CAVE JUNCTION — Erickson Inc., the largest operator of heavy-lift helicopters in the country, is looking for a new training site and may choose the Illinois Valley Airport.
The company's former training site in White City was recently displaced by a Pacific Power substation on Kirtland Road.
Josephine County Airport Manager Larry Graves said he was approached by Erickson officials in August about using the IV airport.
It would involve construction of a helipad on 1.5 acres on the west side of the airport, about 1,100 feet due west of the Siskiyou Smokejumper Base Museum.
Because the company's Sikorsky S-64 Aircranes are busy fighting wildfires from June 1 to Oct. 31, training is done in the winter months.
Training would also be limited to 150 hours for the entire season — likely one four-hour session a week — Graves said.
In the training, the helicopters pick up containers, which are mock-ups of air conditioning units and wind turbine components, using a long cable.
A proposed lease of $8,500 per year has been floated, he said. The training could begin as soon as January.
"It's a worthwhile use of the airport, which has been there since the late 1930s," Graves said. "It's not a huge amount of money; my job is to make the airport self-sufficient. The Illinois Valley Airport doesn't earn its keep as of yet. We have to subsidize it with revenues we earn at the Grants Pass Airport."
Graves said the annual operating budget for both airports is about $750,000, with about $200,000 to $250,000 for the IV airport.
Erickson, formerly Erickson Air-Crane, moved its corporate headquarters to Portland in 2014, but still operates a large facility in Central Point.
Chief Pilot Dave Barnett said Erickson is looking at IV and another location.
"It's under consideration. If we could get 100 hours at the (IV airport) I'd be ecstatic," Barnett said Monday, before referring questions to the company's public information officer, who was not available.
Some opposition, based on noise, has surfaced at recent meetings of the IV Airport Advisory Board, which meets again at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the smokejumper museum.
"These things are extremely loud, and we have people who have moved out there to get away from noise," said Roger Brandt, longtime tourism promoter for the Illinois Valley.
Brandt said the nuisance could deter people from retiring in the area.
Graves pointed out the helicopters are often already at the airport during firefighting season.
"I believe their noise impact on the airport would be less than what is accepted by the FAA," he said.
Graves added that Erickson does logging and construction work, including construction of wind turbines for energy. "I think it's a worthwhile use of the airport," he said.
Source: http://www.mailtribune.com
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