A corporate hangar is currently available for lease at Demopolis Municipal Airport.
Southern Tank previously leased the hangar, but they no longer have an airplane, so the city of Demopolis terminated the lease, leaving the 60×80 hangar open.
“We were leasing it out to Southern Tank, and Boyd Duckett, who owned it, no longer lives here, and they don’t have a plane anymore,” said Jason Pendergrass, the director of the airport. “The city voted to terminate the lease and we’re looking to find someone to lease it again.”
Pendergrass said it was built to be a corporate hangar, and the market to find someone to lease it is a narrow one.
“It’s an asset for us to draw someone in who has a plane,” he said. “We’re looking for anyone who could use a plane for their business.”
He added that the pricing of the lease would depend on the type of airplane being used and the planned utilization for the hangar.
In addition to the hangar being open, airport officials are working on a couple of other projects as well.
They are currently in the process of clearing out trees on both ends of the runway because they were getting up into the approach, making it increasingly dangerous for airplanes to land.
“The tree line has grown up really close to the approach, and we’re getting those trees cut back,” Pendergrass said. “We want to get it to where all of that is manageable enough to where we can get a bush hog in there to maintain it.”
Once that project is done, they will be putting in a security fence around the airport.
“Sometimes when people put the airport into their GPS, it sends them back by the port, and people will drive their cars across the runway to get to us,” Pendergrass said. “Putting the fence up will prevent that.”
He added that a project down the road for the airport will be to pave and widen the taxiway leading to the runway.
Story and photo: http://www.demopolistimes.com
Showing posts with label Hangars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hangars. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
Dog attacks at Tauranga airport
Police dogs were set loose on a pretend ‘hijacker’ at Tauranga airport yesterday in a rehearsal for the Classics of the Sky – Tauranga City Airshow on Anniversary Weekend.
The practice display attack took place out of the public eye between hangar rows and involved the capture of an aircraft hijacker.
It involved only police dog handlers, with Jason Carswell being the bad guy taken down by handler Mark Chapman’s dog Nitro and Dave Robison’s dog Ice.
Three times Jason was taken down in the heavily padded arms by the dogs, and held until their handlers arrived to secure the dogs, and pull him to the ground to be captured.
The ‘armed hijacking scenario’ will be spiced up on the day – Sunday, January 26 – at the airshow with the addition of weapons and the Armed Offenders’ Squad, says the hijackee, Tauranga detective Ian Chapman.
With just more than a week to go, tickets sales to the airshow are starting to move quite quickly, says Classic Flyers CEO Andrew Gormley.
Four WW1 fighter aircraft will be on display at the airshow, and are scheduled to arrive in town by road next week.
Andrew says lots of aircraft rides have been sold. “There is a huge uptake; Kittyhawk, Mustang, Spitfire and Strikemaster jet rides are all selling well.
“We have about 17 rides; it’s almost unheard of,” says Andrew. “If you look out in the skies just prior to the show you will see a whole lot of fighter planes just doing their thing.”
A Rotary club raffle, selling tickets, $5 for a Stearman ride and $15 for a ride in a jet, will mean some airshow-goers will get free sky-high jaunts.
“Twenty dollars buys an option in each; a chance in a jet and a chance in a Stearman; a pretty easy way to begin to connect. Those will get drawn on the weekend.”
Trade sites are also ramping up and organizing staff will start putting in some long days to get the event ready during the next week.
Source: http://www.sunlive.co.nz
The practice display attack took place out of the public eye between hangar rows and involved the capture of an aircraft hijacker.
It involved only police dog handlers, with Jason Carswell being the bad guy taken down by handler Mark Chapman’s dog Nitro and Dave Robison’s dog Ice.
Three times Jason was taken down in the heavily padded arms by the dogs, and held until their handlers arrived to secure the dogs, and pull him to the ground to be captured.
The ‘armed hijacking scenario’ will be spiced up on the day – Sunday, January 26 – at the airshow with the addition of weapons and the Armed Offenders’ Squad, says the hijackee, Tauranga detective Ian Chapman.
With just more than a week to go, tickets sales to the airshow are starting to move quite quickly, says Classic Flyers CEO Andrew Gormley.
Four WW1 fighter aircraft will be on display at the airshow, and are scheduled to arrive in town by road next week.
Andrew says lots of aircraft rides have been sold. “There is a huge uptake; Kittyhawk, Mustang, Spitfire and Strikemaster jet rides are all selling well.
“We have about 17 rides; it’s almost unheard of,” says Andrew. “If you look out in the skies just prior to the show you will see a whole lot of fighter planes just doing their thing.”
A Rotary club raffle, selling tickets, $5 for a Stearman ride and $15 for a ride in a jet, will mean some airshow-goers will get free sky-high jaunts.
“Twenty dollars buys an option in each; a chance in a jet and a chance in a Stearman; a pretty easy way to begin to connect. Those will get drawn on the weekend.”
Trade sites are also ramping up and organizing staff will start putting in some long days to get the event ready during the next week.
Source: http://www.sunlive.co.nz
Constable Jason Carswell working with a police dog.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
North Big Horn County Airport (U68), Wyoming: Powell Business Relocates to Big Horn County
A Powell business is making the move to Big Horn County.
At last week's County Commissioner's meeting, Big Horn County Commissioners accepted the bid from Orville Moore to move his flight business into a hangar at the North Big Horn County Airport just outside of Cowley.
Moore has operated Moore Quality Flying out of the Powell airport for ten years.
“I came to Powell as airport manager. That was in 2004. I quit being the manager two, two and a half years ago. The only thing I miss about being manager is I had a 60 by 60 shop that belonged to the City of Powell that I could do my maintenance work in.”
Since resigning as Powell's airport manager, Moore moved his operation into a little one-airplane hangar that proved too small for his flight school, crop spraying and airplane repair service. Options at the Powell airport have been limited. Moore soon found himself dividing-up his operation between three separate hangars.
“There are two hangars that are for sale – they're larger – in Powell. They're brand-spanking-new and they're really expensive, so they're beyond what I could afford to my maintenance in.”
Moore began exploring his options and that's when he found the hangar at the North Big Horn County Airport.
The seventy five by seventy five square foot hangar is plenty of room for Moore's flight operation.
Currently, Moore is teaching four students four students to fly, during the growing season he spray crops for growers from Meeteetse and Cody, to Powell and Lovell, on down to Worland and Thermopolis. He also brings-in pilots from around the Basin but also from Sheridan and Montana.
The Big Horn County Commissioners granted Moore the ground lease on the airport hangar. His bid came-in nearly 20 thousand dollars higher than the second bidder.
Moore has been given a twenty year ground lease with an option of another twenty year lease after that. His son works with him now. Moore says the option for another twenty years means his son will be busy on into retirement.
Overall, Moore is positive about the move.
“I'm just really tickled with it. I really think it's going to work-out really well, not only for me but for Big Horn County and the Cowley Airport.
Source: http://www.mybighornbasin.com
At last week's County Commissioner's meeting, Big Horn County Commissioners accepted the bid from Orville Moore to move his flight business into a hangar at the North Big Horn County Airport just outside of Cowley.
Moore has operated Moore Quality Flying out of the Powell airport for ten years.
“I came to Powell as airport manager. That was in 2004. I quit being the manager two, two and a half years ago. The only thing I miss about being manager is I had a 60 by 60 shop that belonged to the City of Powell that I could do my maintenance work in.”
Since resigning as Powell's airport manager, Moore moved his operation into a little one-airplane hangar that proved too small for his flight school, crop spraying and airplane repair service. Options at the Powell airport have been limited. Moore soon found himself dividing-up his operation between three separate hangars.
“There are two hangars that are for sale – they're larger – in Powell. They're brand-spanking-new and they're really expensive, so they're beyond what I could afford to my maintenance in.”
Moore began exploring his options and that's when he found the hangar at the North Big Horn County Airport.
The seventy five by seventy five square foot hangar is plenty of room for Moore's flight operation.
Currently, Moore is teaching four students four students to fly, during the growing season he spray crops for growers from Meeteetse and Cody, to Powell and Lovell, on down to Worland and Thermopolis. He also brings-in pilots from around the Basin but also from Sheridan and Montana.
The Big Horn County Commissioners granted Moore the ground lease on the airport hangar. His bid came-in nearly 20 thousand dollars higher than the second bidder.
Moore has been given a twenty year ground lease with an option of another twenty year lease after that. His son works with him now. Moore says the option for another twenty years means his son will be busy on into retirement.
Overall, Moore is positive about the move.
“I'm just really tickled with it. I really think it's going to work-out really well, not only for me but for Big Horn County and the Cowley Airport.
Source: http://www.mybighornbasin.com
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Just an "entanglement" with aircraft inside hangar at Smyrna Airport (KMQY) - Tennessee
Around 9:30 Tuesday morning a call came to Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services about an airplane that hit a hangar at the Smyrna Airport.
