Kinda sad...

Yesterday was gorgeous, CAVU weather in Iowa, so we took advantage and flew
to Ft. Dodge for the first time.

Located in north central Iowa, Ft. Dodge is the site of Iowa's only Flight
Service Station. We have talked to them literally hundreds of times over
the years -- but we had never actually flown there. The promise of a
courtesy car made our decision easy, and off we went, bucking a 40 knot
headwind all the way.

It was a smooth and beautiful -- if slow -- ride. That part of Iowa is
incredibly rural -- one of the reasons we'd never been there, before -- and
soaring over places and people who are so isolated from what we consider to
be the "real" world was a humbling experience. What different lives they
must lead!

Ft. Dodge has a very nice airport, with huge runways, an ILS, and a fairly
new terminal. Northwest Airlink still serves them three times daily,
thanks to federal subsidies, but their FSS is slated for closure under the
Lockheed-Martin privatization agreement. We wanted to see what a real FSS
looked like, before they were all gone, so we strolled over after enjoying a
fantastic, dirt cheap breakfast at "Brownies", a great locally-owned cafe in
town.

Out front of the FSS stood an older guy sporting a pony tail, smoking a
cigarette. He told us what code to dial to get in, and we entered a large,
darkened room with dozens of computer terminals -- and no people. There was
one lonely guy in sight, the supervisor, and he came over to greet us.

It seems that even though they are not slated for closure until July 2007,
the closure is already all but complete. Most of the older guys with
seniority have bid on other FAA jobs and left, or retired, and the only ones
left are the folks who didn't want to leave the area. The two guys we met
will retire when the station closes.

Lockheed has already diverted 50% of their calls to the FSS in Kankakee, IL,
so even though there were only two guys working, they had nothing to do.
There was a big electronic sign on the wall showing "Calls Waiting: 0", and
the only noise was the hum of cooling fans. It was eerie, and more than a
little sad, to see such a big, vital facility in its death throes.

Ft. Dodge is yet another dying farm-industrial town in the heartland, and
it's clearly seen better days. The City built this structure for the FAA,
they were so desperate to get the jobs, and now this beautiful building will
soon sit empty, another relic of another upgrade to our national airspace.
We all understand that it makes little sense to have 60 separate Flight
Service Stations in the age of computers and satellite weather, but it's
still melancholy to see the end of an era.

Go visit your FSS soon -- if it's like ours, it's about to go the way of
NDBs and radio ranges...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

The FSS at Green Bay will also be closing. I've been fortunate enough to
fly 3 separate plane loads of students over there to get the 10 cent tour.
A real great bunch of guys that, even after 9/11, went through the trouble
to get our tours approved, then took the time to answer all our questions,
and explain how everything worked. They also took the time to answer our
questions about their training, their previous jobs, and the way the
transition would effect them.

Many of us have come to recognize and remember their voices. Those of us
that are truly lucky can match the voices with a name, a face, and a
handshake.

Thanks Capt' Jake, you've been a invaluable resource.
We'll miss you.

Jim

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:iYELf.796015$_o.666924@attbi_s71...
Yesterday was gorgeous, CAVU weather in Iowa, so we took advantage and
flew
to Ft. Dodge for the first time.

Located in north central Iowa, Ft. Dodge is the site of Iowa's only Flight
Service Station. We have talked to them literally hundreds of times over
the years -- but we had never actually flown there. The promise of a
courtesy car made our decision easy, and off we went, bucking a 40 knot
headwind all the way.

It was a smooth and beautiful -- if slow -- ride. That part of Iowa is
incredibly rural -- one of the reasons we'd never been there, before --
and
soaring over places and people who are so isolated from what we consider
to
be the "real" world was a humbling experience. What different lives they
must lead!

Ft. Dodge has a very nice airport, with huge runways, an ILS, and a fairly
new terminal. Northwest Airlink still serves them three times daily,
thanks to federal subsidies, but their FSS is slated for closure under the
Lockheed-Martin privatization agreement. We wanted to see what a real FSS
looked like, before they were all gone, so we strolled over after enjoying
a
fantastic, dirt cheap breakfast at "Brownies", a great locally-owned cafe
in
town.

Out front of the FSS stood an older guy sporting a pony tail, smoking a
cigarette. He told us what code to dial to get in, and we entered a
large,
darkened room with dozens of computer terminals -- and no people. There
was
one lonely guy in sight, the supervisor, and he came over to greet us.

It seems that even though they are not slated for closure until July 2007,
the closure is already all but complete. Most of the older guys with
seniority have bid on other FAA jobs and left, or retired, and the only
ones
left are the folks who didn't want to leave the area. The two guys we
met
will retire when the station closes.

