West Chester's first airport, Sky Haven Airport, opened in 1929 on farmland in East Goshen Township, two miles east of present day Brandywine Airport. Sky Haven operated for three years, when the airport neighbors filed a civil lawsuit. Judge William Windle ruled the airport a public nuisance and ordered it to cease operation. Brandywine Airport, then named West Chester Airport, opened in its current location in 1940. Paul Gingrich opened the airport using a $623,500 grant from the Civil Aeronautics Board. Gingrich was a flight instructor at the former Main Line Airport in Paoli, Pennsylvania, which was rapidly expanding that flight school with funding from the newly-created Civilian Pilot Training Program. West Chester State Teacher's College was already offering aeronautics courses and was interested in an airport closer to the campus. In 1947, William B. Wilson purchased the airport, which had two grass runways, and several maintenance buildings. The airport underwent significant improvements in the 1980s. Runway 9/27, as well as the taxiways and ramps, were all paved, and a new terminal building was constructed. In 1982, the airport was renamed Brandywine Airport. Expansion of the neighboring industrial park also led to the removal of Runway 18/36.
New Owners and Improvements
In 1997, Wilson put the airport up for sale as an industrial park. A group of pilots formed the non-profit New Brandywine Airport Club to purchase and run the airport. Wilson was supportive of this plan, and the sale to NBAC for $2.5 million closed on July 25th, 1997. To raise initial financing, NBAC sold ownership shares valued at $10,000. Two shares were required for a Tee hangar, and four shares were required for a corporate hangar. In addition, owners were responsible for construction costs. In total, 50 Tee hangars and 10 corporate hangars were constructed after the purchase. After the purchase by NBAC, several significant projects were undertaken to rehabilitate and improve the facilities. The western end of Runway 9/27 was lengthened by approximately 300 feet in 1997. In 2001, the airport received a grant from Pennsylavania's Department of Transport to develop an airport layout plan, which helped make the airport eligible for further federal and state funding under the FAA's Airport Improvement Program. Additional corporate hangars were constructed in 2004. In 2006, several projects were completed to improved safety and night operations: Runway 9/27 was resurfaced, new night lighting was added, a precision approach path indicator was added to the runway, and Taxiway A was lengthened to the western end of the runway. In addition, the airport commissioned a new AWOS weather reporting system in 2007. Once the AWOS was operational, the airport's FAA location identifier was changed to OQN from N99, and the airport was assigned the ICAO identifier KOQN. Since then, the airport received PennDOT grants to replace the fuel piping system, install a new airport beacon,, and rehabilitate Taxiway A. The FAA classifies Brandywine Airport as a reliever airport for handling overflow general aviation aircraft from Philadelphia International Airport. Brandywine is also categorized as a regional general aviation airport because of its significance within the metropolitan region. PennDOT's Bureau of Aviation classifies Brandywine as an Intermediate general aviation airport. A 2011 study commissioned by PennDOT reported that Brandywine Airport had an impact of $9.4 million to the state economy.
Expansion Plans
The airport has commissioned a feasibility study for the implementation of a localizer performance with vertical guidance approach for runway 9/27. The LPV study also involves the removal of trees to facilitate night VFR operations and vertically guided approaches. The airport is expecting another grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Bureau of Aviation to widen Runway 9/27 to 60 feet. Additional proposed projects include replacing the AWOS III and a rehabilitation of the runway lighting.
Accidents and Incidents
Since 1962, two fatal accidents have occurred at Brandywine airport.
On August 22, 2005, a Piper PA-32R-301 crashed into the trees after an aborted landing, killing both the pilot and the passenger. Witnesses observed the plane attempt to land and contact the runway with the landing gear retracted. The pilot then aborted the landing, but crashed 1/2 mile from the runway with the landing gear extended. The investigation found indications that the propeller had been damaged by contact with the runway.
On March 29, 2015, two pilots were killed when their Piper PA-28-140 crashed after takeoff on Runway 27. The subsequent investigation indicated that the plane engine exhibited popping sounds and intermittent loss of power during run-up and take off. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft went into a stall and crashed into a field about 2 miles west of the airport.
Facilities
Brandywine Airport covers at an elevation of. In the year ending September 21, 2016 the airport had 60,065 aircraft operations, average 164 per day: 98% general aviation and 2% air taxi. 124 aircraft were then based at the airport: 85% single-engine, 6% multi-engine, 1% jet and 8% helicopter. The one runway, 9/27, is 3,347 by 50 feet asphalt. The runway is equipped with low-intensity runway lights and a 2-light precision approach path indicator. The airport has one terminal building served by the single fixed-base operator, New Brandywine Aero, Inc. Maintenance services are provided by Flight Dynamics. Brandywine Flight School provides fixed-wing instruction. The American Helicopter Museum and Education Center is adjacent to the airport on the north, with taxiway access to the runway. The museum hosted the Rotorfest helicopter airshow annually from 1996 through 2014.
