The airport, which has been around since the 1950s, was purchased in 1991 by Allen Chorman. His plan from the outset was to use the airfield as base of operations for Chorman Spraying, formerly known as Allen Chorman & Son. 

“When I was 12 years old, my dad and I rode over here on a Sunday. I remember like it happened right now,” Jeff Chorman said. “He was like, ‘Maybe we could rent the airport from John [Mervine],’ who was a real big name in Delaware at the time. My dad ended up buying the airport from John and since then we’ve built the airport up and widened the runway from 37 feet wide to 51 feet wide.”

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From mid-March to mid-November, this 3,585-foot-long paved runway is abuzz with activity from sunup to sundown. Chorman Spraying employs nine pilots and has a fleet of aircraft that consists of Air Tractors, Ag Cats, Thrushes, and Bell Jet Rangers. 

“We are probably one of the largest agricultural operators on the East Coast, as far as agricultural work, and cover the eastern shore of Delaware and Maryland,” Chorman said. “We have gone from running two airplanes to running seven all the time. And we have gone from radial engines to turbines, although [we] still spray mosquitoes with Twin Beeches and are thinking about getting into the drone world.” 

The operation is an integral partner to farmers within roughly a 50 nm radius of D74. Typical crops in the region that the company tends to are wheat, barley, pumpkins, watermelons, cantaloupes, peas, sweet corn, and other vegetables, in addition to a strong emphasis in the fall on cover crop seeding.

Aerial services are provided from 10 main airfields and five satellite airfields, from Chestertown to Snow Hill. But most ag aviation flights originate from Chorman Airport, which is a competitive advantage for the operation.

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“Having your own airport [as an ag operator] is almost a must. It’s all about control,” Chorman said. “Even though it’s a public airport, we still control the people who are here. [By having our own airport] we control the activity during the busy times and also the overall ramp operations and security here.”

Efficiency and safety on the field is balanced with national security precautions in the area. Chorman reported that there is frequently a presidential TFR active near the airport, due to President Joe Biden’s home in Rehoboth Beach being only 26 nm away. 

“Right now, if you look at Delaware in ForeFlight, the whole state is yellow,” he said. “I was the first one in agricultural aviation history last year to get permission to conduct ag operations inside the TFR’s inner ring during Biden’s 10-day visit last year. The Secret Service understands [the need for our operation to continue helping farmers] and has been great to work with.” 

Chorman’s longtime interest in military aviation led him to acquire a handful of vintage aircraft. His Stearman biplane, T-6, and T-28 can be seen by airport visitors this fall during a highly anticipated fly-in event at Chorman Airport.

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“We are planning our second annual fly-in for October 26, weather and TFR permitting,” he said. “We will have a cookout with hamburgers and hot dogs. Last year we had 65 airplanes fly in, and you couldn’t have ordered better weather. We are hoping for a good turnout again this year”

The airport welcomes transient traffic, although fuel is only available to based aircraft. There are roughly four dozen aircraft presently kept on the field. 

Chorman is encouraged about the future of the airfield and that it will continue being a central asset in the operation of his business and an attractive option for local pilots to base their aircraft.  

“In 2018, we repaved the runway because it was in very bad shape with no base underneath at all. We didn’t have any state or federal funding for that project,” Chorman said. “The airport will continue to grow as the need develops. I can see two more hangars here with eight units each for rental airplane storage, as well as an [automated weather observing system] AWOS. I would also like to have a GPS approach here, since we are strictly VFR now with pilot-controlled lighting. We are just starting to work on getting that done and the Delaware Aviation Council is helping.”

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New York’s drone corridor has been a major boon for the state’s wider aviation industry and the development of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies—so much so that its Tri-State area neighbor is planning to build its own.

On Thursday, the National Aerospace Research and Technology Park (NARTP), a collection of research and development facilities located just outside Atlantic City, New Jersey, announced an agreement to develop a UAS and AAM testing corridor backed by two Department of Defense entities. Once complete, the corridor could foster emerging aviation technologies such as drones and air taxis.

The project is being supported by the U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), a unit of the DOD that provides the agency with air, land, and sea transportation, and the Air Mobility Command (AMC), the air component of USTRANSCOM and a major command of the U.S. Air Force.

The Atlantic County Economic Alliance (ACEA) will provide a portion of the corridor’s funding through a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant.

The cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) between NARTP, USTRANSCOM, and AMC calls for the entities to build a prototype UAS and AAM corridor connecting New Jersey’s Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL) to Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base, a distance of about 78 miles.

“This agreement is a significant accomplishment and will demonstrate the NARTP’s ability to facilitate aviation research,” said NARTP board chairman Mark Loeben, a retired Air Force major general. “USTRANSCOM and AMC are major players in aviation. Their interest in working with the NARTP helps to advance both the development of the NARTP and the emerging aviation industry in New Jersey’s Atlantic County.”

The NARTP and other parties have yet to produce a timeline for the New Jersey-Delaware corridor. But they expect the airspace to be “dual use,” facilitating launching and landing of civilian aircraft from non-DOD sites alongside UAS and AAM testing and experimentation.

Once established, the corridor will be used to demonstrate, develop, and evaluate military, commercial, academic, and federally backed UAS and AAM technology. NARTP said, for example, that it’s looking to enable strategic airlift capabilities for the Air Force.

In the meantime, the center has plenty more to do.

“The CRADA is an outcome of the NARTP’s work with AMC and FAA on the Airfield Autonomy Initiative (AAI),” said NARTP president Howard Kyle, “that involves the testing and demonstration of automated lawn mowing, foreign object debris sweeping, and perimeter patrol in both military and civilian airfield environments.”

The NARTP in February earned a Congressional grant for the AAI program, which aims to create the world’s first airfield-specific autonomous command and control systems. The FAA, Air Force, ACEA, and the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences are all involved.

One month earlier, the center received $2 million from a federal spending bill to contract with autonomous vehicle manufacturers, which it hopes will enable driverless airport maintenance such as clearing runways and mowing grass. NARTP is adjoined to Atlantic City International Airport (KACY). 

It’s also adjacent to the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center. There, NARTP tenants are researching safety, testing, certification, and regulatory standards for UAS and AAM. And the center is working with Deloitte to launch an early AAM service in New Jersey.

The post DOD Officials Approve East Coast UAS and AAM Test Corridor appeared first on FLYING Magazine.