Chesapeake Airport Manager Earns Va.'s Top Honor

Chesapeake Regional Airport's Joe Love was recently honored as Virginia's airport manager of the year.

His 32 years of experience in aviation include 24 years in the Air Force and 14 years in airport management. Love is responsible for the day-to-day operations at the West Road airport in southern Chesapeake, the home to 120 aircraft .

"We try to offer an airport that offers all the positive aspects of the other airports, in a central location," said Love, 60.

Revenue at the "reliever airport" for public use and general aviation, he adds, has increased by more than 50 percent since he arrived.

While he no longer flies because he needs to renew his pilot's license, back in the day Love clocked 1,500 hours of flying time in the F-4 Phantom\u2008II. Did all that Love in the air help woo his wife? "I tried," he said with a chuckle, "but she wasn't all that impressed!"

Native hometown: Richardson, Texas (just outside Dallas - Go Cowboys!)

Alma mater: East Texas State University (1968), Texas A&M University (1970), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (1992)

Family members: wife Laura; daughters Jennifer (25) and Katherine (19); son Tom (34) and daughter-in-law Marci; son Todd (30) and daughter-in-law Jennifer; and grandchildren: Chelsea, Savannah, Rachel and Austin.

Neighborhood you live in now: Western Branch

Professional experience: Previous airports: Suffolk Municipal Airport (1994-2001) and Rutland State Airport in Vermont (1992-94); commercial pilot with multi-engine and instrument ratings

Military experience: Retired Air Force lieutenant colonel ; deputy base commander in Izmir, Turkey; staff officer, HQ Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base.

Hobbies: Golf and reading

One thing people don't know about you: I have an unfulfilled desire to be a novelist. I started a story several years ago based on an Air Force pilot and a terrorist bomb in the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel. I was still developing the main character when a Sylvester Stallone movie came out with largely the same plot except in New York.

Favorite aviation movies: "The High and the Mighty," "12 O'Clock High," "The Bridges of To-Ko-Ri" and "Top Gun"

Where and when did you fly your first plane? My first flight was during ROTC summer camp at Montgomery Air Force Base, Ala., in 1966. It was a 45-minute orientation ride in a T-33 jet trainer. We did rolls and chased the clouds, and I knew I was hooked for life the first time I did an aileron roll and watched the horizon rotate 360 degrees.

What is your favorite part about your job ? I truly enjoy the capital development of the airport - from coordinating funding sources, through the design phase and to monitoring construction.

What is your favorite plane? Without a doubt, the F-4 Phantom II, or as we affectionately called it, the "Rhino." From the late 1960s through the early '80s the F-4 was the mainstay of the Air Force's tactical forces, and I was privileged to be one of those who got to experience the exhilaration that comes with flying the F-4 - going fast (mach one plus) flying low (300 feet at 500 knots), turning hard (five to six G's) .

If you could fly your family on vacation, where in the world would you go and what kind of plane would you fly? There is a new generation of aircraft about to hit the market called Very Light Jets (VLJs). These will be twin-engine jet aircraft that will seat four to six people. I am not sure where we would go, but it would probably be places like the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, the Rockies, the Great Northwest, New England, Padre Island, Niagara Falls and the Great Lakes.

What's one of the most interesting facts about the Chesapeake Regional Airport? We have a 5,500-foot long runway (longest general aviation runway in the region), and we have a precision instrument approach (the same as Norfolk International) that allows aircraft to land at Chesapeake when the clouds are as low as 200 feet and the visibility is as low as one half mile. The length of runway and the reliability of access that we provide make Chesapeake Regional Airport a favorite destination airport for pilots of corporate aircraft bringing executives into the region for business purposes .

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