Process under way to update master plan for Hunt Field Airport (KLND), Lander, Wyoming

The first public hearing on the update for the Hunt Field Master Plan drew an audience of airport users at Lander City Hall. 

(Ernie Over photo)

(Lander, Wyo.) – The process has started to work on a new airport master plan for Lander’s Hunt Field, the busiest general aviation airport in Wyoming.

GDA Engineers of Cody is the firm chosen to do the work, and their process was outlined at a meeting at Lander City Hall last week, attended by city officials and airport operators and users.

“This airport is important to the state system,” said GDA’s Rick Patton, “it has the most based aircraft and its the busiest GA airport in the state.” According to the 2006 master plan, the one being updated, at that time Hunt Field had 11,150 operations. “We need to update that,” Patton said, “It’s obviously more now.”

Work on the new master plan actually began this past June when GDA placed trail cameras at the airport’s holding area to capture the kind and number of aircraft using the airport. “For the master plan, we’re most interested in the kind of aircraft using the airport, not the overall number,” Patton said. “For each different kind of aircraft, we’ll know what their critical needs are, and can design the master plan with that in mind.” He said to make sure the airport is safe, the wingspans are important to know. “There’s a big different in the needs of a King Air versus a Lear Jet,” he said. “King Airs have big wingspans while Lear’s don’t. We need to determine safe taxiway routes and hanger routes so planes with larger wingspans don’t impact other aircraft and such.”

He said Lander is a genuine “B-2″ airport. “You don’t get the large business jets like Riverton does. While those jets can land here, it is rare. One goal of the new master plan is to identify hanger spots for additional aircraft to park because you have a demand here that you don’t see at other airports.”

The next step in the process, which is planned for this December, is to review the airports historical operations, categorize current traffic, complete an aviation forecast for the next 20 years, submit that forecast to the FAA for approval, and then hold a second public meeting.

A final plan should be ready by next July. He said the master plan is being funded through airport user fees and ticket fees generated at larger commercial airports. “The big airports help fund the little airports so they can feed traffic to the big airports,” he said.

-Source:  http://county10.com