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Invite A Journalist For A Flight
Today the Los Angeles Times ran a story, that details the alarming rate at which this nation's airports are being closed for ever. This story was the result of a local airman contacting the local newspaper, and it resulted in an accurate and balanced report below: ------------------------------------- http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,1896015.story Squeezing Out Small Airports As cities grow around some existing airfields, officials seek to rezone land for new housing with an eye toward raising tax revenue. By Jennifer Oldham, Times Staff Writer April 24, 2006 At 2,000 feet, the view from Ben Meyers' Cessna says it all: To the right of the runway, Spanish-style homes crowd together; up ahead, concrete pads await mansions atop a denuded hillside; and to the left, asphalt-roofed duplexes glisten in the sun. Meyers was flying over Oceanside Municipal Airport in San Diego County, but he could have been circling airports in Elk Grove near Sacramento, Watsonville in Santa Cruz County or Bakersfield in Central California — all of which are being squeezed by ever-expanding suburbs. Around the state, sprawl is swallowing the once-vacant lands around municipal airports just as the number of small aircraft is rising, putting the need for such airports and the pressures to close them on a collision course. "They just don't get it: You can't build homes near an airport," said Meyers, speaking through a headset to be heard over the plane's spinning propeller during a recent flight. The pilot bemoaned an increase in noise complaints that threatens the landing strip. Vacant land around the state's small airports — built in rural areas decades ago — is increasingly viewed by local officials as their last chance to house residents and raise tax revenue through shops and big-box stores. "The city has grown up around the airport, and now a developer wants to go out there and build houses," said Irma Carson, a city councilwoman in Bakersfield, where officials have asked the Federal Aviation Administration for permission to close the municipal airport. Like Bakersfield, communities around the state are moving to build on or near their airports, either by seeking to shut them down or by rezoning acreage that surrounds them from agricultural to residential and commercial. The trend has left pilots fighting to preserve California's 324 general aviation airports, used mainly by small aircraft. "Urban encroachment is the biggest threat to all airports," said Gary Cathey, a supervisor in the division of aeronautics at the state Department of Transportation. Aviation advocates face a tough political fight that often pits affluent private pilots who don't live in neighborhoods where their aircraft are based against communities tired of noise and desperate for tax revenue. For their part, pilots argue that small airports are needed for far more than recreation, providing staging areas for firefighting aircraft during brush fires and important training grounds for future commercial pilots. The tug-of-war between pilots and local governments took an unusual turn last fall, when a local congressman quietly amended a federal transportation bill to free Rialto in San Bernardino County from federal obligations to keep its municipal airport open. The City Council then voted to close the facility and replace it with homes and shops. "The airport wasn't even breaking even," said Robb Steel, Rialto's redevelopment director. "One of the big reasons for wanting to convert it is to turn that around so it generates a surplus for the rest of the city." Congressional intervention to help close the airport unnerved pilots who had taken solace in the fact that operators who accept FAA grants to fix or expand their airports are prohibited from closing them. To prevent a domino effect, aviation officials say they've redoubled efforts to educate cities about the benefits of municipal airports. Two of three flights at these facilities are business-related, they argue, generating $2.53 for the community for every dollar earned on the airport. Smaller airfields are also critical to the transportation food chain: They take small aircraft out of midsized facilities such as Burbank's Bob Hope Airport, which can then accept more commercial traffic from overcrowded hubs such as Los Angeles International. "The state has an air transportation system, and every airport is like an onramp or offramp to that system," said Cathey, the Caltrans supervisor. "Every time one is shut down … it increases capacity constraints on the system." Only two airports have been built in the state in the last 20 years — both to replace existing facilities that were constrained by sprawling suburbs. Most of the state's small airports — many are former military facilities — were built in rural areas in the early 20th century to separate them from neighborhoods. In the 1930s, the Los Angeles basin had 56 active municipal airports. Today, it has nine. Many of the state's existing municipal airports are already full, with pages-long waiting lists for hangar space and tie-downs. "Lots of airplanes from Van Nuys and Burbank are hangared up here," said John Harmon, an aircraft kit manufacturer at Bakersfield Municipal Airport. He said his rent would double if the airport closed and he had to move. --------------------------- The only criticism I have is the omission of the Department of Transportation's plan to implement the Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) in the not too distant futu http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstud..._for_Taxi.html The SATS Concept/Vision A Local SATS Aiport Concept Emphasizing Intermodel Connectivity SATS will give more time to more people, satisfying a large portion of the emerging public demand for safe, higher-speed mobility and increased accessibility, while unleashing the full potential of the knowledge-based industrial expansion to more suburban, rural and remote communities. The benefits include improved standards of living and quality of life for all in the new global economy. SATS technology innovations will provide the nation with (1) economic development for communities