There have been tensions at the airfield this summer, with town officials looking into whether the field is properly managed.

The old hangar at Katama airfield, dating to World War II and long in a state of disrepair, is expected to be replaced after years of delays. Construction could begin before summer.

After eight years of legal wrangling, Edgartown selectmen cleared the way Monday for a new aircraft hangar at the historic grass airfield at Katama.

A single engine aircraft had a rough landing at Katama Airpark Monday. The pilot of the Piper Cherokee PA-32-26 was unhurt, but the propeller and nose of the plane were damaged. The Edgartown fire department and state police responded to the grass airfield.

As Edgartown tries to go forward with plans for a new airport hangar, it is forced to confront inconsistencies with the Katama airfield helicopter policy.

George F. Smith 3rd, a pilot, retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and summer resident, was appointed by the Edgartown selectmen Monday to manage the town-owned grass airfield. Outgoing manager Mike Creato was lauded for his work and legacy at the airfield.

A long-planned project to double the size of a 1945 hangar at the airfield will go forward. Town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport told the Edgartown selectmen again Monday that the deal comes at a price.

Katama Airfield commissioners came before Edgartown selectmen again this week to press for a resolution on the proposed expansion of the hangar at the airfield.

A complicated arrangement that will require the town of Edgartown to put additional land under a conservation restriction in exchange for expanding an old hangar at the Katama Airfield was back up for discussion this week, with the town counsel asking for further thought about the deal.

As I sat with my family Sunday, eating blueberry pancakes under piercing blue skies at the Katama Airfield — along with dozens of others outside the small restaurant there — it occurred to me that what makes this such a popular spot is our continual fascination with air flight. In an age of routine jet travel and near-routine orbital space missions, we still get a kick out of seeing small antique planes huff and puff along the bumpy grass airstrip and pull themselves up above South Beach, and then set down only a few yards away from us.