The public information officer at the airport told WGNS News that it was not a serious situation. She said the incident involved small private aircraft that were being moved around by mechanics inside a hangar when the "entanglement" occurred. There were no injuries.
The Smyrna Airport is the third largest in Tennessee. Only Nashville and Memphis International Airports are larger. It also has the distinction of being the busiest general aviation in the state.
Prior to March, 1971, it was known as Sewart Air Force Base and has capabilities to handle virtually any size of aircraft.
One of the two major runways is 8,048-feet and the other is 5,546-feet. The huge complex is on 1,700 acres of land.
Source: http://wgnsradio.com
The public information officer at the airport told WGNS News that it was not a serious situation. She said the incident involved small private aircraft that were being moved around by mechanics inside a hangar when the "entanglement" occurred. There were no injuries.
The Smyrna Airport is the third largest in Tennessee. Only Nashville and Memphis International Airports are larger. It also has the distinction of being the busiest general aviation in the state.
Prior to March, 1971, it was known as Sewart Air Force Base and has capabilities to handle virtually any size of aircraft.
One of the two major runways is 8,048-feet and the other is 5,546-feet. The huge complex is on 1,700 acres of land.
Source: http://wgnsradio.com
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Cleveland Regional Jetport hangars complete and full
CHECKING THE OIL on his Cirrus plane is Jack Byrd. Byrd recently moved his aircraft from Hardwick Field to the Cleveland Regional Jetport.
JOYANNA LOVE, Cleveland Daily Banner
Hangars filled up fast for recreational pilots at the new Cleveland Regional Jetport.
Despite being designed to hold twice the number of private recreational planes than had been housed at Hardwick Field, the hangars are full, according to new Cleveland Regional Jetport director of operations Mark Fidler.
Hardwick Field had 10 T-hangars.
“They were actually all spoken for many, many months ago. We actually have a waiting list of people who would like us to build more of them, so they can bring their airplanes here and move in,” Fidler said.
Fidler said there is a waiting list of about 10 pilots wanting to rent one of the T-shaped hangars.
He said it was good to see all the local planes coming to one airport.
“It’s kind of like bringing everybody home to their new home now,” Fidler said. “ I look forward to getting to know the people who are moving in and establishing relationships with those people.”
Two buildings newly constructed at the jetport hold 10 planes each.
“The people who are over at the old airport Hardwick Field now have a place to move,” Fidler said.
Hardwick Field will be officially closed on Dec. 31.
The majority of the pilots leasing the new hangars are from Bradley County. A few are from Athens or Georgia. Most of the pilots from Hardwick Field have moved to the new location. Fidler said some of the pilots who have stopped flying no longer needed a place for their planes.
“It’s an exciting time for us,” Fidler said.
Additional T-hangars are in the long-range plan for the jetport. Private hangars for local business or ministries have been constructed near the T-hangars.
The Jones Airways hangar, located closer to the terminal building, is also nearing completion.
For these hangars, the city has leased the property and they have constructed the hangars.
Jetport operations have been busy since the airport’s opening earlier this year. While the number of takeoffs and landings fluctuate, Fidler said there is air traffic daily.
The holiday season has brought a slight slump to usage of the airport. Before the holidays, the jetport was seeing a number of business flights. Fidler said planes fly in from all over the United States.
Fidler said revenue from fuel sales — both jet fuel and recreational plane fuel — have exceeded expectations.
Next on the enhancement schedule for the Cleveland Regional Jetport is extending the runway by 500 feet.
Work on this project will begin in the summer.
“It’s to serve the major corporations we have here in Cleveland … that are flying larger corporate jets,” Fidler said.
The additional runway length will give these larger jets more room for taking off and landing.
Other future projects include installing approach lighting and updating a taxiway to meet new aviation regulations.
Source: Cleveland Daily Banner - Jetport hangars complete and full
CLEVELAND REGIONAL JETPORT features 20 T-hangars for recreational airplanes.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Home near Hazel Green, Alabama, has airplane hangar, four-story silo
Home with a hangar built around a silo owned by Joyce & Peter Pryor. Joyce had just walked in with her cup of coffee when Peter asked her “’Do you want to decorate a new house,’” she said, remembering that conversation. “I said, ‘why, are you leaving me’?”
Peter made a call and arranged to meet the real estate agent down the country road that leads to the house early that afternoon. That’s when the couple discovered they didn’t just have a hangar to consider, but a house that ended up being one pretty cool space.
The house, it turned out, was built around a silo the original owner’s father had built many years ago in the Midwest. He had the large, cast-concrete blocks that made up the silo disassembled and shipped to Alabama. He then reconstructed the silo, adding Sheetrock and windows to create spacious, sunny, round rooms.
“He must have really loved his father,” Joyce said, to be willing to move the massive blocks that made up the silo to their current Madison County site.
To build the silo, the slabs of concrete, or staves, are stacked together and then bound by steel rods, Peter Pryor said of the construction technique. Think about how a barrel is built, for instance.
“If you look up concrete stave silo on the internet, you’ll see ,” he said.
While the silo is four stories tall, the original owner, Billy Bernard, added a two-story addition that includes a kitchen, a large family room, and a bedroom. That addition is typical two-by-four construction with right-angled rooms.
It’s the silo that makes it cool, Joyce said. “I had never been in a house with round rooms, or at least that many round rooms.”
The Pryors don’t live in the house at the airport. They already have a beautiful home on Green Mountain in South Huntsville. They have spent the night there and have used it as a guest house. Joyce has also brought her bridge group out for lunch and a few rounds of cards.
The couple is looking forward to Joyce’s sister, Tina, moving in soon. She’s selling her house in Florida and has already brought up a lot of her things in preparation for the move. She plans to use one of the silo rooms for her master bedroom and another for her office. The bottom floor of the silo is the dining room, which Joyce has furnished with a round table and other antiques.
On a nice day, the top floor of the silo would be the place to be, if you don’t mind climbing the steep, spiral staircase that leads to the room full of windows that look out on the trees that surround the house. On any day, though, the house is situated on a quiet lot near farmland and down the road from other homes with their own hangars.
“Almost everybody who lives along here are pilots,” Joyce said. “They have get-togethers once a month and do a pot-luck.”
“Cool Spaces” is a weekly feature looking at interesting rooms in Huntsville-area homes. Do you have a suggestion for a cool space? Email Pat Ammons at pammons@al.com.
Story, Photo Gallery and Video: http://www.al.com
Monday, October 21, 2013
Jet Air Signature Select expanding operations with new hangar
ASHWAUBENON — The continued growth of Jet Air Signature Select at Austin Straubel International Airport is seen as a boon to economic development in the area.
State and local officials, along with the business owners, broke ground on new 34,000 square-foot hangar at the flight services provider Monday.
The hangar will provide aircraft storage,aircraft refurbishment, and avionics installation and repair. The expansion includes a shop specializing in aircraft interiors.
“We do a lot of mechanical and avionics work on aircraft and when we do that we have to completely disassemble the interior of the aircraft,” said Al Timmerman, Jet Air’s CEO. “Now we we’re taking the next step and we can put a brand new interior in an aircraft for someone that brings their aircraft in for service.”
The expansion is expected to add about six jobs, he said. The avionics division is also expected expand as owners update aircraft electronics mandated to fly in controlled airspace after a 2020 federal deadline.
Jet Air is one of two flight service providers at the airport. Executive Aviation also offers services at the airport.
Jet Air has been expanding since 2010.
“We found out in six months we were over capacity,” Timmerman said.
Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach said the airport, and the private businesses associated with it, are a key tool for economic development in the region.
“It shows the great efforts our private sector is able to do to expand the role of the airport as an economic hub for this region,” he said. “It’s vitally important for our ability to attract and retain jobs in this area.”
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker also attended the groundbreaking.
“When employers look at growing in this state, or look at coming to the state, one of the key things is a good intermodal transportation system,” he said. “There are just about 1,000 jobs related to general aviation operations in Wisconsin and a good chunk of that is clustered in the northeast, so it’s very important for us.”
Story, Photo and Video: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Smyrna Airport (KMQY), gets $5.1M to support hangar project
MURFREESBORO — The
Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport received suppport totaling $5.1 million
last month to put toward the construction of a $9.7 million hangar
complex.
The hangar complex is part of the Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport Authority’s 20-year development plan, said John Black, executive director of the airport.
Additional site preparation was also factored into the hangar’s design overlay, he said
“By having the infrastructure on the ground, you have the ability to attract new clients,” Black said.
Approximately $3.5 million in various grants was supplied by the Federal Aviation Administration through the Aeronautics Division of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, Black said.
The Industrial Development Board of Rutherford County contributed $330,000 of the $5.1 million, Black said, who added that the IDB sees their contribution as an investment.
“One of the primary goals of the IDB is to promote and bring jobs to the county,” Black said. “That’s what this project is designed to do.”
