Spent some time with Akron-Canton Airport boss Rick McQueen the other day, talking about all things CAK, and at one point he remarked, “Airplanes are neat,” using an adjective that shows his age.
I immediately concurred, giving no thought to the word “neat” until later because I, too, am ancient.
Neat, cool, amazing, awesome … they all work.
Even a guy in McQueen’s position — a guy who could deliver an immediate dissertation on the physics of flight — sometimes looks out the window of his office at the massive airliners parked at his gates and says to himself, “How can those things possibly get off the ground?”
The whole concept strains credulity.
So let’s see … this Airbus A320, which already weighs 41 tons, will be filled with luggage and people, and then it will drive out to that strip of concrete and … go … up … into … the … air? Not possible.
Unless you’re a grizzled road warrior who sees airplanes in your nightmares, you probably think aircraft are neat, too. So it’s a shame that outdoor observation decks have gone the way of the dinosaur.
As a young adult, I would occasionally drive to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport just to go out onto the observation deck and watch planes take off and land.
In those days, you could roam virtually anywhere in the airport without a ticket. Clearly, those days are dead and buried — as is the observation deck, which was closed shortly after 9/11 by a federal mandate.
Thanks again, terrorists.
The deck itself still exists, but the door leading out to it has been sealed. It is just below the airport operations area, adjacent to what is now the airport’s call center.
“People talk about it all the time,” says Hopkins’ communication manager, Michele Dynia, adding, “But they understand why it’s not there.”
Fortunately, during the warmer months, the 100th Bomb Group restaurant right across the street from Hopkins offers great views of the runways from a rooftop deck and a large patio.
A couple of big U.S. airports still have outdoor observation decks. But to access the relatively small decks in Atlanta and New York’s JFK, you have to be a member of the Delta Sky Club. If you’re not, you could buy a one-day pass for $50. Not sure airplanes are that cool.
The demise of CAK’s observation deck long predates 9/11. That deck was shut down in 1992 because of a major redesign project.
“Remember the old belt ramps up to the second floor and the old belt ramps down?” asks McQueen. “You’d go up to the second floor to go out [to the deck]. When we went straight through [with the new wing], that access point was cut off, so we couldn’t get out there any longer.”
Even without the redesign, CAK’s deck obviously wouldn’t have survived 9/11, either.
“I often tell people, ‘Look, you could throw a snowball and hit an airplane from there.’ They won’t let you do that anymore.
“It’s just today’s world, unfortunately. And, quite frankly, it’s taken all the fun out of the place.
“We had a big program here where we would bring grade-school kids out as a class trip. We had a tour guide who would take them for tours of the facility.
“And if a pilot saw them coming through, and he had just landed and had some time, he’d bring the kids on the airplane on occasion and let them sit there.
“You can’t do it anymore. They’ve taken all the fun out of it. They really have.”
McQueen does suggest a consolation prize: a tour of the MAPS Air Museum, immediately west of the airport on International Parkway. There you can see plenty of planes from all eras of flight — up close and personal.
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com. To find his podcast, “Dyer Necessities,” go to www.ohio.com/dyer. He also is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bob.dyer.31