Adopt-An-Airport Program Begins
As we continue to make a sizable expenditure in time and money to establish a statewide airport system that will provide adequate access to cities and counties throughout Texas, it is vitally important that we ensure that our airports meet the needs of the traveling public. An airport is much more than mere pavement and hangars. It is a place of business and, in many instances, an intermediate stopping off point to a final destination. When travelers arrive at any one of our airports, they should be able to find clean rest room facilities, telephone access, fuel services and ground transportation readily available. The airport is the “front door” to a community. The appearance of the airport will create, for the traveler, an immediate positive or negative impression of the city to be visited.
To assist in improving the appearance of our airports, the Texas Department of Transportation, has initiated an Adopt-An- Airport Program.
The TxDOT Aviation Division, in conjunction with our 25 district offices, is ready to assist in undertaking an Adopt-An-Airport program for your airport. If you would like to participate in this program, call Bob Woods at 1/800/68-PILOT or your local TxDOT office.
Contract Awarded for Automated Weather Observing Stations (AWOS)
Thanks to a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, TxDOT recently awarded a contract to Vaisala, Inc., to install AWOS units at sixteen airports in Texas. Installation should take about six months. When operational, the AWOS systems will provide pilots with ceiling, visibility, temperature, dewpoint, and barometric pressure information updated every 60 seconds. The information can be accessed by either VHF radio or by telephone. Airports scheduled for AWOS installations are: Alpine, Brenham, Hemphill County, Gillespie County, Gainesville, Jasper County, Kerr County/Kerrville, Fayette County, Lampasas, Harrison County, Palestine, Hale County/Plainview, Scurry County, Sweetwater, Uvalde and Wilbarger County.
Due to the strong interest of this program, we expect to extend an opportunity for additional airports to apply for AWOS units within the next two or three months.
