"Richard Russell" wrote in message ...
This curiosity rose to a new level when the airport
closest to my house (where I hang out and watch for hours but don't
fly out of) had their designation changed from N67 to KLOM.

This change in designation came after a runway rebuild (and extension)
and the installation of an AWOS. That led me to question whether the

It was the AWOS that did it. Weather reporting facilities have to have ICAO
compliant (no numbers) identifiers. This was more lipservice by the FAA to
ICAO standardization when they switched to METAR/TAF. Of course, the
METAR/TAF deviates from the ICAO version, but what the hey.