot above the runway, the aircraft encountered a gust and hit the runway hard. The aircraft porpoised, and though the pilot added power, the
landing gear had sustained damage, causing the aircraft to veer off the runway. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's inadequate compensation for the wind conditions, inadequate landing flare, failure to maintain directional control, and encounter with a pilot-induced oscillation (the porpoise).
See also
*
List of airports in Michigan
This is a list of airports in Michigan (a U.S. state), grouped by type and sorted by location. It contains all public-use and military airports in the state. Some private-use and former airports may be included where notable, such as airports that ...
References
External links
*
Airports in Michigan
Buildings and structures in Eaton County, Michigan
Transportation in Eaton County, Michigan
{{Michigan-airport-stub