When David Adams landed at Poplar Bluff Municipal Airport earlier this week in his homebuilt aircraft, family from Fisk were waiting for him to enjoy an afternoon visit.
The single-seat Long EZ offers the kind of speed that has made it perfect for competition in 70 races. But on this day, it was a quick way to travel between Adams' home near St. Louis, spend a few hours with his parents and be back by sunset.
The airport averages between 450-500 landings and take-offs a month, said manager Gary Pride. It includes locals like Adams, stopovers for cross country trips, doctors travel to Poplar Bluff each week to provide services and business traffic for corporations and industrial partners, he said.
Increasing traffic helped generate approximately $620,000 worth of fuel sales in the past 12 months, and a waiting list of pilots that want hangars to make Poplar Bluff their permanent home base, Pride said.
The airport opened two new aircraft hangars April 1 that were immediately filled from a waiting list, he said.
The 60- by 70-foot hangars are 20-foot tall. They serve jet, twin engine and turbo-prop planes of a size typically used by businesses.
Most people that deal on a large scale with the city, who come from out of town, come into Poplar Bluff from the airport, said Matt Richardson, president of the Municipal Airport Development Corporation. The MAD board operates as the funding arm of the airport.
"These are the people that are coming in to build new businesses, look at Poplar Bluff and Butler County as a potential place for investment," said Richardson. "We feel that it's important to have a first-class airport facility to make it convenient for those people to come to Poplar Bluff, and to provide service to them while they are in Poplar Bluff."
Airport workers understand they offer the first impression of Poplar Bluff for many visitors, said Steve Jones, an aviation propulsion logistical specialist who has worked at the airport for eight years.
"We really take that seriously," said Dewayne Ligons, an airport lineman.
"(Visitors) like to come in and feel like they're at home. People know this airport (for that)," Jones continued.
There are currently around 37 planes housed in airport hangars, Pride said.
The MAD board rents ground from the airport, then constructs hangars like the two new buildings. The hangars are paid for with a loan that is secured with the rental income the buildings generate.
The MAD board is currently paying off a $1.1 million loan for the construction of four large aircraft hangars, Richardson said. About $570,000 of that comes from the most recent project.
The new hangars are among a series of improvements and updates expected to occur this year.
Pride is also working to complete an update to the airport's emergency response plan. City firefighters were invited this week to walk through the airport and grounds to learn more about operations as part of this effort.
The airport has also completed repairs to a visual guidance system that is used by pilots, Pride said. The new system began experiencing problems shortly after the lights were installed in 2017. The problem was determined by a contractor and the manufacturer to be faulty technology inside the units. This technology has been replaced, Pride said.
A warning concerning the issue had been posted for pilots with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The problems did not posed a safety issue for pilots, Pride has said previously.