Lockheed has already diverted 50% of their calls to the FSS in Kankakee,
IL,
so even though there were only two guys working, they had nothing to do.
There was a big electronic sign on the wall showing "Calls Waiting: 0",
and
the only noise was the hum of cooling fans. It was eerie, and more than a
little sad, to see such a big, vital facility in its death throes.

Ft. Dodge is yet another dying farm-industrial town in the heartland, and
it's clearly seen better days. The City built this structure for the FAA,
they were so desperate to get the jobs, and now this beautiful building
will
soon sit empty, another relic of another upgrade to our national airspace.
We all understand that it makes little sense to have 60 separate Flight
Service Stations in the age of computers and satellite weather, but it's
still melancholy to see the end of an era.

Go visit your FSS soon -- if it's like ours, it's about to go the way of
NDBs and radio ranges...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I began flying in the days when FSS were scattered all across the
country. I will always fondly remember approaching Harrison, Arkansas
from the north as a thunderstorm approached from the west. The FSS guy
gave me a blow by blow description of its progress as I eventually lost
the race and diverted to another airport. That was flight service at
its finest. But I also understand we can't afford to continue providing
that service to 6 airplanes a day. ;(
--
Gene Seibel
Tales of Flight - http://pad39a.com/gene/tales.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.

Gene Seibel wrote:
I began flying in the days when FSS were scattered all across the
country. I will always fondly remember approaching Harrison, Arkansas
from the north as a thunderstorm approached from the west. The FSS guy
gave me a blow by blow description of its progress as I eventually lost
the race and diverted to another airport. That was flight service at
its finest. But I also understand we can't afford to continue providing
that service to 6 airplanes a day. ;(
--
Gene Seibel
Tales of Flight - http://pad39a.com/gene/tales.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.


I too remember - FSSs were always nearby - near Hoxie (where I grew up)
at GLD and maybe at HLC (where the HLC is closer to Hoxie than to Hill
City). Thank goodness, since that was before toll-free telephone
service (long distance phone calls were expensive) and we didn't have
the Internet, etc.

My most memorable visit was at Tuscaloosa - Mother's Day, 1966. On the
spur of the moment, a friend and I flew down from Wright Field in a T-34
to drop in on his mother. We enjoyed a great flight down and had a
wonderful day - southern hospitality and all.

We visited the FSS on the field in preparation to return. We got the
usual full briefing - over the counter, in person. We settled on going
northeast, then north. Just as the door to the FSS was closing behind
us, the briefer called after us - reported he had been advised that
thunderstorms had increased in intensity on our route and advised that
we should consider going north then northeast. Whew. We changed the
route of flight, climbed through scattered to 10500, watched the
activity east of us, and landed at DWF before dark.

Those 'old days' were 'good'.

Gene: I've been enjoying your publications on your web site - thanks
for sharing your experiences and love of aviation.

george

We visited the FSS on the field in preparation to return. We got the usual
full briefing - over the counter, in person. We settled on going
northeast, then north. Just as the door to the FSS was closing behind us,
the briefer called after us - reported he had been advised that
thunderstorms had increased in intensity on our route and advised that we
should consider going north then northeast. Whew. We changed the route
of flight, climbed through scattered to 10500, watched the activity east
of us, and landed at DWF before dark.

Those 'old days' were 'good'.

Thanks for sharing your recollections. It's amazing how much EVERYTHING has
changed in just 40 years.

Personally, I like having the live satellite and radar on my computer before
launching, as opposed to a system of weather observers scattered around the
country. True, it's not as personal, but I can gather more pertinent data
from a glance at the live radar than I can from a five minute briefing. In
this case, a picture truly IS worth a thousand words, IMHO.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:wf%Lf.822641$xm3.626973@attbi_s21...

Those 'old days' were 'good'.

Thanks for sharing your recollections. It's amazing how much
EVERYTHING has changed in just 40 years.

You haven't seen anything yet. Because of the advances in computing,
communications, and genetic engineering, society in 40 more years will be
completely different than today. Assuming the stupid people don't destroy
everything first.

On 2006-02-25, Tom Conner wrote:
You haven't seen anything yet. Because of the advances in computing,
communications, and genetic engineering, society in 40 more years will be
completely different than today. Assuming the stupid people don't destroy
everything first.

A couple of months ago, there was soemthing on the radio about Britain's
oldest man dying (he was 109, IIRC it was especially notable because I
think he was the last WWI vet in Britain).

Consider this. He was born in 1896, and as a child in the early 1900s,
his household would probably NOT have had:
- a car
- central heating
- washing machines or vacuum cleaners
- electricity
- an inside toilet
Television wasn't invented. Recorded music was a strange thing and was
so poor quality it really wasn't worthwhile. The first transistor was
still 50 years away. Aeroplanes hadn't been invented.

