Business View Magazine l October 2022

229 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 VENANGO REGIONAL A I RPORT Franklin Aircraft Sales is an aircraft reseller based at the airport. Buchna notes, “Quite a few people are flying in and out regularly.” Venango Regional Airport is owned by Venango County and operates as its own FBO. The property covers an area of 420 acres and has two runways with asphalt surfaces: 03-21 is 5,201 by 150 feet with grooved pavement and 12-30 is 3,592 by 100 feet. Between 20 and 25 aircraft call Venango Regional home. Geographically, it serves both Franklin, which is two miles southwest of the airport, and Oil City which lies some 10 miles to the south. As for capital improvements, Buchna reports, “Our main runway is due to be rehabbed here in the next couple of years. Next year, we will be working on the design and then move to construction the year after – this is all done in close collaboration with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Aviation who manage the state and healthy mix of corporate and recreational flying. “We’ve got a pretty nice base here of people that have their planes stationed at Venango Regional,” says Buchna, “and we get a fair amount of jet traffic, with charter jets in here quite frequently. We also have a couple of colleges real close, Grove City College and Slippery Rock College, so we have guests flying in here to go down there and speak at different events. There are also some businesses in the area that regularly use our airport. General Electric has a plant down in Grove City and we also have Komatsu, which is a worldwide manufacturer of mining equipment.” Another interesting plane that is based on the field is the Beach City Baby, a restored Douglas C-53 from 1942 that makes the rounds to events at other airports and air shows. In addition, the Pennsylvania State Police fly their regional aircraft from Venango Regional, and