Rutherford County and the town of Smyrna supplied money totaling approximately $1.2 million, Black said, but those funds are in bonds that the airport will pay back during the next 20 years.
The project, which will include a 24,000 square-foot hangar and 13,000 square feet of development for office space and additional infrastructure, is projected to be complete by the beginning of 2015, Black said.
During the previous fiscal year, the airport accounted for $44 million of expenditures and an additional $34.6 million in payroll, according to the airport’s 2012 economic impact report. The airport employs 3,725 people.
Additionally, the airport induces an additional $18.7 million in output for businesses in Rutherford County that use the runways, according to the report. This supports 1,660 jobs outside of the airport.
Growth in Rutherford and Davidson counties during the next two decades will result in more relief flights to Smyrna, Black said, as the Nashville International Airport may eventually reach a traffic capacity.
“Airports are a tremendous economic engine for the community,” Black said. “Fortune 500 companies that are household names arrive and depart from the airport very frequently.”
Story and Photo: http://www.tennessean.com
The hangar complex is part of the Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport Authority’s 20-year development plan, said John Black, executive director of the airport.
Additional site preparation was also factored into the hangar’s design overlay, he said
“By having the infrastructure on the ground, you have the ability to attract new clients,” Black said.
Approximately $3.5 million in various grants was supplied by the Federal Aviation Administration through the Aeronautics Division of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, Black said.
The Industrial Development Board of Rutherford County contributed $330,000 of the $5.1 million, Black said, who added that the IDB sees their contribution as an investment.
“One of the primary goals of the IDB is to promote and bring jobs to the county,” Black said. “That’s what this project is designed to do.”
Rutherford County and the town of Smyrna supplied money totaling approximately $1.2 million, Black said, but those funds are in bonds that the airport will pay back during the next 20 years.
The project, which will include a 24,000 square-foot hangar and 13,000 square feet of development for office space and additional infrastructure, is projected to be complete by the beginning of 2015, Black said.
During the previous fiscal year, the airport accounted for $44 million of expenditures and an additional $34.6 million in payroll, according to the airport’s 2012 economic impact report. The airport employs 3,725 people.
Additionally, the airport induces an additional $18.7 million in output for businesses in Rutherford County that use the runways, according to the report. This supports 1,660 jobs outside of the airport.
Growth in Rutherford and Davidson counties during the next two decades will result in more relief flights to Smyrna, Black said, as the Nashville International Airport may eventually reach a traffic capacity.
“Airports are a tremendous economic engine for the community,” Black said. “Fortune 500 companies that are household names arrive and depart from the airport very frequently.”
Story and Photo: http://www.tennessean.com
Saturday, October 12, 2013
South Jersey: Small airports become hubs for new business as flights decline -- Cape May County (KWWD), Millville Municipal (KMIV), Woodbine Municipal (KOBI), Hammonton Municipal (N81)
Fewer planes are taking off at municipal and county airports these days, thanks to the long economic downturn and high aviation fuel prices.
But small businesses such as T-shirt printers, breweries, car dealers and equipment renovators are taking off there, and bolstering the bottom line. Other small airports have discounted fuel, or are in talks with educational facilities about hosting air traffic control classes.
“The trend nationally is down for recreational flying,” said Stephen Williams, a pilot and director of airports for the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which runs Cape May County and Millville municipal airports. “New pilot starts, and the health of flight schools, are down because of the cost of fuel and ownership. My own flight activity is down as a recreational flyer.”
With fewer people becoming pilots, the aging of existing pilots and many grounded planes for sale, airports just don’t have as much traditional, aviation-related business. They have had to adapt to the new reality by being flexible and open to new ways of funding operations.
At both DRBA airports in the region, land and building leases are up due to local demand for small business work space, Williams said.
Cape May Brewing Co. has flourished since 2011 at Cape May Airport. It started with one employee, produced 60 barrels of beer a year (a barrel is 31 gallons) and was open four hours a week for tours. This year it has 10 year-round employees, produces 1,500 barrels of beer and is open six days a week and hosting 500 to 1,000 people a day, said co-owner Ryan Krill, 31. He started the business with his father, Bob Krill, of Chadds Ford, Pa., and college friend Chris Henke, of Avalon.
The brewery grew from 1,500 square feet to 5,000 square feet in 2012, and 7,500 square feet this year, and Ryan Krill, of Avalon. It expects to increase production to 2,500 barrels next year.
Another local microbrewery, Glasstown Brewing Co., will open soon at Millville Airport, said DRBA spokesman James Salmon. It’s co-owned by general contractor Justin Arenberg and environmental consultant Paul Simmons, both of Millville.
Both airfields also have popular museums attached to them, which bring in large numbers of visitors: The Naval Air Station Wildwood Museum and the Millville Army Airfield Museum.
Becoming a private pilot is a big commitment, and requires an outlay of $8,000 to $10,000 and many hours of flight time, said Dave Dempsey, owner of Aerial Skyventures flight school, based at Woodbine Municipal Airport.
Then there’s the cost every time a pilot goes up.
“A general aviation airplane will burn 10 to 15 gallons an hour,” said Jeff Doran, of Woodbine, a longtime pilot and retired police officer who flies himself to jobs throughout the Northeast for an emergency communications firm. “That’s $60 to $100 per hour, just to start the engine,” with aviation fuel at more than $6 per gallon.
After falling in the midst of the recession, land and building lease revenue had rebounded in Millville by three years ago, helped by the 2010 addition of the Boeing Chinook CH-47 helicopter modification center, according to DRBA reports. The center modifies new helicopters for the Army, which recently extended its contract through April 2014, according to Robert Algarotti of Boeing.
Cape May Airport’s lease income fell similarly, but by 2011 had surpassed 2007 figures, the DRBA reports show.
At the same time, the DRBA estimates landings and takeoffs have fallen from a high of about 50,000 per year at each airport before the recession, to about 35,000 this year, Williams said. (General aviation airports don’t have towers so don’t keep exact records, but must estimate activity.)
Jet use hasn’t decreased as much as regular small plane use, said Clarence Crawley of FlightLevel Cape May, LLC, the independent fixed base operator at Cape May Airport. That may indicate the highest-income flyers are less affected by the downturn than others. FlightLevel has been the operator there since May, but Crawley has worked for two other operators at the airport going back to pre-recession years, he said.
Income from fuel sales fell in the heart of the recession, rebounded for a while, but have been trending down again in the last few years as prices have spiked, DRBA reports show. At Millville the fuel fall-off was drastic in 2009, and has never approached pre-recession levels, because of the loss of the Millville Jet Center, which had provided charter jets.
Woodbine Municipal Airport tries to offer the lowest fuel prices within a 50-mile radius, said maintenance manager Wayne Rumble, of Marmora.
“The big thing in aviation is the cost of fuel,” he said. So Woodbine offers self-service and discounted prices, in the hopes of drawing in flyers for a fuel stop. They can research prices on airnav.com, he said.
The airport is home to about 75 planes, including a jet and two ultralights. Thirty small hangars are rented out, and there are about 20 people on a wait list, down a bit from years past, he said.
“People are selling airplanes. (The pilots) are getting older, and not as many young people are coming in,” said the 81-year-old Rumble, a pilot since 1950, who still flies and just gave up teaching flying. At least two pilots there are in their 90s, he said.
The value of small planes is dropping significantly, he said, with more for sale in publications like Trade A Plane.
Rumble said he bought his 1967 single-engine plane in 2004 for $58,000 and would have a hard time today getting $38,000 for it, even though it’s been well maintained. When he bought it, he expected to get about $68,000 for it after 10 years, he said.
The Woodbine Port Authority, which runs the 700-acre Woodbine Municipal Airport, looked at how much land could be used for non-aviation activity, said Woodbine Mayor Bill Pikolycky. Officials decided to split off 75 acres fronting Route 550 to create a business park, he said.
Gentilini Chevrolet is building a $5 million facility there, and two other businesses are in negotiations to move there, Pikolycky said.
Hammonton Municipal Airport has been able to increase its income over the past several years, from about $35,000 a year to $72,000 last year, said Town Administrator Jerry Barberio. Its fixed base operator, Staraero Partners Group, shares fuel sales with the town and brings in planes for maintenance and repair; and a non-aviation equipment reseller called Equipment Xchange LLC rents space, Barberio said.
Hammonton is also in talks with Atlantic Cape Community College to host classes for an air traffic control tower associates degree the school wants to offer. Atlantic Cape would have to build a tower, and purchase a radar simulation suite, since the airport doesn’t have one now, said Atlantic County Freeholder James Bertino, who lives in Hammonton and favors the idea.
“It would give ACCC a model program,” Bertino said, adding talks are ongoing.
About 20 planes are tied down at Hammonton, at $50 each per month, since a 2008 expansion, Barberio said. Previously 12 to 15 were based there. The airport has the capacity to handle 35 planes.
