A farmer’s pasture, a 5,500-foot runway, and a professor’s encouragement to dream big. The Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport – which originated, according to local history, in a farmer’s pasture nearly 110 years ago – is now able to accommodate most corporate jets with its 2020 runway expansion. But what if that included commercial air travel?
Heinrich Schnoedt, associate professor in Architecture within the College of Architecture and Urban Studies’ School of Architecture + Design, challenged students to design a facility for a future of commercial passenger travel at the Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport.
The airport is located adjacent to Virginia Tech on Research Center Drive, steps away from the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center and minutes from the Blacksburg campus. It facilitates a number of business activities, including aerial inspections, photography, surveying, agricultural spraying, emergency medical aviation, and flight training. It also serves as a gateway for business and political leaders, law enforcement, public charters, Virginia Tech Athletics, recreational flying, and rescue flights.