Now that a couple of the former major users (Epic Aviation and Phoenix East Aviation) have significantly reduced their presence at Massey Airpark, other area flight schools, such as Air America Flight Center of Daytona Beach, Halcyon Flight of New Smyrna Beach, among others have stepped in to help fill the void. As a result of having felt the squeeze at the New Smyrna airport, the Big Kahuna of flight schools, the one that started it all, Embry-Riddle, is back at Massey doing touch and goes and an extremely dangerous manuever called an engine-out 180. For those of you fortunate enough to not have experienced one of these frightening manuevers done only a few feet over over your home click here for a short video.

Since about late 2005 to mid 2006, the amount of flight operations at the privately owned, uncontrolled, single runway Massey Airpark (X50) has increased dramatically. Up until about mid to late 2006 there were aproximately 30-50 flight operations per day, as reported on AirNav's website. Since mid 2006, the amount of flight operations at this facility have steadily increased to a point where there are now approximately between 100 and 500+ flight operations per day, 80-90% of which are due to an excessive and unnecessary amount of touch and gos by area flight school aircraft not based at this airport. Although not the only schools to use this facility, Epic Aviation (2022 Aero Circle, New Smyrna Beach, FL) and Phoenix East Aviation (561 Pearl Harbor Drive, Daytona Beach, FL) account for more than 80% of the touch and go traffic at this airpark. The owners of Massey Airpark are allowing these flight schools and others to significantly reduce the quality of life and property values in the surrounding neighborhoods by creating a noise pollution problem that did not exist a couple of years ago. There have been many days when there have been airplanes circling the skies around this airpark at a rate of more than 1 a minute for the better part of a 10-12 hour day.

Neighbors within a mile or so of the airpark have experienced this type of assult for well over a year as more and more commercial flight schools in the central Florida area get word that Massey Airpark is an uncontrolled and unregulated free-for-all for touch and gos on a 24/7 basis.
No one is advocating the shutdown of this airpark, but rather a reasonable, considerate-to-others approach that would restore the neighbor friendly enviornment that existed in this area a couple of years ago. Since the flight schools charge $57, 000+ per student and account for roughly 80% of the runway usage at Massey Airpark, it would seem very unlikely that anyome would allow this much activity and wear and tear on their private property without receiving some form of financial compensation for such use. It may not be just a coincidence that the local real estate market, which the Massey's are involved in, started a decline about the same time the flight school activity at Massey Airpark started en mass