Trade Wind has been built as a collaboration between Burning Blue Design and local Martha’s Vineyard legend Jack Mayhew, pilot, fish spotter and guitar tuner extrodinaire.
Trade Wind Airfield is another laidback airfield from an older time of classic aviation, located in Oak Bluffs on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on a little over 70 acres. A relatively small grass airfield, the longest of its two runways is around 2200 feet, with trees at both ends.
In the 1800s, the land was used as a successful dairy farm run by the Chase family. In 1930 the Chase family sold the farm to Antone Sanchos, who started the first Vineyard repair shop for airplanes and opened up one of the fields for airplanes. In the 1950s retired United States Air Force Captain and former WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) Carolyn Cullen formed the Trade Wind Flying Service here. She owned and operated Trade Wind for over 40 years, and during that time, continued to teach flying in her 1940’s era Piper Cub, which she maintained in immaculate condition.
In the 1980s, a number of Piper Super Cubs and Citabrias that had been rigged out as East Coast swordfish spotters, with 80 gallon belly tanks for extra fuel, were based there during the summer fishing seasons. A couple of these are displayed here as static models.
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank is the current owner of the property, having purchased it in 1989 to maintain it as a preserve. Although technically still an active airfield, pilots must get permission from the Land Bank before using the airfield.
This version of Trade Wind Airfield has been constructed as an attempt to portray it as it was in the 1980s as an active, yet low key, private grass airfield.
Trade Wind Airport has been recreated faithfully over many hundreds of hours and features:
- There are tens of thousands of carefully placed assets, every fence, picnic table and tree, along with an assortment of visitors and staff, has been placed in the correct location ensuring an atmosphere of a working airfield.
- High resolution colour corrected ground textures taken from Bing maps and manipulated for consistency and realism which far surpasses the quality of the stock Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 ground texture.
- Based on 1980’s layout with accurate runways, taxiways, a working custom Windsock & a working Tetrahedron
- Highly detailed hangar interiors.
- Correct AI pattern procedures and accurate taxiway and runway placement have been incorporated into the release.
- Full night lighting has been placed across the airfield and within and around the hangars and buildings.
Actual aircraft from the aerodrome the have been included:
- Fishspotter Piper J-3 Cub N993P with custom fuel tank and radio masts.
- Fishspotter American Champion 8KCAB Decathlon N11721 with custom fuel tank and radio masts.
