Ghost Airport
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 7:10 pmRecently found myself back at an old jobsite, doing point-to-point cable run testing as part of the service contract. It's the new U. Conn. stadium in E. Hartford, CT:
some of these are fuzzy, as it was a very hot, muggy day, and some are shot thru glass...
Here's the scoreboard, showing some of our PA... the name Rentschler may ring a bell with US aviation buffs...
One of the approx. 100-ft-tall lighting towers, with more speakers. We sold these speakers, but local contractors installed them... they were pre-loaded, and the towers were lifted up and set in place with a helicopter (sadly, I wasn't there that day).
Up on the roof. The entire PA is comprised of Community R3s, also known as "sound cannons". It's a great-sounding, loud system, and will sound even better now that the final focussing has been done (some engineers were working on them that day).
So what's the aviation angle? Well, a glance at the extended parking area gives it away: Rentschler Field is a defunct airport. This is the small runway.
This is the big one, about 6500 ft. long... I'd have taken a pic showing the whole thing, but forgot to bring the short lens. these two runways are joined at the end nearest the viewer...
So who used to use this airport? Well, Frederick Rentschler co-founded Pratt and Whitney back in the '20s, and the factory is still on the field. Here's a hangar... but there's nary an airplane to be seen there nowadays.
A better look at the factory in relation to the runways...
Had a little extra time before I started work that day, so i went over to nearby Hartford/Brainard Airport to try to get some pics. Not much going on there; this shot thru the fence was the best I could do without alarming anyone. They had just finished unfolding the wings on this motorglider (Diamond?).
Rentschler Field closed in 1994, and the adjacent land was given to the U. of Conn. for the stadium. Kind of sad that those runways no longer echo with the wonderful sounds of P&W engines being tested on glorious aircraft, but at least P&W is still in busuness (as a subsidiary of United Technologies), and the runways and towers are still there.
some of these are fuzzy, as it was a very hot, muggy day, and some are shot thru glass...
Here's the scoreboard, showing some of our PA... the name Rentschler may ring a bell with US aviation buffs...
One of the approx. 100-ft-tall lighting towers, with more speakers. We sold these speakers, but local contractors installed them... they were pre-loaded, and the towers were lifted up and set in place with a helicopter (sadly, I wasn't there that day).
Up on the roof. The entire PA is comprised of Community R3s, also known as "sound cannons". It's a great-sounding, loud system, and will sound even better now that the final focussing has been done (some engineers were working on them that day).
So what's the aviation angle? Well, a glance at the extended parking area gives it away: Rentschler Field is a defunct airport. This is the small runway.
This is the big one, about 6500 ft. long... I'd have taken a pic showing the whole thing, but forgot to bring the short lens. these two runways are joined at the end nearest the viewer...
So who used to use this airport? Well, Frederick Rentschler co-founded Pratt and Whitney back in the '20s, and the factory is still on the field. Here's a hangar... but there's nary an airplane to be seen there nowadays.
A better look at the factory in relation to the runways...
Had a little extra time before I started work that day, so i went over to nearby Hartford/Brainard Airport to try to get some pics. Not much going on there; this shot thru the fence was the best I could do without alarming anyone. They had just finished unfolding the wings on this motorglider (Diamond?).
Rentschler Field closed in 1994, and the adjacent land was given to the U. of Conn. for the stadium. Kind of sad that those runways no longer echo with the wonderful sounds of P&W engines being tested on glorious aircraft, but at least P&W is still in busuness (as a subsidiary of United Technologies), and the runways and towers are still there.
