Barbara Cypher, left, is taking flying lessons in a Piper Cherokee at Cottonwood Municipal Airport from Ed Kalabus, a certified flight instructor and retired airline pilot. With the use the airport gets, Cottonwood and other agencies are investing in repair projects, namely the apron, where many planes park.
The Cottonwood Municipal Airport needs some work.
Last week, the Cottonwood City Council signed off on helping to pay to repair some of the pavement on the airport’s apron, the area where many planes are parked when not in the air.
The project is moving forward after an airport study was carried out by the Arizona Department of Transportation.
“In August 2014 ADOT conducted a study and produced a pavement management report for the airport, and has determined that the airport apron is approaching the end of its useful lifespan,” according to Morgan Scott, Cottonwood Development Services manager.
The project has been in the works since shortly after the report.
ADOT and the Federal Aviation Administration have proposed a $2 million project to reconstruct and rehabilitate portions of the apron.
Cottonwood is on the hook for about $95,000 of that, or around 4.5 percent. ADOT will also be responsible for around the same amount.The FAA contributed the lion’s share to the project through a grant that was accepted by the city last May.
The work is needed in order to keep the airport up to the task of serving the aviation community.
“The airport apron is in poor condition and this project will either reconstruct the entire apron or reconstruct a portion of it and rehabilitate the other portion to like-new condition,” Morgan reported.
The state’s transportation five-year plan announced some proposed spending on the Cottonwood airport, released in 2011.
That plan accounts for $1.16 million to go to things like a runway extension, an overlay to help protect the runway and weather reporting equipment.
The weather equipment, an automated weather observation system, was also helped paid for by an FAA grant and was brought online in 2014.
The new equipment was an important upgrade for the airport; some companies won’t allow their planes to land at airports without it.
The airport has also recently added solar panels to power airport lighting.
A bit further back, the airport made significant electrical upgrades and improved the airport’s road around the perimeter.
In addition to the apron improvement project, the airport hopes to eventually install a GPS approach system and build additional hangars.
Currently, the airport has 10 hangars on site.
Source: http://www.journalaz.com
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