The opening of a new runway for civil use is a rare event, but even more unusual when that runway is 12,501 feet of smooth pavement, specifically the joint military-civil-use Grissom Air Reserve Base in Peru, Ind. Grissom ARB, previously available to civil operators with prior permission only, was formally opened to regular public use during a dedication ceremony held on September 17. And earlier this year, the owners of Montgomery Aviation, which runs two other Indiana FBOs, signed a contract to operate an FBO at the airport.
Grissom started as Bunker Hill Naval Air Station in 1942, serving as a training base for Coast Guard, Marine and Navy pilots. The airport closed after World War II, but reopened during the Korean conflict, eventually becoming a significant KC-135 tanker base. Bunker Hill was renamed in 1968 to honor Virgil “Gus” Grissom, the Mitchell, Ind. native who died in the catastrophic fire that destroyed Apollo 1 on the launch pad at Cape Kennedy, Fla., on Jan. 27, 1967.
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