- AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT T-Hangar Available Summer 2001 – On October 5, the Austin City Council approved Phase I of new construction, a $5.6- million plan that will include 54 T-hangars and an undisclosed number of tie-down spaces. The Austin Department of Aviation will be erecting these hangars in an area adjacent to Signature Flight Support. Reportedly, nine months before the scheduled opening date of July l, 2001, all 54 hangars have been leased, $600 deposit and $300 monthly rental notwithstanding.
- LINDA HOWARD, Director of Planning & Programming, Texas Department of Transportation Aviation Division, was certified in August as a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. Congratulations Linda!
- LONE STAR FLIGHT MUSEUM in Galveston recently hosted three very rare Russian fighter aircraft, two Polikarpov I -I 6s and one Polikarpov 1-153, made famous during the 1930s and in the beginning of WW II. In 1927 the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin demanded a superior Russian fighter plane to be built and designed in Russia. In 1932, when years had passed without a suitable design, he had two of the leading aeronautical engineers imprisoned to design under supervision and scrutiny of the government. The Polikarpov 1-16 flew for the first time in December 1933 and at the beginning of WW II, encompassed the majority of Russia’s fighter force. They first saw combat during the Spanish Civil War and proved a formidable opponent against the new Messerschmidt Bf 109. The Polikarpov 1-153 came into use in 1938 and saw service in the Far East, Finland, and on the Eastern Front.
- HOUSTON AIRPORT SYTEM (HAS) has set a passenger record by handling over four million passengers in July 2000. HAS broke June 2000’s 4,021,860-passenger record by serving 4,118,694 travelers in July.
- AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT announced recently that Wayport, Inc., will launch a highspeed wireless Internet service, offering fast, wireless Internet access to travelers throughout the entire airport. This Internet access provides travelers with the full power and convenience of the Internet at their fingertips, bridging the gap between home and office so travelers are never out-of-touch between their destinations. Travelers with wireless ethernet cards follow a simple sign-on process and have instant access to the Web-there is no need to load client software.
- DALLAS/FORT WORTH INTERNATIONAL (DFW) AIRPORT is finally going ahead with its $2.5 billion program to accommodate the 100 million passengers expected to be visiting its terminals by 2025. Named the Capital Development Program, the project aims to add an international terminal building, a “people mover” intra-airport transport system, an eighth runway, and a lot more. The project is the largest expansion in the airport’s history.
- BROWNWOOD REGIONAL AIRPORT held official groundbreaking ceremonies in August for the new public airport terminal. The project will provide a larger terminal facility for commuters and passengers. The $400,000 project is scheduled to be finished just after the New Year’s holiday, possibly sooner providing Brownwood has favorable weather conditions.
- WOMAN FLIES WORLD SOLO IN R44-Jennifer Murray, 60, British helicopter pilot and grandmother, in September became, the first woman to fly solo around the world in a rotary-wing aircraft.
- CONGRESS APPROVES $12 BILLION FAA BUDGET IN OCTOBER-How do some of these funds impact aviation in the real world? Here are some answers, as detailed in the AIR- 2 I FAA reauthorization bill. Some $2.65 billion is targeted to replace or modernize aging facilities, including the enroute and terminal automation programs, next-generation weather radar and satellite navigation. About $2.2 million will help create additional GPS instrument approaches, and about $3 million will go to develop and implement a navigation database with Internet access for users. The final bill also includes a provision prohibiting the FAA from imposing any new user fees- at least for another year. Additionally, a provision in the budget bill stipulates that federal funds “shall not be used to permanently close aircraft landing strips, officially recognized by state or federal aviation officials, without public notice, consultation with cognizant state and federal aviation officials, and the consent of the FAA.” And while these millions will be spent to upgrade infrastructure, established aviation organizations urge Congress to insulate airports from groups opposed to the funding of these much-needed airport improvements … to ensure that these small factions are not allowed to dictate whether or not airport improvements can be made.
- AMERICAN EAGLE began regional jet service between Midland-Odessa and its hub at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in May. The Airline also announced that it opened a new terminal at DFW on November 4, 2000. The new terminal has 13 gates, each with a covered boarding bridge that passengers can cross to or from a regional jet or the ATR turboprops. Additionally, the airline will operate a shuttle bus every three minutes, carrying passengers to Terminal A to make connecting flights.
- AMELIA EARHART’s flight suit was one of the items displayed at the national Women’s Museum at the State Fair of Texas in September. The clothing was on loan from the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. Earhart’s brown leather flight suit is one of the well-known objects in the collection. Historians say Earhart wore the suit during the 1930s while working for the Post Office. She became famous in 1931 when she piloted solo across the Atlantic. Earhart was last heard from in 1937, while on a flight over the Pacific.
- SPRUCE GOOSE migrates to new home-Folks near McMinnville, Oregon have now seen the real Big Bird. The gigantic Hughes flying boat, the HK-I “Spruce Goose,” was recently transported across a road to its new home at the Captain Michael King Smith Evergreen Educational Institute. The Spruce Goose will be reassembled and displayed in the as yet- unfinished 121,000-square-foot museum and institute. The new facility is scheduled to be dedicated in the spring of 2001.
- ASDE-X, NEW GROUND FAA SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM AT TEXAS AIRPORTS- Austin-Bergstrom, Houston Hobby, and San Antonio International. An FAA safety assessment focused on potential accidents and fatalities in determining which airports have the greatest need. This detection equipment will provide detailed coverage of runways and taxiways at an airport and also alert air traffic controllers in the tower to impending collisions.
- AVIATION PIONEER DIES- Peter G. Tanis, known for developing cold-weather systems for aircraft, died August 13 in Rochester, Minnesota. He was 63. Tanis developed and patented the first electric preheater for light airplanes and received numerous patents for cold-weather systems to airplanes and helicopters. Tanis heaters are sold worldwide.
Texas A&M Transportation Institute
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3135
(979) 317-2000