There have been problems. The town had an agreement with Dan Haug of Hangar Corp. of America, of Spring House, Pa., to build a $700,000 to $900,000 hangar for the State Police's SouthStar Aeromedical Helicopter, based there since December 2011. HCA would own the building and lease it to the State Police, while paying $2,000 a year to lease the land from the town.
But HCA stopped construction after working on the foundation, due to financial and other difficulties, Barberio said. A new contractor will complete the project, but it is already months behind schedule.
The town makes $3,500 a month leasing an existing hangar to the State Police, Barberio said. It has another renter lined up for when the Medivac helicopter goes to the newer, larger hangar.
The town plans to add 10 T-hangars to the facility so small planes can be protected from the elements, and a new taxiway from the hangars to the runway. The town hopes to have it complete in 2017 or 2018, he said.
It would be 90 percent funded by the federal government through the FAA, he said, if the town gets expected grants. The hangars would then generate at least $150 to $200 a month, per hangar, he said.
Story and Photo Gallery: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com
But small businesses such as T-shirt printers, breweries, car dealers and equipment renovators are taking off there, and bolstering the bottom line. Other small airports have discounted fuel, or are in talks with educational facilities about hosting air traffic control classes.
“The trend nationally is down for recreational flying,” said Stephen Williams, a pilot and director of airports for the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which runs Cape May County and Millville municipal airports. “New pilot starts, and the health of flight schools, are down because of the cost of fuel and ownership. My own flight activity is down as a recreational flyer.”
With fewer people becoming pilots, the aging of existing pilots and many grounded planes for sale, airports just don’t have as much traditional, aviation-related business. They have had to adapt to the new reality by being flexible and open to new ways of funding operations.
At both DRBA airports in the region, land and building leases are up due to local demand for small business work space, Williams said.
Cape May Brewing Co. has flourished since 2011 at Cape May Airport. It started with one employee, produced 60 barrels of beer a year (a barrel is 31 gallons) and was open four hours a week for tours. This year it has 10 year-round employees, produces 1,500 barrels of beer and is open six days a week and hosting 500 to 1,000 people a day, said co-owner Ryan Krill, 31. He started the business with his father, Bob Krill, of Chadds Ford, Pa., and college friend Chris Henke, of Avalon.
The brewery grew from 1,500 square feet to 5,000 square feet in 2012, and 7,500 square feet this year, and Ryan Krill, of Avalon. It expects to increase production to 2,500 barrels next year.
Another local microbrewery, Glasstown Brewing Co., will open soon at Millville Airport, said DRBA spokesman James Salmon. It’s co-owned by general contractor Justin Arenberg and environmental consultant Paul Simmons, both of Millville.
Both airfields also have popular museums attached to them, which bring in large numbers of visitors: The Naval Air Station Wildwood Museum and the Millville Army Airfield Museum.
Becoming a private pilot is a big commitment, and requires an outlay of $8,000 to $10,000 and many hours of flight time, said Dave Dempsey, owner of Aerial Skyventures flight school, based at Woodbine Municipal Airport.
Then there’s the cost every time a pilot goes up.
“A general aviation airplane will burn 10 to 15 gallons an hour,” said Jeff Doran, of Woodbine, a longtime pilot and retired police officer who flies himself to jobs throughout the Northeast for an emergency communications firm. “That’s $60 to $100 per hour, just to start the engine,” with aviation fuel at more than $6 per gallon.
After falling in the midst of the recession, land and building lease revenue had rebounded in Millville by three years ago, helped by the 2010 addition of the Boeing Chinook CH-47 helicopter modification center, according to DRBA reports. The center modifies new helicopters for the Army, which recently extended its contract through April 2014, according to Robert Algarotti of Boeing.
Cape May Airport’s lease income fell similarly, but by 2011 had surpassed 2007 figures, the DRBA reports show.
At the same time, the DRBA estimates landings and takeoffs have fallen from a high of about 50,000 per year at each airport before the recession, to about 35,000 this year, Williams said. (General aviation airports don’t have towers so don’t keep exact records, but must estimate activity.)
Jet use hasn’t decreased as much as regular small plane use, said Clarence Crawley of FlightLevel Cape May, LLC, the independent fixed base operator at Cape May Airport. That may indicate the highest-income flyers are less affected by the downturn than others. FlightLevel has been the operator there since May, but Crawley has worked for two other operators at the airport going back to pre-recession years, he said.
Income from fuel sales fell in the heart of the recession, rebounded for a while, but have been trending down again in the last few years as prices have spiked, DRBA reports show. At Millville the fuel fall-off was drastic in 2009, and has never approached pre-recession levels, because of the loss of the Millville Jet Center, which had provided charter jets.
Woodbine Municipal Airport tries to offer the lowest fuel prices within a 50-mile radius, said maintenance manager Wayne Rumble, of Marmora.
“The big thing in aviation is the cost of fuel,” he said. So Woodbine offers self-service and discounted prices, in the hopes of drawing in flyers for a fuel stop. They can research prices on airnav.com, he said.
The airport is home to about 75 planes, including a jet and two ultralights. Thirty small hangars are rented out, and there are about 20 people on a wait list, down a bit from years past, he said.
“People are selling airplanes. (The pilots) are getting older, and not as many young people are coming in,” said the 81-year-old Rumble, a pilot since 1950, who still flies and just gave up teaching flying. At least two pilots there are in their 90s, he said.
The value of small planes is dropping significantly, he said, with more for sale in publications like Trade A Plane.
Rumble said he bought his 1967 single-engine plane in 2004 for $58,000 and would have a hard time today getting $38,000 for it, even though it’s been well maintained. When he bought it, he expected to get about $68,000 for it after 10 years, he said.
The Woodbine Port Authority, which runs the 700-acre Woodbine Municipal Airport, looked at how much land could be used for non-aviation activity, said Woodbine Mayor Bill Pikolycky. Officials decided to split off 75 acres fronting Route 550 to create a business park, he said.
Gentilini Chevrolet is building a $5 million facility there, and two other businesses are in negotiations to move there, Pikolycky said.
Hammonton Municipal Airport has been able to increase its income over the past several years, from about $35,000 a year to $72,000 last year, said Town Administrator Jerry Barberio. Its fixed base operator, Staraero Partners Group, shares fuel sales with the town and brings in planes for maintenance and repair; and a non-aviation equipment reseller called Equipment Xchange LLC rents space, Barberio said.
Hammonton is also in talks with Atlantic Cape Community College to host classes for an air traffic control tower associates degree the school wants to offer. Atlantic Cape would have to build a tower, and purchase a radar simulation suite, since the airport doesn’t have one now, said Atlantic County Freeholder James Bertino, who lives in Hammonton and favors the idea.
“It would give ACCC a model program,” Bertino said, adding talks are ongoing.
About 20 planes are tied down at Hammonton, at $50 each per month, since a 2008 expansion, Barberio said. Previously 12 to 15 were based there. The airport has the capacity to handle 35 planes.
There have been problems. The town had an agreement with Dan Haug of Hangar Corp. of America, of Spring House, Pa., to build a $700,000 to $900,000 hangar for the State Police's SouthStar Aeromedical Helicopter, based there since December 2011. HCA would own the building and lease it to the State Police, while paying $2,000 a year to lease the land from the town.
But HCA stopped construction after working on the foundation, due to financial and other difficulties, Barberio said. A new contractor will complete the project, but it is already months behind schedule.
The town makes $3,500 a month leasing an existing hangar to the State Police, Barberio said. It has another renter lined up for when the Medivac helicopter goes to the newer, larger hangar.
The town plans to add 10 T-hangars to the facility so small planes can be protected from the elements, and a new taxiway from the hangars to the runway. The town hopes to have it complete in 2017 or 2018, he said.
It would be 90 percent funded by the federal government through the FAA, he said, if the town gets expected grants. The hangars would then generate at least $150 to $200 a month, per hangar, he said.
Story and Photo Gallery: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com
Thursday, October 10, 2013
F & G Enterprises to build 19 to 26 hangars at Chandler Municipal Airport (KCHD), Arizona
Greg Hatch signed up to rent a hangar at Chandler Municipal Airport in 1998.
He’s still on the waiting list.
But Hatch is also working to develop land at the airport to help address this shortage.
His corporation, F & G Enterprises LLC, was recently approved to build 19 to 26 hangars on the city-owned land, his third such project at the airport. “I did my first development because I needed something for me,” Hatch said.
F & G Enterprises will lease about 1.4 acres of airport land from the city and build the hangars in three buildings. Chandler City Council approved the 30-year lease Sept. 26.
One building will include 11 enclosed T-hangars, which are shaped to be wide enough to accommodate a plane’s wings in the front and narrower in the rear, wasting less space around the plane’s tail. “It’s the most efficient way to keep your plane indoors,” Hatch said.
The second structure, which will be about the same square footage as the T-hangar building, will accommodate about four box hangars. The third building will offer either 11 T-hangars or four box hangars, depending on demand, Hatch said.
