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player ready...Brendan Stewart of Waukegan earned his pilot’s license 11 years ago, purchased a single-engine, two-seat plane, and flies it out of Waukegan National Airport. Now he has an airstrip of his own with plans for aviators to enjoy recreational general aviation.
“The concept of general aviation is dying,” Stewart said. “Aviation as a power sport is what we’re trying to promote. We want to keep its history alive in a new iteration of a small grass field in Lake County. When aviation first started, there were only grass runways.”
Stewart and his partner, Alexandria Green Cowlishaw, purchased a 76-acre parcel in December in unincorporated Lake County north of Wadsworth with a grass landing strip, farmland, a house, a four-plane hangar, and more, which officially became Ravenwood Airport on March 19.
Between 1964 and 1967, Stewart said the agriculturally zoned land received a conditional use permit to create a grass landing strip, becoming the Herbert C. Maas Airport. Once acquiring the property, he applied to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to make the name official.
Looking to pay homage to aviation history, Stewart said a one-time general aviation Ravenswood Airport, now part of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. He chose the name Ravenwood to honor a part of aviation’s past.
When fully operational, Stewart said it will be a place for flying clubs and people with single-engine planes to arrive for a gathering and return to their home base. Cowlishaw said it will be appropriate for an area with farms and people living on large lots.
“It’s not going to be AirVenture Oshkosh,” Cowlishaw said, referring to the Wisconsin city’s annual airshow. “It will be geared toward the flying community having fun and (us) remaining good neighbors.”
Cowlishaw and Stewart moved to Waukegan 10 years ago. They considered eventually buying and renovating one of the historic houses on Sheridan Road. The opportunities for the hope did not jell, and the airport became available.
“We missed some opportunities,” Stewart said. “When the airport came up, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“We always wanted more space,” Cowlishaw added. “How much more spacious does it get than an airport?”
Since Ravenwood Airport is so close to Waukegan National, Waukegan National controls all airspace within a perimeter of four-nautical miles — Stewart said takeoff and landing needs clearance from the control tower there.
Eventually, Ravenwood Airport will be home to Stewart and Cowlishaw. They plan to build a home on one of the two ponds. It will have a private hangar for his plane and possibly a place for a horse that Cowlishaw, a horse enthusiast, may buy.
“There are a lot of people in the area with horses,” Cowlishaw said. “It would be nice to be able to ride here.”
Though the airstrip is intact and properly marked, according to FAA guidelines, Stewart and Cowlishaw said a lot of work is necessary before the runway is operational and they build their home. An additional hangar is a possibility.
“We have to roll the runway and widen it,” Stewart said. “We hope to be able to fly here and have fly-in events. We want to create a general aviation climate.”
Currently renting the farming acreage to the farmer immediately north or the airport, Stewart said the arrangement will remain. Though it has been a cornfield for years, he may suggest a different crop because of the corn’s height.