The City celebrated the completion of all the recent improvements to the Georgetown Municipal Airport with a ribbon cutting May 31at the Airport Terminal.
The most recently completed work includes the rehabilitation of Runway 18-36, the airport’s main north-south runway. Other improvements to the airport include the construction of a parallel north-south taxiway, lighting upgrades, and the relocation of the fuel storage tanks to above-ground.
Mayor Dale Ross explained all of the renovations and improvements are in keeping with the most up-to-date safety requirements and compliance with the Federal Aviation Administration. “All of these changes are related to what is safer for our airport. We are simply following the best practices of the FAA. Above-ground fuel tanks are safer than those below and reinforced runways are safer for aircraft. I want to assure our residents that these changes are not related to, nor do we have any plans to expand the airport.”
The guest speaker was Buz Landry, who, as a young boy—and thanks to a cow—decided he wanted to be an aviator, so he was present at the ribbon cutting when the airport first opened in 1945.
The Landry family owned a ranch nearby and, when he was 8, Buz had a tussle with a cow, which drove him through a fence to a rather unpleasant (and messy) landing in the corral. “I opened my eyes, bleeding, filthy and dirty and with a torn shirt, I saw an airplane heading to the airport. That old boy is smart; he knows what he is doing, he is probably cool and he is definitely clean. At that moment I decided I wanted to be a pilot.” He began working at the airport at 13 for $.30/hour and soloed his first airplane at 16. He flew as a cropduster because his mother told him, “Don’t fly too high!” He retired from aviation at 35 and has continued to serve Georgetown as a Realtor and concrete specialist. He welcomes inquiries about any airport history from 1940 to 2000.