Hangars are one of the most requested items at the airport, said Lori Quan, a Chandler economic-development specialist at the airport.
About 125 people are on a waiting list to rent a city hangar; some people occupying hangars have been there since the city built hangars in the mid-1980s, she said.
The new hangars that will be built by F & G Enterprises will be offered for sale rather than lease, Hatch said. All of the larger box hangars will be able to apply to operate as an aviation-related business, Hatch said.
“We think this creates an opportunity for some of the smaller companies,” Quan said. “Right now we’re losing opportunities because we don’t have existing building space for businesses to occupy.”
The agreement is the result of a public request for development ideas that the city released last winter.
Hatch’s company was the only one that responded. He first approached the city with the project in January 2012, he said.
This request included about 24 acres split into 13parcels and a city-suggested lease rate of about 24 to 29 cents per square foot per year.
The agreement with Hatch’s company was for about 1.4 acres at a lease rate of about 21 cents per square foot per year.
The space Hatch is leasing is an area the city did not think would be easily developed, Quan said.
“This is the first construction project we’ve had in a while,” Councilman Rick Heumann said during the council study session Sept. 23. “We’re just really excited to have these new buildings going up.”
There is still plenty of space available at the airport that officials want to see developed, with the hopes of increasing revenue to the point that the city no longer needs to subsidize it.
Chandler has paid about $200,000 in general-fund money to the airport for each of the past several years.
The city is still considering another call for developers to find someone to build on remaining open space, Quan said. So far the challenge has been finding developers who work with ground leases, she said.
“It’s a unique development approach so it’s finding the right match,” she said.
Some people have approached the city asking to build their own hangars, but that piecemeal approach would hinder the city’s ability to strategically develop the airport, Quan said.
“It looks like we have a lot of available property on the airport, but we try to be good stewards,” she said.
Information: www.chandlerairporthangars.com.
Original article: http://www.azcentral.com
Sunday, September 29, 2013
New buildings mean new activity at Bemidji Regional Airport (KBJI), Minnesota
BEMIDJI — Things are about to get a lot more exciting at Bemidji Regional Airport as passerby might soon see lifesaving medi-vac helicopter flights taking off and classic World War II-era turboprops roaring in for repairs.
Construction of a new hangar that will house Aircorps Aviation is currently under way, with plans for another hangar to house the Bemidji wing of Sanford AirMed to begin construction in the next several weeks.
Bemidji Airport Authority Chairman Marshall Froyd was confident the airport’s growth would add some zest to Bemidji’s economy.
"The airport right now is doing fantastic," he said. "If we continue to see general aviation growth…. I think the growth for Bemidji and the airport, which is a definite business provider for the town, will continue."
Erik Hokuf of Aircorps said their new hangar would help the vintage aircraft restoration company to expand in that classic planes from all over the county would be able to fly to Bemidji Regional for maintenance. Aircorps will hire two to three full-time mechanics for the hangar, Hokuf said.
"It’s going to bring our customers from all over the country who are owners of these World War II airplanes," he said. "It’s going to bring them into our community, so that’s a good thing."
Hokuf said the interest in having a repair hangar at Bemidji Regional is high among Aircorps clientele. "We’ve had customers waiting for us to get a hangar put up," he said.
Hokuf said there’s already a P-51 Mustang fighter plane scheduled to come in as soon as the hangar is built. Other types of classic planes that might use the new facility include the P-38 Lightening, another fighter aircraft, more P-51s and the AT-6 Texan, a trainer. At 72 feet-by-90 feet, the hangar, scheduled to be completed in early November, is big enough to house a B-25 twin-engine bomber, he said.
Enhanced emergency response
Mike Christianson, executive director of the Sanford AirMed program, said the Bemidji-area flight would move from its current temporary base in Nary to the new hangar at Bemidji Regional, closer to the hospital. There’s also advanced facilities in Bemidji that are compatible with "IFR," or instrument-based flights, which Christianson said will allow Sanford to stage more medi-vac runs in bad weather and generally give chopper pilots more flying options.
The helicopter is a twin-engine Eurocopter EC-145 with a cruise speed of about 145 miles per hour. Christianson praised the Eurocopter for its clamshell doors and large bubble design that makes it easier for air medics to load patients as well as work on the injured once they’re inside. He said Eurocopter also makes a military version of the EC-145 called the Lakota that helps the armed forces do their own EMS flights.
The new hangar where the Bemidji AirMed chopper will be based is also planned to feature crew space where the team can relax and take personal time in between runs during their shift.
When the crew gets an emergency call, the helicopter will be towed out of the hangar by a remote-controlled "Tiger Tug" that lifts the helicopter up by its skids and deposits it outside for takeoff.
"You steer it almost like a remote-controlled car," Christianson said. "You position it underneath the helicopter, and then with hydraulic power… you can lift up the helicopter."
The hangar is planned to be completed in January. Everstrong Construction will build the hangar and then lease it to Sanford.
- See more at: http://www.bemidjipioneer.com
Construction of a new hangar that will house Aircorps Aviation is currently under way, with plans for another hangar to house the Bemidji wing of Sanford AirMed to begin construction in the next several weeks.
Bemidji Airport Authority Chairman Marshall Froyd was confident the airport’s growth would add some zest to Bemidji’s economy.
"The airport right now is doing fantastic," he said. "If we continue to see general aviation growth…. I think the growth for Bemidji and the airport, which is a definite business provider for the town, will continue."
Erik Hokuf of Aircorps said their new hangar would help the vintage aircraft restoration company to expand in that classic planes from all over the county would be able to fly to Bemidji Regional for maintenance. Aircorps will hire two to three full-time mechanics for the hangar, Hokuf said.
"It’s going to bring our customers from all over the country who are owners of these World War II airplanes," he said. "It’s going to bring them into our community, so that’s a good thing."
Hokuf said the interest in having a repair hangar at Bemidji Regional is high among Aircorps clientele. "We’ve had customers waiting for us to get a hangar put up," he said.
Hokuf said there’s already a P-51 Mustang fighter plane scheduled to come in as soon as the hangar is built. Other types of classic planes that might use the new facility include the P-38 Lightening, another fighter aircraft, more P-51s and the AT-6 Texan, a trainer. At 72 feet-by-90 feet, the hangar, scheduled to be completed in early November, is big enough to house a B-25 twin-engine bomber, he said.
Enhanced emergency response
Mike Christianson, executive director of the Sanford AirMed program, said the Bemidji-area flight would move from its current temporary base in Nary to the new hangar at Bemidji Regional, closer to the hospital. There’s also advanced facilities in Bemidji that are compatible with "IFR," or instrument-based flights, which Christianson said will allow Sanford to stage more medi-vac runs in bad weather and generally give chopper pilots more flying options.
The helicopter is a twin-engine Eurocopter EC-145 with a cruise speed of about 145 miles per hour. Christianson praised the Eurocopter for its clamshell doors and large bubble design that makes it easier for air medics to load patients as well as work on the injured once they’re inside. He said Eurocopter also makes a military version of the EC-145 called the Lakota that helps the armed forces do their own EMS flights.
The new hangar where the Bemidji AirMed chopper will be based is also planned to feature crew space where the team can relax and take personal time in between runs during their shift.
When the crew gets an emergency call, the helicopter will be towed out of the hangar by a remote-controlled "Tiger Tug" that lifts the helicopter up by its skids and deposits it outside for takeoff.
"You steer it almost like a remote-controlled car," Christianson said. "You position it underneath the helicopter, and then with hydraulic power… you can lift up the helicopter."
The hangar is planned to be completed in January. Everstrong Construction will build the hangar and then lease it to Sanford.
- See more at: http://www.bemidjipioneer.com
Friday, September 27, 2013
Department of Transportation cracking down on Honolulu International Airport (PHNL) tenants
Pilots and other tenants at Honolulu International Airport met Thursday night to discuss the state’s recent crackdown on businesses renting hangars.
After years of lenient enforcement, the Department of Transportation started handing out fines.
The state says they need to make sure tenants are in compliance so they can continue to receive funding from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Most tenants are being cited for storing non-aeronautical equipment.
The fines run between $25 and $100.
“Why don’t you come through, do your inspection, and issue corrective action? And then for those that need corrective action, come back through in 30 days, as a matter of fairness and if you haven’t corrected it, then cite the people,” tenant Charlie Goodwin asked.
“The worry I have is it will damage the support systems that keep the private aviation community alive,” tenant Doc Owens said.
Some tenants say they will pay the fines, while others say they’re willing to take the state to court.
Story and Comments/Reaction: http://www.khon2.com
After years of lenient enforcement, the Department of Transportation started handing out fines.
The state says they need to make sure tenants are in compliance so they can continue to receive funding from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Most tenants are being cited for storing non-aeronautical equipment.
The fines run between $25 and $100.
