SHANNON KELLY
The (Lynchburg) News & Advance
Parker Middleton has been involved with aviation from an early age, accompanying his father, Capt. Robert Middleton III, in the sky and to airports for as long as he can remember.
The Lynchburg-area father and son, both pilots with Piedmont Airlines, had a full-circle experience when they served as co-pilots on their first commercial flight together in March.
âItâs probably the high point of my career,â said Robert Middleton of the professional flight with his son.
Parker felt mutually honored to have shared the cockpit with his father as an equal.
âIt was a very big milestone in my career,â he said. âI feel like I had made it to a point that Iâve been working really hard for many years to get to.â
Battle over New London Airport extension still up in the air
Liberty University, Bedford County meet in court
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Liberty University and Bedford County met in court on Feb. 3.
The university owns the airport and has been fighting for years to turn the area from an agricultural to a commercial zone.
Leaders want to extend the runway, but local residents are against it.
“Today’s issue was really about whether the board of supervisors is required to file something, and if they are, what kind of thing are they required to file,” said Andrew McRoberts, who represents Bedford County.
BY SHANNON KELLY
The (Lynchburg) News & Advance
BEDFORD â Liberty University s efforts to expand the New London Airport onto adjacent properties hit a snag Wednesday.
LU had filed a motion asking a Bedford circuit judge to strike a September 2019 decision by the county zoning appeals board. That board s decision was to deny LU s request to rezone more than 460 acres of property around the airport, which would allow the university-owned airport to expand.Â
But on Wednesday, a judge denied LU s motion.
LU purchased the New London Airport in 2015 for $1.8 million. It owns a total of about 467 acres of surrounding property.
In 2019, Liberty submitted a request to rezone the surrounding property to allow development of a general aviation facility for the Liberty University School of Aeronautics. The proposal included a three-phase development process that would include relocation of a runway and construction of additional structures.