Wingtips July 2002

Originally published in 2002

• SOUTHEAST TEXAS REGIONAL AIRPORT, Beaumont – A new manager of security screening, Angie Stephens, was hired in March by Byron Broussard, airport manager. Stephens feels right at home with her new responsibilities and has plenty of experience in screening passengers boarding planes since she previously worked for Continental Airlines in the same capacity. According to Stephens, the airport has received new equipment, including a color monitor for the X-ray and magnemometer for individual metal detection.
• SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – A promised aviation plant that would have transformed passenger jets into Federal Express cargo planes will now move to San Antonio instead of Corpus Christi. The change in plans centered on the subsidiary, Vision Technologies, winning the assets of San Antonio’s Dee Howard Aircraft Maintenance in a bankruptcy auction. The move saved the company $40 million and years of start-up time.
• MATHIS FIELD, San Angelo – The airport passenger terminal was renamed in May after former Airport Manager John W. Schwab during a ceremony at Mathis Field. The City Council approved the name change, “John W. Schwab Passenger Terminal,” on December 4, 2001. Schwab was also the former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic manager for Mathis Field air traffic control tower. He began his career as an air traffic controller in I 942 for the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Administration and abo worked for the U.S. Navy and FAA. He was airport manager from 1948 to 1995. He served on the state’s Aviation Advisory Committee from 1966 to 2000. John W. Schwab died on September 22, 2000.
• LAREDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – American Eagle announced in May that it will provide new jet service from Laredo to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport effective Tuesday, July 2. In the meantime, American Eagle, will upgrade two of its five daily round-trip flights to 50-seat Embraer jets. The other three flights would remain on Saab turboprop aircraft.
• DALLAS/FORT WORTH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta announced in April that Jimmy Wooten will serve as Federal Security Director (FSD) for DFW, and Michael J. Restovich will serve as FSD for Dallas Love Field Airport. “The new FSDs will fill a crucial gap in aviation security by providing, for the first time, a clear line of authority for security at our nation’s airports,” according to Mineta. The position of FSD was created by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, signed by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001.
• AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – City Council approved in May $4.4 million for airport construction projects, including $2 million to widen the area where planes park overnight and $2.4 million to build high-speed exits for airlines on the west runway.
• NEW AIR MEDICAL SERVICE FOR EAST TEXAS – GoldStar EMS/Angel One, based at Lufkin’s Memorial Health System, launched a new air medical service for east Texas in May. According to Patrick Shaub, director of GoldStar EMS, Angel One serves Angelina, Cherokee, Nacogdoches, Newton, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby and Trinity counties. Shaub, who flew helicopters for the Marine Corps and Texas Anny National Guard, has 30 years of experience as a pilot. He was an air medical pilot for another company, before GoldStar tapped him for its Angel Flight Program. The other four pilots also have military experience. Plans for Angel Two are pending and is expected to serve in a back-up role.
• ROBERT MUELLER MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, Austin – The old airport terminal is slowly being taken apart, piece by piece, and the demolition crews would like to sell as much of it as possible. If you are interested, call Jim McKee of ICE Contractors at 972/670-5146 or page John Lopez of Lopez Deconstruction Services at 209-4993. HURRY, HURRY, HURRY, whatever can’t be sold will be demolished!
• CITY OF HEREFORD took over management of the Hereford Municipal Airport on April 1, 2002, after a JO-year contract with longtime airport operators John and Donna Smith. New airport manager is Phil Miller. (See Texas Slipstreams for more information.)
• SOUTHWEST AIRLINES is going coast-to-coast for the first time. The Dallas-based discount king announced in May that it will launch service between Baltimore/Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles on September 15, 2002.
• TYLER POUNDS FIELD – American Eagle will continue to provide service from Tyler to Dallas for the next three years, under a new lease agreement approved in April by Tyler’s Advisory Board. The agreement begins when the airport’s new terminal building opens later this year.
• MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT – Delta Air Lines’ Delta Connections first flight out of Midland was on Sunday, June 9, 11:25 a.m.
• HOUSTON AIRPORT SYSTEM (HAS) handled 3,795,952 total passengers in March 2002. George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) served 3,053,718, William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) handled 736,215, and Ellington Field (EFD) served 6,019 travelers. Nearly 3.8 million passengers flew through Houston’s airports in March, a slight 4.8 percent decrease from March 2001, as the spring break holidays fell in March this year, instead of April in 2001, resulting in a more favorable year-over comparison. HAS transported 62.4 million pounds of cargo this. month for a narrow decrease of 1.2 percent over March 2001.
• TEXAS TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION, Austin – Dallas lawyer and former commissioner of the Texas Transportation Commission (TIC), David M. Laney was named by President George W. Bush to the board of directors of Amtrak-the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Amtrak, created in 1971, serves more than 500 stations in 46 states. When Bush was in his first term as Texas governor in 1995, he appointed Laney to the TIC.
• HERBERT D. KELLEHER was inducted by the San Diego Aerospace Museum into the Museum’s International Aerospace Hall of Fame on March 16, 2002. In 1966, Kelleher began with a sketch on a cocktail napkin and developed it into Southwest Airlines – the most successful air carrier in history. He stepped down as President and CEO in June 2001 but continues as the chairman of the board.
• BERGSTROM PILOTS ASSOCIATION (BPA), a new organization, was formed in March to meet the insurance requirements set forth by the City of Austin in order to move into the newly built T-hangars. Many individual pilots could not find an insurance carrier that would issue affordable individual coverage of premises liability. BPA is expected to obtain enough funds to purchase a group policy. Bill Gaston was elected President of BPA. You can access BPA at www.txaa.org, press BPA for more details on the new organization and the city’s insurance requirements.

