by Tom Chillemi
SALUDA—A plan to improve Hummel Field airport in Topping advanced February 2 when the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors approved a draft airport layout plan and sent it to the Virginia Department of Aviation (VDOA).
The plan is a template for the proposed expansion that would lengthen Hummel’s runway and align it slightly so planes would not fly over houses.
The proposal was submitted to the board last year by Oscar Barber of Topping, president of Delaware Corporation.
Barber, 78, has been a pilot for 57 years.
In December, the board approved an agreement with Delaware Corporation, which has agreed to pay the total costs of an airport layout plan and the required environmental impact review. By completing the plan and review, Delaware Corporation is attempting to accelerate the pace of construction at Hummel Field.
Delaware Corporation may be partially reimbursed by state grant funds later. There would be no cost to the county, Middlesex Airport Advisory Committee chairman Jamie Barnhardt told supervisors.
If the layout plan is approved…[to-view-more]