Pine Island Airport
13350 Morningstar Lane, Bokeelia, Florida 33922
Lee County USA
www.PineIslandAirport.com
1FA3
239-283-9898 Fax
239-283-8045 Cell
Frequency 123.075
26 39' 28N
82 07' 10W
Home Page Hangar For Sale Directions Airport History Currently Future Airport Fees Web Cam Wayne Reed Kingfisher Aerial Comments
History of Pine Island Airport
The airport was started and built by a group of pilots in the early 70's. and the hangars built in the early 80's.
After 4 years of retirement I was bored and looking for something to do. I discovered the airport early 2002 while flying over the island.
I rented a hangar and got to know the pilots and the property. I even came out early for months and mowed the strip and around the hangars to get to know the land better. I think they call it a labor of love. Yes, I had fallen in love with the island and especially the airport.
I talked to the previous owner about purchasing the airport and then to zoning about developing and adding more hangars. After some negotiations I purchased the property. The property is zoned Agg2 and at that time the exceptions board said they saw no reason that would prevent me from getting an agricultural exception for more hangars. I was planning to build 20 more steel building "T" hangars the same size as the ones now standing.
I negotiated a deal and purchased the airport at the end of 2002. I cleaned up the hangars, built interior walls to divide the hangars, put in an office. I ran city water, upgraded the electric, painted the buildings, and patched roofs. I cleared the old orange grove of 300+ junk orange trees and cleared to the ditches.
I then raised the rent to $250 per month plus tax $265 and it was paying for itself. I had pilots sign leases and pay first and last months rent, which ran off a few slow payers. I did word of mouth and business card advertising only and in no time I had a waiting list for hangars.
I put in a tenants doublewide trailer and worked out a deal for a tenant - caretaker who would watch the airport and do all the maintenance in exchange for rent.
A friend and I started an Ultralight flight school and had 3 planes, 3 trainers and at the time 14 students and we were in our first year. Life was great. :-)
I was talking to my Planning Engineer and he suggested build a fly in community. I had talked to many pilots and even had a list of interested pilots and letters of intent. I had mentioned I thought the almost one acre lots would go for about 500,000 at the time. I planned a little high and was flexible.
We were in the process of going to zoning when Hurricane Charley hit. Charley destroyed my dreams.
Pictures Weeks before Charlie
Double click on the picture to enlarge
Hours Before Charlie
