Cessna 310 To "Fly" Over Greenville's New Park

"Soon a Cessna 310 will be "Flying" over the new aviation themed park at the Greenville Downtown Airport in South Carolina," according to Joe Frasher, Airport Director of the Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU). 

“About two week's ago, I got an email about a static display plane that was being auctioned off by The State of Georgia.  The bidding was ending within 48 hours and the winner was supposed to pick it up within 5 days!  After a few phone calls, we decided to go for it...  up to $2,500 that is... since we knew that we would also need to pay to relocate it here and very skilled workers with special tools, a crane and large truck would be needed.  We ended up getting it for just under $2,200 which was a deal!  Planes like these can cost upwards of $40,000 and modifing one into a display plane is costly.  This plane was meant to be here in the new park, the deal just landed into our laps and the whole thing arrived here without any turbulence!" added Frasher.
"After we won the bid, we had to scramble to find someone capable of helping us get it here which was no ordinary job!  We wanted it taken apart and shipped very carefully as to enable us to rebuild it.  We reached out to our aviation contacts in Georgia and one said that they were very happy with a company who had moved two planes for them.  So we reached out to them and they were incredible!  As you can see by the photos, it was no easy task!" added Frasher.

"This was a great experience for our small company and we greatly appreciated being involved.  Everything went very smoothly.  It was cool to see Southway's crane carefully lay it on our trailer,  like it was coming in for a perfect three point landing," stated Dan D. Williams of Lakefront Enterprises, the company who was hired to move the plane.  "I am glad that she has a new home and will get to "fly" again sometime soon," added Williams.

The plane, believed to be built in 1962, arrived in Greenville, SC this week after a ROAD trip from Cochran, Georgia, which is about 2 hours South of Atlanta.  "The plane was on display at Middle Georgia State College's Cochran Campus.  The school recently changed it's colors and they decided to repaint one static aircraft display that they had and to sell another one, luckily for GMU.

“The plane, now in pieces, is located in a Greenville Jet Center aircraft hangar at GMU and soon volunteers from USAeroTech, LLC, a local Aircraft Maintenance Training School will help us put it all back together," noted Frasher. 

"This is a really neat project that we love to be involved in, because it can help us teach our students hands on working knowledge of how aircraft are constructed, and it also benefits our community," stated Mark D. Spang, a partner with USAeroTech, LLC.

“The park project was conceived to fill a need since over 10,000 school children a year used to visit our area’s local commercial airport, GSP before 9/11.  They can no longer do that due to security changes.  GMU receives many inquiries from large groups that would like to come out to the airport for a tour, but we were not always able to accommodate many of them since our facility would not accommodate 80-100 children.  This is the number that we are told that the school system needs to justify bus usage for a field trip.  Our region is attracting many aviation companies and they are having a hard time finding skilled workers.  We believe that exposure to aviation may inspire some kids to enter engineering, air traffic control, aircraft maintenance, or to become a pilot or CNC Machinist.  All of these are high paying jobs that are or will be needed to be filled locally,” stated Lara Kaufmann, Public Relations Director for GMU.

The free, open to the public, aviation themed park currently includes an educational amphitheater, paved exercise "Perimeter Taxiway" and walking "Runways" as well as aviation themed playground equipment for children 2 – 5 years old, a swing set and an airplane "Climber".  The park is located at 21 Airport Road Extension, Greenville SC, 29607. 

“Many local individuals and companies have donated to the park project and we have held several fundraisers,” stated Frasher.  “We are now applying for grants, planning more fundraisers and seeking financial help to add aviation themed playground equipment for school aged children 5 - 12 years old, for the design and installation of educational signage and for a picnic pavilion, which will most likely resemble an aircraft hangar.  If we find a naming rights sponsor, then the park could be completed this year!" added Frasher.

About USAeroTech, LLC

USAeroTech, LLC is a professional aircraft maintenance training facility located at the Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU) in the Upstate of South Carolina. USAeroTech offers an accelerated one-year training program that prepares students for the FAA examinations leading to certification as an airframe and powerplant mechanic (A & P certificate). Classes are held 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 48 weeks and consist of classroom instructional time as well as lots of hands-on training. For more information about USAeroTech, please visit www.USAeroTech.net or contact Mark Spang, Brett Zukowski or Mike Gonzales at 864-987-9331 or email information@USAeroTech.net.
About Lakefront Enterprises Ltd
Lakefront Enterprises Ltd is a licensed and bonded freight shipping and trucking company operating out of Ft Myers, Florida. For more information about Lakefront Enterprises Ltd, please contact Dan D. Williams at 859-358-5965 or danssat@aol.com.
About The Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU)

GMU is the busiest general aviation airport in South Carolina and is a self-sufficient entity with financial strength that doesn't rely on local taxpayers for funding. GMU is home to Greenville Jet Center, the largest Fixed Base Operation (FBO) in S.C., as well as more than 25 other aviation-related businesses creating 453 jobs that annually contribute more than $35.2 million to the Upstate economy. For more information about GMU please visithttp://www.greenvilledowntownairport.com or contact Joe Frasher at864-242-4777 orjoe@greenvilledowntownairport.com