“Why don’t you come through, do your inspection, and issue corrective action? And then for those that need corrective action, come back through in 30 days, as a matter of fairness and if you haven’t corrected it, then cite the people,” tenant Charlie Goodwin asked.
“The worry I have is it will damage the support systems that keep the private aviation community alive,” tenant Doc Owens said.
Some tenants say they will pay the fines, while others say they’re willing to take the state to court.
Story and Comments/Reaction: http://www.khon2.com
City OKs second hangar deal with Chicago Jet - Aurora Municipal Airport (KARR), Illinois
The Aurora City Council unanimously approved a lease with an aircraft charter and maintenance company to occupy a second hangar at the Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove.
Chicago Jet agrees to a 20-year lease of the hangar under the deal.
The company already occupies another hangar, but will use the second hangar to service customer aircraft.
The second deal with Chicago Jet has the potential to generate millions of dollars in revenue and business at the airport, according to Bill Wiet, city chief development officer.
Mike Mitera, president of Chicago Jet, said aircraft the company brings in buy a significant amount of fuel at the airport.
Diamas Real Estate Holdings, LLC, previously had a 20-year lease with the city to rent the hangar, but the company went bankrupt. The lease was then acquired by First Midwest Bank. The bank has agreed to loan
Chicago Jet funding through a Small Business Administration loan to occupy the hangar.
Original article: http://beaconnews.suntimes.com
Chicago Jet agrees to a 20-year lease of the hangar under the deal.
The company already occupies another hangar, but will use the second hangar to service customer aircraft.
The second deal with Chicago Jet has the potential to generate millions of dollars in revenue and business at the airport, according to Bill Wiet, city chief development officer.
Mike Mitera, president of Chicago Jet, said aircraft the company brings in buy a significant amount of fuel at the airport.
Diamas Real Estate Holdings, LLC, previously had a 20-year lease with the city to rent the hangar, but the company went bankrupt. The lease was then acquired by First Midwest Bank. The bank has agreed to loan
Chicago Jet funding through a Small Business Administration loan to occupy the hangar.
Original article: http://beaconnews.suntimes.com
The hangar opens: Dean Baldwin paint shop employs 150, looking for additional hires
Two things about Dean Baldwin LP’s new facility at Grissom Aeroplex: it’s huge, as expected, and it doesn’t smell like there’s aircraft painting going on.
The giant aircraft parked inside, with paper and tape masking material draped all over, say otherwise, as do the 150 people already hard at work.
One would probably have to go back to the late 1990s to find a private sector company bringing so many jobs to Miami County, and the 200 or so dignitaries gathered Thursday for a ribbon cutting were a testimony to the company’s importance.
“It has been a dream to have a paint shop like this,” Dean Baldwin CEO Barbara Baldwin said. “The airlines were waiting for a facility like this.”
The $13.8-million project expanded one of Grissom’s old hangars, a structure built in the late 1950s, by 50,000 feet on the east and west sides so large airplanes could fit inside. There is 155,000 square feet inside, enough room to paint four of the largest airliners at once.
Baldwin was asked if there were any aircraft too large for the Grissom facility.
“Probably a [Lockheed] C-5 [Galaxy]. That’s about it,” she replied.
Teams of painters were lined up in front of aircraft as Baldwin led a tour Thursday. With massive ventilation systems and 1,400 separate filter panels in place, paint fumes clear out in a matter of a few minutes, she explained. The floors are washed frequently; no paint is allowed to build up.
“This facility is one-in-a-million,” Baldwin said in March. “It’s really state-of-the-art.”
Thursday, she said the company plans to paint and service more than 200 airplanes a year out of the new facility, which could attract other aviation businesses to the area.
The expansion nearly doubles the size of Dean Baldwin, which currently employees 240 people at its facilities in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.
It’s a godsend for Miami County, which lost a larger percentage of its residents between 1990 and 2000 than any other Indiana county. In the subsequent decade, only the addition of several thousand Miami Correctional Facility prisoners in 2010 stanched the downward trend.
Peru Mayor Jim Walker said Grissom’s transition from an active duty Air Force base to a reserve base cost 4,500 jobs and $105 million in economic activity.
Returning from that blow hasn’t been easy.
“In all honesty, when you’re handed a former Air Force base, the first question is, what are we going to do with it?” Walker said. “From the shock in 1994 to a celebration in 2013, this really is a success story.”
Baldwin called the hangar, which was gutted, retrofitted and painted bright blue, “the ugly duckling which turned into a swan,” and said the facility’s painting bays are already booked into next year.
They’ve hired 150, she said, “and we need 30 more right now.”
“I’m killing them, making them work six days a week to get all of these aircraft out of here,” she said.
Baldwin said the Grissom facility is probably the largest independent paint shop of its kind.
“The big thing I think it means for Grissom is that people know we’re open for business in the aviation industry,” Walker said.
The expansion project was funded by a $7.2-million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, state loans totaling $5.1 million and more than $1 million in local funding from Miami County.
Dean Baldwin signed a 30-year lease agreement with Miami County to use the hangar. The yearly lease payments will go toward paying off the federal and state loans.
Jim Tidd, executive director of the Miami County Economic Development Authority, said studies estimate the facility will have an economic impact of $162 million in the area during its first five years of operation.
Original article http://kokomotribune.com
The giant aircraft parked inside, with paper and tape masking material draped all over, say otherwise, as do the 150 people already hard at work.
One would probably have to go back to the late 1990s to find a private sector company bringing so many jobs to Miami County, and the 200 or so dignitaries gathered Thursday for a ribbon cutting were a testimony to the company’s importance.
“It has been a dream to have a paint shop like this,” Dean Baldwin CEO Barbara Baldwin said. “The airlines were waiting for a facility like this.”
The $13.8-million project expanded one of Grissom’s old hangars, a structure built in the late 1950s, by 50,000 feet on the east and west sides so large airplanes could fit inside. There is 155,000 square feet inside, enough room to paint four of the largest airliners at once.
Baldwin was asked if there were any aircraft too large for the Grissom facility.
“Probably a [Lockheed] C-5 [Galaxy]. That’s about it,” she replied.
Teams of painters were lined up in front of aircraft as Baldwin led a tour Thursday. With massive ventilation systems and 1,400 separate filter panels in place, paint fumes clear out in a matter of a few minutes, she explained. The floors are washed frequently; no paint is allowed to build up.
“This facility is one-in-a-million,” Baldwin said in March. “It’s really state-of-the-art.”
Thursday, she said the company plans to paint and service more than 200 airplanes a year out of the new facility, which could attract other aviation businesses to the area.
The expansion nearly doubles the size of Dean Baldwin, which currently employees 240 people at its facilities in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.
It’s a godsend for Miami County, which lost a larger percentage of its residents between 1990 and 2000 than any other Indiana county. In the subsequent decade, only the addition of several thousand Miami Correctional Facility prisoners in 2010 stanched the downward trend.
Peru Mayor Jim Walker said Grissom’s transition from an active duty Air Force base to a reserve base cost 4,500 jobs and $105 million in economic activity.
Returning from that blow hasn’t been easy.
“In all honesty, when you’re handed a former Air Force base, the first question is, what are we going to do with it?” Walker said. “From the shock in 1994 to a celebration in 2013, this really is a success story.”
Baldwin called the hangar, which was gutted, retrofitted and painted bright blue, “the ugly duckling which turned into a swan,” and said the facility’s painting bays are already booked into next year.
They’ve hired 150, she said, “and we need 30 more right now.”
“I’m killing them, making them work six days a week to get all of these aircraft out of here,” she said.
Baldwin said the Grissom facility is probably the largest independent paint shop of its kind.
“The big thing I think it means for Grissom is that people know we’re open for business in the aviation industry,” Walker said.
The expansion project was funded by a $7.2-million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, state loans totaling $5.1 million and more than $1 million in local funding from Miami County.
Dean Baldwin signed a 30-year lease agreement with Miami County to use the hangar. The yearly lease payments will go toward paying off the federal and state loans.
Jim Tidd, executive director of the Miami County Economic Development Authority, said studies estimate the facility will have an economic impact of $162 million in the area during its first five years of operation.
Original article http://kokomotribune.com
Thursday, September 26, 2013
New Garden Airport (N57), Toughkenamon, Pennsylvania: New group moves forward with construction of hangars
High hopes of new hangars at the New Garden Flying Field were temporarily put on hold until a new group came forward at a New Garden Township supervisors’ meeting this week.
Three years ago, plans were put into motion to expand the airport and in January 2012, a land lease agreement was signed with the Hangar Corporation of America.
Since that time, little progress has been made and after several months of no updates, the contract was terminated in June, said Airport Manager Jonathan Martin.
Pilots who were interested in purchasing a hangar and who already made down payments were left with three options: Quit, wait for the township to find a new developer, or they become developers themselves.
They opted for the latter of three.