of all sizes enabled by localized air accessibility, (2) choices to bypass highway and hub-and-spoke transportation systems delays, (3) an efficient means for intermodal connectivity between small airports and the global aviation system, and (4) an exportable transportation revolution with affordable "instant infrastructure" for developing nations around the world. When Will SATS Become Operational? The Proof of Concept research and technology development phase lasts for five years, or until 2005. Pieces of the SATS technology and several SATS aircraft already exist. Once the 5-year proof of concept SATS Project is complete, it is anticipated that SATS will continue development through the next decade. During that time, it is hoped that federal regulations, airspace procedures, and industry products will be developed to accommodate SATS traffic. The system full deployment phase at federal, state and local levels could occur as early as 2015. SATS could be mature and fully operational by 2020. Of course, if shortsighted civic leaders close their airports, they will cause their municipalities to be incapable of participating in the SATS vision of 21st century air transportation, as it is unlikely large enough parcel of vacant land could be found for a replacement airport. Even if a site could be procured, its cost and the new airport construction costs will frustrate reestablishing a municipal airport. Fail to plan: plan to fail. |
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Invite A Journalist For A Flight
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Invite A Journalist For A Flight
I do not like the part about affluent private pilots. Most are regular
people that put their disposable income into airplanes rather than boats, country clubs, etc. I had a run in with our local mayor years ago when she said the the local airport is for the towns 18 wealthy people. (We only have 18 hangars, so I guess if we had more there would be more wealthy people). I was on the phone with her for an hour explaining that I did not live in the affluent housing areas where the doctors and lawyers lived (well a lot of them). I think she understood and apologized. Ross Larry Dighera wrote: Today the Los Angeles Times ran a story, that details the alarming rate at which this nation's airports are being closed for ever. This story was the result of a local airman contacting the local newspaper, and it resulted in an accurate and balanced report below: ------------------------------------- snip Aviation advocates face a tough political fight that often pits affluent private pilots who don't live in neighborhoods where their aircraft are based against communities tired of noise and desperate for tax revenue. snip |
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Invite A Journalist For A Flight
On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 11:19:03 -0500, Ross Richardson
wrote in :: I had a run in with our local mayor years ago when she said the the local airport is for the towns 18 wealthy people. That seems to be a popular, albeit shortsighted, view. Unfortunately, it overlooks the fact that an airport is similar to a freeway on/off ramp to the National Airspace System, and the convenience a local airport will provide residents in the future when SATS is implemented. Then hub airports and their environmental impacts will be moved to rural areas, and the local airports will provide passengers with airline access via air taxies. If the mayor decommissions her local airport, she will be forcing her municipality's residents to commute to those airports that remain in other cities. Of course, if the neighboring cities close their airports too, it's going to a long commute. And this doesn't even begin to address future airport use by commercial establishments, and their decision to locate in her city, or not. |
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Invite A Journalist For A Flight
Larry D wrote:
And this doesn't even begin to address future airport use by commercial establishments, and their decision to locate in her city, or not. Having a viable airport in a town or city (not just a 2500ft strip) is often an economic engine for the whole area. |
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Invite A Journalist For A Flight
On 25 Apr 2006 15:55:48 -0700, "Kingfish"
wrote: Larry D wrote: And this doesn't even begin to address future airport use by commercial establishments, and their decision to locate in her city, or not. Having a viable airport in a town or city (not just a 2500ft strip) is often an economic engine for the whole area. It's also critical to emergency services. Don |
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Invite A Journalist For A Flight
Invite A Journalist For A Flight
by Don Tuite Apr 25, 2006 at 11:12 PM On 25 Apr 2006 15:55:48 -0700, "Kingfish" wrote: Larry D wrote: And this doesn't even begin to address future airport use by commercial establishments, and their decision to locate in her city, or not. Having a viable airport in a town or city (not just a 2500ft strip) is often an economic engine for the whole area. It's also critical to emergency services. Yeah. Of course. And sport pilots can get another taxpayer funded perk in the process. |
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Invite A Journalist For A Flight
Yeah. Of course. And sport pilots can get another taxpayer funded perk
in the process. If all airports closed and became parks and condos, because pilots couldn't pay the fees, would you be happy? Jose -- The price of freedom is... well... freedom. for Email, make the obvious change in the address. |
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Invite A Journalist For A Flight
Yeah. Of course. And sport pilots can get another taxpayer funded perk
in the process. If all airports closed and became parks and condos, because pilots couldn't pay the fees, would you be happy? Wow, wouldn't it be great if Skylune had a medical emergency, and there was no air ambulance available because there were no local airports for these companies to operate out of? |
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Invite A Journalist For A Flight
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