By Rick Davenport
Texas Transportation Institute
He’s 86 years of age, still Ries a couple of times a week and he’s a proud member of the United Flying Octogenarians (UFO), which is a 600-member club of pilots over the age of 80. But Wayne Collins is much more than just an old man with a Bonanza. In Wood County, Texas, he’s an aviation pioneer – a living legend to the growing number of people here who care about flying and the economy.
Last year, when the Wood County Airport was awarded the General Aviation Airport of the Year, many considered it a tribute to Collins and the personal struggles he endured to make the airport a reality.
It seems like a lifetime ago when Collins’ business was picketed by angry citizens who thought a new airport would hurt nearby land values.
Back in 1978, Collins was a northeast Texas clothing store owner and an avid pilot who had a dream of having a general aviation airport that could become the industrial hub for Wood County. The area did have a private 3,000′ surfaced strip 30′ wide with lots of loose gravel with no room for growth and no money for improvement. An airport board was formed and Collins was appointed Chairman. (It’s a position he held until two years ago and he still is a board member.)
‘We started making progress after an alliance was formed with the cities of Mineola and Quitman and Wood County,” Collins recalls. ”They all chipped in some money to buy 80 acres of land for an airport site that adjoined county land, but we were still short. A local foundation donated the rest.”
But not everyone was happy. Collins was getting angry phone calls and protestors were threatening to picket his clothing store. “I thought I was going to get tarred and feathered,” he said of the opposition.
Luckily, Collins, along with other volunteers, persisted. They planned and scrimped and made numerous waves of improvements every few years thanks to sheer determination and little to no operating funds in the early years. There has never been a paid employee as the Volunteer Airport Board has operated the facility with the support of the communities for capital improvements. Last year the Airport Board received $14,290 in operating funds from the communities, the balance of the $40,000 operating budget was airport income and RAMP participation.
”The Airport has grown into a $1 .6 million annual economic engine,” says Gary McKinley, the executive director of the Wood County Industrial Commission. “It’s a significant figure considering our size. The airport has indeed developed into our industrial hub.”
The airport serves local businesses including the nearby Quitman hospital, area aviators and anglers who fish world-famous bass hot spot Lake Fork (located just five miles from the airport). The airport has also become the reason why numerous pilots made Wood County their home after retirement.
“We like to gauge our success on the economic impact that the airport has locally,” says John Wisdom, the current Wood County Airport Board Chairman. ”Yes, we are steadily making improvements, but we really like the fact that -considering our budget – we have provided a very safe, attractive and efficient facility.”
Recent airport improvements include a fully renovated and expanded terminal building with all the creature comforts, a taxiway expansion and full utilities for all the hangars including electric, water, sewer and high-speed internet. And there are plans in the works for other improvements.
It’s a safe bet that Wayne Collins will be a driving force behind the efforts. Being named the General Aviation Airport of the Year has become the culmination of his vision .. .that continues today.
”This award really means a lot to us,” Collins says, who is quick to point to all the other people who have worked on the airport over the decades, including the Aviation Division of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). “Director of Aviation Dave Fulton has been great. If an airport wants to grow, TxDOT Aviation will give them the tools.”
Each year, the airport board hosts an appreciation luncheon that is attended by l 00 thankful Wood County residents. Yes, 1978 seems like a long time ago.
Visit the Wood County Airport Web site at: http://woodcountyairport.net/.