Originally published in 2002

Continental Airlines, a Houston-based airline, could bid for a stake in one of Mexico’s two biggest airlines when the carriers finally go up for sale, according to Gordon Bethune, Continental chairman and chief executive office, during a visit to Mexico City.

The Mexican government has long had plans to sell •Cintra, the holding company of Aeromexico and Mexicana. The sale was recently delayed because of the slowdown in the airline industry after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Aeromexico and Mexicana account for the majority of air travel in Mexico.

In June 2002, Continental started offering 305 weekly flights from Houston to 19 Mexican cities. The company plans to increase its frequency of daily flights to Leon, Mexico City and Monterrey.

Source: Houston Chronicle

Originally published in 2002

SAM COX

On April 20, while attending the Ruby Fly-In and competition, Sam died of an apparent heart attack in Gainesville, Texas. Sam Cox, (USUA 54 I 76), was a South Central Regional Repre entative, of the U.S. Ultralight Association. During his high school years. Cox worked with a fixed-based operator (FBO), Lefty Gardner of P-38 fame, working on many WWII-era fighters and bombers. Cox started flight training in college, but found aviation too expensive as a young family man. In 1995, he discovered ultralights and bought a Starflight TX I 000 that he restored. In his spare time, he was working on a Kolb FireStar II.

Cox was ever promoting safety, club unity and fun flying through ultralight contests. A big man, friendly and approachable, Cox will be dearly missed.

JOSEPH B. (DOC) HARTRANFT

Joseph B. (Doc) Hartranft, Jr., 86, the first president of the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA). died February 22 in Annapolis, Maryland. He was one of six founders of the AOPA in Philadelphia in 1939, a time when “the military’s concerns about impending world war threatened the freedom of civilian aviation,” according to AOPA President Phil Boyer.

He learned to fly, as a teenager, at Roosevelt Field on New York’s Long Island and amassed more than 17,000 hours during a flying career of more than 50 years. AOPA credited Hartranft with leading development of the basic visual flight rules (VFR) and instrument flight rules (!FR) radio frequency plans to alleviate congestion on very high frequency (VHF) communications channels; helping to originate the word “Unicom” to describe the common communications frequency used by pilots at non-towered airports; founding the AOPA Foundation (now the Air Safety Foundation) to promote safe flyng and forming the International Council of Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (IAOPA) in 1962.

EDWARD “JIM” MODES

Edward “Jim” Modes, 83, of Prescott, Arizona, died on February 11 after a valiant battle with cancer. Modes was born in Earlville, Illinois and later moved to Glendale, California. He grew up during the depression and shared stories of hard economic times, simpler times, and how he contributed to help get his family through them.

During WWII, Modes flew in the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPT). In 1942, he joined the Army Air Corps, where he instructed in Stearmans and AT-6s, and flew P-51 s, P-40s, and many other aircraft. After the Army, Modes joined the Air National Guard, where he flew T-33s and F-86 Sabre jets.

