Hello Adam24,
That is an amazing offer! If you are really considering this, I am very passionate about one place that I hope you will consider.
Galveston Island, Texas is the home of Scholes International Airport (KGLS), which boasts the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame (Lone Star Flight Museum), and is the city of my birth.
This historic city and airport has not been modeled in FS, that I can find, but because of its vast and varied historical significance, I believe KGLS and Galveston Island deserve better representation in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
I hope you will, too, and here is why:
The small Island of Galveston, Texas was instrumental in the birth of Texas, as we know it. The seaport city was once the playground for millionaires, captains of industry, American presidents, and celebrities. This small island off the Texas coast has known World, Country, and State wide acclaim. Pirates, Captains of Industry, Civil War, Great Destructive Fires, and Texas Heroes share the often less then savory past of this small Island.
Known as the “City of Firsts,” Galveston was the first city in Texas to have electric lighting, the first telephone, and one of the state’s first newspapers. Prior to the Hurricane of 1900, Galveston was considered to be a beautiful and prestigious city and was known as the "Ellis Island of the West", The island has also been called the “New York of the South”, "Riviera of the Gulf" and also known as “Sin City of the Gulf” as the 1930s and 40s ushered in popular nightclubs, such as the renowned Balinese Room, back room gambling, and a thriving red light district.
Still a popular tourist seaport destination, Galveston is now primarily known as the city that barely survived the storm of 1900 that is said to have killed almost half the island population in as little as 12 hours.
Scholes International Airport began service as Galveston Municipal Airport in March 1931. The airport was on a 120-acre tract four miles west of downtown Galveston Island. There were two shell runways --- one 3,600 feet long and one 2,700 feet long. The airport was expanded in 1942 and re-designated for use by the U.S. Army for World War II.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed three 6,000 foot long, hard-surface runways at the airport to accommodate army aircraft. In 1945, the federal government deactivated the airport and turned it over to the city of Galveston for use as an airport. The existing terminal was completed in 1949 and renamed Sholes Field in honor of Airport Manager and aviation pioneer, Robert Scholes. He served as airport manager from 1931 until his death in 1960.
The 74th Texas Legislature through a concurrent resolution signed by then Gov. George W. Bush established the Lone Star Flight Museum as the “Texas Aviation Hall of Fame”.
Scholes International Airport sustained extensive damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008. After nearly a year of construction and renovation, the 18,000 square foot terminal building reopened on April 7, 2011. Completion of this $1.9 million project is yet another recovery milestone for the City of Galveston Island.
Well, that's my pitch for Galveston and KGLS.
By the way, there are dozens of recent and previous photos of KGLS on the airports website, since so much had to be repaired after Hurricane IKE (I was there for all that). These are very useful to designers, right? Please let me know what you decide. Thanks and good luck!
Sincerely,
Boosty (GaryG)
garygiusti@rocketmail.com
ADE Scenery Requests
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Originally Posted by Boosty
. By the way, I used to go to an island that is close to Galveston (close for me), South Padre Island. Maybe youve heard about it?
. I used to go there like 2 times a month before I moved to Poland...
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