And they were off.

Today there was a 5K run at the new 3rd runway at Greensboro’s Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI). It was a clear, warm day. Very warm for the 1100 or so runners.

There were shuttles carrying participants and spectators from one of the parking lots to the runway. There were tents and balloons and bright sun.

And there were shiny planes on display. As I’ve written before, Greensboro has become something of an aviation center or so-called aerotropolis. With Fedex opening a hub here and HondaJet choosing Greensboro as it’s home, there’s lot’s of action and anticipation in the air. Literally.

Photo Credit: Jerry Wolford (News & Record)

The topic of FedEx coming to Greensboro has been news for a long, long time. And it’s been noted in this space a few times.

Time for another update.

Looks like the package delivery company’s operations will be ready to hit the road – or sky – running as soon as the economy is clearly on the way back up. The huge construction job of getting an additional runway in place to accommodate the planes and all the safety and navigation systems required are just about done.

Not only will this give FedEx the facility it needs for operations, but the enhanced systems will help Greensboro’s Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI)the goods it needs to give Charlotte and Raleigh a run for their money.

This News & Record article about it gives good details.

And, not for nothing, but didn’t I tell you to learn the work ‘aerotropolis’? Cause, like I wrote before, whatever that is, we’re one.

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The thoughts & opinions are mine. The quips that fall flat are someone else’s. Please feel free to shoot me an email with a question or a good joke.

And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.

The view from my husband's plane. Somewhere over...somewhere.

I’ve written about this previously, but it’s time for an update on how Greensboro is fast becoming an aerotropolis.

Yes, it’s a word.

Aerotropolis list: Hong Kong, Chicago,  Amsterdam…Greensboro. Why not?

And of all the predictions one could make about what would be a major industry for the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina in general and Greensboro in particular, aviation might not have headed the list. Or made the top 20.

But here we are. A list of just a few of the reasons and companies that are adding up to Greensboro becoming a center for all things winged:

• FedEx Hub (slated to open in October 2009. One of only in the country)
• HondaJet
• TIMCO Aviation Services (Headquarters here as well as 600,000 sq ft maintenance facility)
• HondaJet engine facility (in Burlington, about 20 minutes east of Greensboro)
• Atlantic Aero (highly regarded Fixed Base Operator)
• Aerosphere Aviation Services (supplies parts for commercial & military aircraft)
• GTCC Aviation Maintenance Training (PDF)
• Greensboro Aviation (aircraft component repair & overhaul)

You can even see the plane that is known as Air Force One when the President is on board doing practice maneuvers at PTI as well as the occasional ginormous C5:

So, keep an eye on the skies – and this spot – to see what happens next.

_____________________________________________________________
The thoughts & opinions are mine. The quips that fall flat are someone else’s. Please feel free to shoot me an email with a question or a good joke.

And remember, real estate agents aren’t bad. We’re just drawn that way.

Credit: H. Scott Hoffmann / News & Record

[UPDATE: The addition of a 3rd runway at Piedmont Triad International Airport is nearly complete. It was built to accommodate the new FedEx hub. Here's a link to a Fox8 News story about it. Note use of the word "aerotropolis". Memorize it. Greensboro is becoming one.]

You may be a aware that for generations in Greensboro “Cotton Was King”. There was even a fine hotel named the King Cotton. But that building the textile industry itself, are memories.

The next logical industry for Greensboro is, of course…..aviation??

Greensboro has quietly become a center for many things airplane oriented (including my husband, but that’s a story for another post). And a prime example of that is the fact that HondaJet is opening it’s facility here. They’ve exceeded the hiring numbers they had projected and are talking of producing more jets than initially planned.

In addition to HondaJet there is airplane maintenance facility, TIMCO, supply house Aerosphere Aviation, and the coming FedEx sorting facility is preparing to open at Piedmont Triad International Airport. Greensboro is also in the running for aFedEx hub.

How did all this come to be in the land of cotton? I really don’t know, or I’ve long forgotten. But look this way. Look this way, look this way, to Dixieland – if you want to find an expanding industry.