The core group of five, who were in attendance for the meeting, are in the process of setting up an LLC, which will be known as The New Garden Hangar Association LLC, said member Richard Kellerman.
Original article: http://www.southernchestercountyweeklies.com
Three years ago, plans were put into motion to expand the airport and in January 2012, a land lease agreement was signed with the Hangar Corporation of America.
Since that time, little progress has been made and after several months of no updates, the contract was terminated in June, said Airport Manager Jonathan Martin.
Pilots who were interested in purchasing a hangar and who already made down payments were left with three options: Quit, wait for the township to find a new developer, or they become developers themselves.
They opted for the latter of three.
The core group of five, who were in attendance for the meeting, are in the process of setting up an LLC, which will be known as The New Garden Hangar Association LLC, said member Richard Kellerman.
Original article: http://www.southernchestercountyweeklies.com
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Demolition of hangar begins at T.F. Green Airport (KPVD): $980K project part of airport safety improvements
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) -- A major demolition project got underway at T.F. Green Airport Wednesday.
Construction crews began tearing down a hangar which had stored planes at the airport since the 1940s.
The $980,000 project marks a milestone in the larger Airport Improvement Program approved by the Federal Aviation Administration last year, which also includes the long-awaited runway extension at T.F. Green.
The project manager tells Eyewitness News the longer runway will allow the airport to accommodate coast-to-coast and international flights.
The entire project is expected to be complete by 2017.
Original article: http://www.wpri.com
Construction crews began tearing down a hangar which had stored planes at the airport since the 1940s.
The $980,000 project marks a milestone in the larger Airport Improvement Program approved by the Federal Aviation Administration last year, which also includes the long-awaited runway extension at T.F. Green.
The project manager tells Eyewitness News the longer runway will allow the airport to accommodate coast-to-coast and international flights.
The entire project is expected to be complete by 2017.
Original article: http://www.wpri.com
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
2 planes hit with bullets at Corona Municipal Airport (KAJO), California
Corona police are investigating what may be separate incidents that have left two planes at Corona Airport with bullet holes.
On Saturday, Sept. 14, Jim Yost arrived at the airport for an early morning flight on behalf of Wings of Faith Ministries, which delivers clothing and food to Native American reservations in California and nearby states.
Instead, his wife, Debbie, noticed damage on the passenger side of their Cessna 182. Before long, they found one bullet hole in the door of the hangar and another in a storage box in the rear of the hangar. The bullet grazed the plane in two places.
A week earlier, Dave Mejia, whose Cessna 172 is tied down nearby, discovered a bullet hole on the wing as he prepared for a morning flight.
Mejia said the repair estimate is $5,600. Yost is awaiting his. Both planes are insured for body damage.
Mejia, whose family plane has been at the airport for 23 years, suggested that “someone with a pass” to open the gate at night might be responsible. “We’re a community that looks after each other.”
He doubted that the crimes would have occurred during the day when the airport is busy.
Police Sgt. Brent Nelson said two bullets of similar caliber have been found, and that an investigation is continuing.
The Mejias were longtime owners of Mejia TV & Appliances on East Sixth Street in Corona until its closing last year. Dave’s mother, Eva, learned to fly at the age of 55, and his late father, Zeke, was also a pilot.
Mejia said news of the shootings spread quickly around the airport, and he fears that “one of these guys will come down here at night with a gun and someone will get hurt.”
The gate is the only security at the airport, Assistant City Manager Greg Irvine said, although police make random patrols. The airport land is owned by the Army Corps of Engineer and is leased to the city. Private parties own the improvements, such as hangars, and lease them to individuals and businesses.
The city’s airport manager retired recently, Irvine said, and the city has begun recruiting efforts to find a replacement.
Follow consolidation of city departments in August, the Parks and Community Services Department took over administration of the airport, which is home to more than 350 private aircraft.
Original Article and Photos: http://www.pe.com
On Saturday, Sept. 14, Jim Yost arrived at the airport for an early morning flight on behalf of Wings of Faith Ministries, which delivers clothing and food to Native American reservations in California and nearby states.
Instead, his wife, Debbie, noticed damage on the passenger side of their Cessna 182. Before long, they found one bullet hole in the door of the hangar and another in a storage box in the rear of the hangar. The bullet grazed the plane in two places.
A week earlier, Dave Mejia, whose Cessna 172 is tied down nearby, discovered a bullet hole on the wing as he prepared for a morning flight.
Mejia said the repair estimate is $5,600. Yost is awaiting his. Both planes are insured for body damage.
Mejia, whose family plane has been at the airport for 23 years, suggested that “someone with a pass” to open the gate at night might be responsible. “We’re a community that looks after each other.”
He doubted that the crimes would have occurred during the day when the airport is busy.
Police Sgt. Brent Nelson said two bullets of similar caliber have been found, and that an investigation is continuing.
The Mejias were longtime owners of Mejia TV & Appliances on East Sixth Street in Corona until its closing last year. Dave’s mother, Eva, learned to fly at the age of 55, and his late father, Zeke, was also a pilot.
Mejia said news of the shootings spread quickly around the airport, and he fears that “one of these guys will come down here at night with a gun and someone will get hurt.”
The gate is the only security at the airport, Assistant City Manager Greg Irvine said, although police make random patrols. The airport land is owned by the Army Corps of Engineer and is leased to the city. Private parties own the improvements, such as hangars, and lease them to individuals and businesses.
The city’s airport manager retired recently, Irvine said, and the city has begun recruiting efforts to find a replacement.
Follow consolidation of city departments in August, the Parks and Community Services Department took over administration of the airport, which is home to more than 350 private aircraft.
Original Article and Photos: http://www.pe.com
Airliner-repair firm plans 130 new Tucson workers
An aircraft maintenance company at Tucson International Airport plans to add about 130 jobs in an expansion that includes a new hangar.
The Tucson Airport Authority last month tentatively approved a lease extension for Ascent Aviation Services Corp. that would allow the company to expand with a new hangar at the airport.
However, final approval is awaiting a review of a proposed change to the Airport Authority’s hangar construction standards to allow the company to build a fabric-topped hangar.
The TAA board approved a resolution Tuesday to change the standards, pending a final review by the airport executives by Oct. 3.
TAA board Treasurer Steve Fell, who chaired Tuesday’s meeting for absent chair Lisa Israel, said it’s clear the board supports Ascent’s plans.
“I think it’s fair to say we want to get this done. We think this is a great opportunity,” Fell said.
Michael Melvin, Ascent’s president and chief financial officer, said the company will be looking to hire more than 100 aircraft mechanics and 20 to 30 support staff as a result of the expansion. The company now employs about 150 workers.
“We’re very encouraged by the board members’ unanimous vote and their stated support to get this hangar built,” Melvin said.
The hangar, which could be erected in as little as six months, is key to the company’s expansion plans, Melvin said. Its partly translucent roof will save on lighting costs and provide workers with abundant, natural light, he said.
The company has a strong relationship with Pima Community College’s highly rated aviation-technology program, Melvin noted.
“Certainly it’s a competitive industry, but we’ve had very good success in retaining highly skilled and motivated employees,” he said.
Melvin said the wages Ascent pays mechanics are in line with industry standards. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, certified aircraft mechanics made a median hourly wage of $26.55 and an average wage of $26.78 in 2012.
The planned hangar will be about 45,000 square feet — larger than Ascent’s two existing hangars — and will fit two jetliners at once. The hangar is expected to cost about $3 million, according to the company.
At Tuesday’s board meeting Jim Sakrison, an attorney representing Ascent, pressed the board for its final approval, pending the construction-standards review.
Sakrison — a former TAA board member — told the board there may have been some miscommunication that the fabric-roofed hangar would be some sort of temporary structure, though the 25-foot-tall walls and much of the rest of the hybrid structure is steel.
TAA CEO and President Bonnie Allin, who had been out of town until recently, said she and other airport officials need more time to review the proposed construction standards change and financial data submitted by Ascent.
In August, the authority board approved the framework of a 12-year lease extension with three, five-year options subject to final negotiations.
The expansion will give the company more room to work on an expanding range of planes it is certified to repair and maintain, Melvin said.
The Federal Aviation Administration-approved repair station specializes in maintenance of narrow-body jetliners, such as the Boeing 737 and 717, the McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90 and Bombardier CRJ-100/200 series aircraft.
Ascent is awaiting final FAA approval to perform maintenance on Airbus A320 jetliners, which is expected sometime this fall.
“The size of this hangar will give us a whole new entry into a stable business, a business that definitely matches the Tucson environment very well,” Melvin said.
The new certification is seen as a key to growth in business from Latin America, where A320s are prevalent, the company says.
Ascent’s local architect, Michael Franks of Seaver Franks Architects, said the hybrid fabric-and-metal structure will meet all standards for strength and wind and fire resistance.