In 1956, this man was of pensionable age. The transistor was a brand new
invention, and the idea of an integrated circuit still hadn't been had.
The world had already massively changed: most people had cars or
motorcycles, hot water, indoor toilets, at least a radio and possibly a
television. Everyone had electricity, city streets were brightly lit by
low pressure sodium streetlights. Most people had telephones - but long
distance dialing was still done by calling an operator who connected
trunk calls manually.

When he died in 2005, anyone could cheaply publish music, writing,
photographs and video on the Internet. Supersonic passenger travel had
been and gone. Computers had gone from gigantic house sized things
stuffed with vacuum tubes to something you could put in your pocket.
Your telephone was now something you could put in your pocket, too, and
use all over the world, and you could do things like send photographs.
Travel across the Atlantic was cheap enough that a working class person
in Britain could afford a trip to Disneyland with the family. The Soviet
Union had risen and fallen. Between hitting retirement age and passing
away, entire generations of jet aircraft had come and gone. Even as an
old man, he saw tremendous change.

The changes this man saw in his lifetime were tremendous.

Now think of where we are now. Where will we be when you are 109?

--
Dylan Smith, Port St Mary, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:iYELf.796015$_o.666924@attbi_s71...
Yesterday was gorgeous, CAVU weather in Iowa, so we took advantage and
flew to Ft. Dodge for the first time.

Hey, that's MY neighborhood! And you didn't stop by???

I have visited FOD-FSS a few times but not lately. There were only 2 or 3
people around each time I stopped.

I use that airport regularly for airline flights; I have found that flying
out of FOD is sometimes cheaper than flying out of Minneapolis and is a lot
more convenient for parking (free!). I flew out of there last fall to
Pittsburgh, a month ago to Phoenix and was just there from a Detroit trip on
Tuesday night.

Fort Dodge is one of only two airports that I have flown a plane into and
also flown as an airline passenger. One of these days I'll make Mason City
my third.

-Greg B.

Hey, that's MY neighborhood! And you didn't stop by???

No kidding? I still think of you as living up in Minnesota, hey, doncha
know?

Next time we'll grab lunch at Brownie's with ya!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Did the same thing with the Cedar City UT FSS Station a couple of months
ago. Those eligible to retire did, and many of those signed on under
contract with Lockheed. Those not eligible to retire are looking for other
positions to move to within the civil service system.

Many of the Cedar City calls are already diverted, and I think sometime this
summer it will complete it's closeout.

BT

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:iYELf.796015$_o.666924@attbi_s71...
Yesterday was gorgeous, CAVU weather in Iowa, so we took advantage and
flew to Ft. Dodge for the first time.

Located in north central Iowa, Ft. Dodge is the site of Iowa's only Flight
Service Station. We have talked to them literally hundreds of times over
the years -- but we had never actually flown there. The promise of a
courtesy car made our decision easy, and off we went, bucking a 40 knot
headwind all the way.

It was a smooth and beautiful -- if slow -- ride. That part of Iowa is
incredibly rural -- one of the reasons we'd never been there, before --
and soaring over places and people who are so isolated from what we
consider to be the "real" world was a humbling experience. What
different lives they must lead!

Ft. Dodge has a very nice airport, with huge runways, an ILS, and a fairly
new terminal. Northwest Airlink still serves them three times daily,
thanks to federal subsidies, but their FSS is slated for closure under the
Lockheed-Martin privatization agreement. We wanted to see what a real FSS
looked like, before they were all gone, so we strolled over after enjoying
a fantastic, dirt cheap breakfast at "Brownies", a great locally-owned
cafe in town.

Out front of the FSS stood an older guy sporting a pony tail, smoking a
cigarette. He told us what code to dial to get in, and we entered a
large, darkened room with dozens of computer terminals -- and no people.
There was one lonely guy in sight, the supervisor, and he came over to
greet us.

It seems that even though they are not slated for closure until July 2007,
the closure is already all but complete. Most of the older guys with
seniority have bid on other FAA jobs and left, or retired, and the only
ones left are the folks who didn't want to leave the area. The two guys
we met will retire when the station closes.

Lockheed has already diverted 50% of their calls to the FSS in Kankakee,
IL, so even though there were only two guys working, they had nothing to
do. There was a big electronic sign on the wall showing "Calls Waiting:
0", and the only noise was the hum of cooling fans. It was eerie, and
more than a little sad, to see such a big, vital facility in its death
throes.

Ft. Dodge is yet another dying farm-industrial town in the heartland, and
it's clearly seen better days. The City built this structure for the FAA,
they were so desperate to get the jobs, and now this beautiful building
will soon sit empty, another relic of another upgrade to our national
airspace. We all understand that it makes little sense to have 60 separate
Flight Service Stations in the age of computers and satellite weather, but
it's still melancholy to see the end of an era.

Go visit your FSS soon -- if it's like ours, it's about to go the way of
NDBs and radio ranges...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"