Hummel Field proposal would realign and lengthen runway

by Tom Chillemi – 

Pilot Oscar Barber of Hartfield, president of the Delaware Corporation (DelCorp), has submitted a proposal for a safer airport in Middlesex County which includes a longer runway that is aligned so planes don’t fly over houses. Barber said DelCorp can build the 3,100-foot runway at Hummel Field at Topping at no cost to the county. The county owns Hummel Field.   

Currently, Hummel Airport’s runway, at 2,600 feet, is the second shortest public runway in the state, said airport committee secretary Richard Lewis. And, at 45 feet wide the runway is 5 feet under the state minimum width, he added.

Increasing the runway’s length gives pilots a “margin of safety” by giving them more room to land and a longer distance to build speed for takeoffs, explained airport committee chair Jamie Barnhardt during the February 10 meeting. “Safety is paramount.”

Further, aligning the north end of the runway slightly to the east so planes would approach and take off over water and not above houses will improve safety, said Barnhardt.

Middlesex County is currently a defendant in a lawsuit involving a plane that crashed into a house about two years ago during a takeoff attempt.