The hangar would be built by Maine-based Rubb Inc., which has installed similar part-fabric structures at a number of airports, including Boston’s Logan International Airport, New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and airports in Newark, N.J., Orlando, Fla., and Honolulu.
The architectural membrane, made of polyester fabric clad in PVC plastic, is sunlight-stable, fire-retardant and expected to last 25 years, Rubb CEO David Nickerson said.
Did you know?
The operation now known as Ascent Aviation Services traces its roots to Hamilton Aviation, an aircraft-maintenance firm founded in Tucson in 1947 by aviation pioneer Gordon B. Hamilton.
The company emerged from a 2002 bankruptcy reorganization with a new parent company, Global Aircraft Solutions.
But in 2009, Global Aircraft filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, citing the recession and mounting debt.
Chicago-based Victory Park Capital, Global Aircraft's biggest creditor, bought the company's assets for about $5.5 million in a bankruptcy auction in October 2009 and began operations as Ascent Aviation.
Original Article: http://azstarnet.com
The Tucson Airport Authority last month tentatively approved a lease extension for Ascent Aviation Services Corp. that would allow the company to expand with a new hangar at the airport.
However, final approval is awaiting a review of a proposed change to the Airport Authority’s hangar construction standards to allow the company to build a fabric-topped hangar.
The TAA board approved a resolution Tuesday to change the standards, pending a final review by the airport executives by Oct. 3.
TAA board Treasurer Steve Fell, who chaired Tuesday’s meeting for absent chair Lisa Israel, said it’s clear the board supports Ascent’s plans.
“I think it’s fair to say we want to get this done. We think this is a great opportunity,” Fell said.
Michael Melvin, Ascent’s president and chief financial officer, said the company will be looking to hire more than 100 aircraft mechanics and 20 to 30 support staff as a result of the expansion. The company now employs about 150 workers.
“We’re very encouraged by the board members’ unanimous vote and their stated support to get this hangar built,” Melvin said.
The hangar, which could be erected in as little as six months, is key to the company’s expansion plans, Melvin said. Its partly translucent roof will save on lighting costs and provide workers with abundant, natural light, he said.
The company has a strong relationship with Pima Community College’s highly rated aviation-technology program, Melvin noted.
“Certainly it’s a competitive industry, but we’ve had very good success in retaining highly skilled and motivated employees,” he said.
Melvin said the wages Ascent pays mechanics are in line with industry standards. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, certified aircraft mechanics made a median hourly wage of $26.55 and an average wage of $26.78 in 2012.
The planned hangar will be about 45,000 square feet — larger than Ascent’s two existing hangars — and will fit two jetliners at once. The hangar is expected to cost about $3 million, according to the company.
At Tuesday’s board meeting Jim Sakrison, an attorney representing Ascent, pressed the board for its final approval, pending the construction-standards review.
Sakrison — a former TAA board member — told the board there may have been some miscommunication that the fabric-roofed hangar would be some sort of temporary structure, though the 25-foot-tall walls and much of the rest of the hybrid structure is steel.
TAA CEO and President Bonnie Allin, who had been out of town until recently, said she and other airport officials need more time to review the proposed construction standards change and financial data submitted by Ascent.
In August, the authority board approved the framework of a 12-year lease extension with three, five-year options subject to final negotiations.
The expansion will give the company more room to work on an expanding range of planes it is certified to repair and maintain, Melvin said.
The Federal Aviation Administration-approved repair station specializes in maintenance of narrow-body jetliners, such as the Boeing 737 and 717, the McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90 and Bombardier CRJ-100/200 series aircraft.
Ascent is awaiting final FAA approval to perform maintenance on Airbus A320 jetliners, which is expected sometime this fall.
“The size of this hangar will give us a whole new entry into a stable business, a business that definitely matches the Tucson environment very well,” Melvin said.
The new certification is seen as a key to growth in business from Latin America, where A320s are prevalent, the company says.
Ascent’s local architect, Michael Franks of Seaver Franks Architects, said the hybrid fabric-and-metal structure will meet all standards for strength and wind and fire resistance.
The hangar would be built by Maine-based Rubb Inc., which has installed similar part-fabric structures at a number of airports, including Boston’s Logan International Airport, New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and airports in Newark, N.J., Orlando, Fla., and Honolulu.
The architectural membrane, made of polyester fabric clad in PVC plastic, is sunlight-stable, fire-retardant and expected to last 25 years, Rubb CEO David Nickerson said.
Did you know?
The operation now known as Ascent Aviation Services traces its roots to Hamilton Aviation, an aircraft-maintenance firm founded in Tucson in 1947 by aviation pioneer Gordon B. Hamilton.
The company emerged from a 2002 bankruptcy reorganization with a new parent company, Global Aircraft Solutions.
But in 2009, Global Aircraft filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, citing the recession and mounting debt.
Chicago-based Victory Park Capital, Global Aircraft's biggest creditor, bought the company's assets for about $5.5 million in a bankruptcy auction in October 2009 and began operations as Ascent Aviation.
Original Article: http://azstarnet.com
Airport board picks builder for T-hangars: Kerrville Municipal (KERV), Texas
Texas Transportation Commission to consider funding request next week
Construction of new T-hangars for lease to plane owners and increased revenues at the Kerrville airport moved a step closer with the selection of a contractor for the project.
The Kerrville-Kerr County Joint Airport Board voted Monday to select Lansford Company out of Lampasas as the general contractor and project manager for a proposal to build up to 12 new T-hangars. Lansford was one of six contractors to submit responses to a request for qualification for the project.
Source: http://dailytimes.com
Construction of new T-hangars for lease to plane owners and increased revenues at the Kerrville airport moved a step closer with the selection of a contractor for the project.
The Kerrville-Kerr County Joint Airport Board voted Monday to select Lansford Company out of Lampasas as the general contractor and project manager for a proposal to build up to 12 new T-hangars. Lansford was one of six contractors to submit responses to a request for qualification for the project.
Source: http://dailytimes.com
Saturday, September 07, 2013
State cracks down on hangar tenants: Honolulu International Airport (PHNL), Hawaii
Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The state is cracking down on tenants at the Honolulu International Airport. Several small businesses renting T-hangars are frustrated by the state's crackdown after years of lax enforcement.
The state checked hangars and handed out citations on Friday. The Department of Transportation put up notices about the inspections two weeks ago. Roughly 80 of the small hangars are rented out.
"There are numerous businesses that have been operated down here for a period of 20 or more years. Lots and lots of people have their livelihood down here, either in maintenance or in flight instruction, tours," explained Brant Swigart, owner of Rainbow Pacific Helicopters.
Violations include unauthorized storage of non-aeronautical items like golf clubs and carts. Other offenses relate to electrical issues. Each tenant signs off on the state's rules to obtain a revocable permit.
"But they never really adhere to it, well now they want to adhere to it, but compliance with those rules and the permit might make it difficult or impossible for us to continue to operate," said Swigart.
A DOT spokesperson admitted that the agency hasn't been strict about enforcement, and said an FAA audit is prompting the push to make sure tenants follow the regulations. Failure to comply could cost the state millions in federal airport funds, according to the DOT.
"We have been going around and talking to different permit holders and letting them know about violations. After several verbal warnings, some citations were issued. There will be follow-ups to make sure that people are complying," said DOT spokesperson Caroline Sluyter.
"I don't think that's with the intent of bringing everybody into compliance, but more to intimidate and harass and create an atmosphere where it's either too inconvenient or uncomfortable to continue to run our businesses," said Swigart.
Story and Video: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The state is cracking down on tenants at the Honolulu International Airport. Several small businesses renting T-hangars are frustrated by the state's crackdown after years of lax enforcement.
The state checked hangars and handed out citations on Friday. The Department of Transportation put up notices about the inspections two weeks ago. Roughly 80 of the small hangars are rented out.
"There are numerous businesses that have been operated down here for a period of 20 or more years. Lots and lots of people have their livelihood down here, either in maintenance or in flight instruction, tours," explained Brant Swigart, owner of Rainbow Pacific Helicopters.
Violations include unauthorized storage of non-aeronautical items like golf clubs and carts. Other offenses relate to electrical issues. Each tenant signs off on the state's rules to obtain a revocable permit.
"But they never really adhere to it, well now they want to adhere to it, but compliance with those rules and the permit might make it difficult or impossible for us to continue to operate," said Swigart.
A DOT spokesperson admitted that the agency hasn't been strict about enforcement, and said an FAA audit is prompting the push to make sure tenants follow the regulations. Failure to comply could cost the state millions in federal airport funds, according to the DOT.
"We have been going around and talking to different permit holders and letting them know about violations. After several verbal warnings, some citations were issued. There will be follow-ups to make sure that people are complying," said DOT spokesperson Caroline Sluyter.
"I don't think that's with the intent of bringing everybody into compliance, but more to intimidate and harass and create an atmosphere where it's either too inconvenient or uncomfortable to continue to run our businesses," said Swigart.
Story and Video: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com
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