Modes was noted for racing his P-51 Mustang “Candy Man” and an AT-6 “Hello- I I” in the National Air Races in Reno, Nevada. He was also known as the oldest airshow performer, performing in his T-6 for 27 years, with an unlimited aerobatic waiver. Modes and famous barnstormer Tex Rankin, Tex Rankin Air Academy, performed at Modes graduation a solo aerobatic demonstration which included flying through a hangar inverted. In civilian life, Jim Modes was a general contractor in the Glendale and Burbank areas for 40 years.

Originally published in 2002

The Aircraft Pooling Board (APB) was created in 1979 by the 66th Legislature to establish and operate a pool of custody, control, operation and the maintenance of aircraft-owned or leased by the state.

As of September I, 200 I, there were 36 aircraft owned by the state. This figure does not include 15 single-engine aircraft operated by the Texas State Technical College (TSTC) for pilot instruction in Waco. The APB operates nine passenger aircraft for use by all state agencies.

Through August of fiscal year 2001, APB aircraft have flown 2,581 flights with 8,652 passengers for a total of 609,160 miles and an average load of 3.62 passengers.

Source: Carole Keeton Rylander; Texas Co111ptrol/er(www.window.state.tx.11s) and the State Aircraft Pooling Board (http ://wwv.:sapb.state.tx.us), May 2002

Originally published in 2002

Famous Firsts in Aviation 1904-10

1904

• First airplane maneuvers. Orville Wright made the first tum with an airplane (Sept. 15); five days later his brother Wilbur made the first complete circle.

1905

• First airplane flight over half an hour. Orville Wright kept his craft up 33 minutes, 17 seconds (Oct. 4).

1906

• First European airplane flight. Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian, flew a heavier-than-air machine at Bagatelle Field, Paris (Sept. 13).

1908

• First airplane fatality. Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge, U.S. Army Signal Corps, was in a group evaluating the Wright plane at Fort Myer, Virginia. He was up 75 feet with Orville Wright when the propeller hit a bracing wire and was broken, throwing the plane out of control, killing Selfridge and seriously injuring Wright (Sept. 17).

1909

• First Cross-Channel flight. Louis Bleriot flew in a 25-hp Bleriot VI monoplane from Les Baraques near Calais, France, and landed near Dover Castle, England, in a 26.61 mile (38-km) 37-minute flight across the English Channel (July 25).

1910

• First licensed woman pilot. Baroness Raymonde de la Roche of France, who learned to fly in 1909, received ticket No. 36 on March 8.
• First flight from shipboard. Lt. Eugene Ely, USN, flew a Curtiss plane from the deck of the cruiser Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Virginia and flew to Norfolk (Nov. 14). The following January he reversed the process, flying from Camp Selfridge to the deck of the armored cruiser Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay (Jan. 18).
• First aircraft to take off from water. Henri Fabrer in a Gnome-powered floatplane, at Martigues, France (March 28).

Originally published in 2002

STOP! DON’T GO THERE!

The Federal Aviation Administration currently designates six areas in the United States as prohibited flight zones that pilots must avoid:

• Capitol zone in Washington, D.C. that covers the White House, Capitol and Naval Observatory.
• President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas.
• The Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.
• The presidential retreat at Camp David in Maryland.
• Pantex nuclear assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas.
• The area around George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, Virginia, to prevent vibrations from engine noise from rattling the historic home.

Originally published in 2002

Survey participants were asked to evaluate their favorite Fixed Base Operator (FBO performance) in line service, customer service, facilities, quick turn (or tech stop) performance and value for cost. And the Texas FBO winners were:

FBO FINISHERS:
Million Air, Houston Hobby Airport
Million Air, Dallas Addison Airport
Business Jet Center, Dallas Love Field

BEST INDEPENDENT FBO’S:
Business Jet Center, Dallas Love Field
Texas Jets, Fort Worth Meacham International Airport

Source: General Aviation, March 2002

Originally published in 2002
By Cheryl Hill-Burrier

Nine-Eleven may have knocked the wind out of the “world” of aviation, but not so in Texas; and not so for Texas aviators. In fact, we’re placing a whole other meaning on the private aviation industry and appropriately so for a state known as the “whole other country.”

Today, smaller airports are expanding and upgrading with assistance from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and city or county funding. Some Texas businessmen and women are beginning to beat the hassles of commercial airlines – boot-kicking the long lines at baggage check-ins, electrical “pat-downs” and delayed flights just because some poor granny whipped out her knitting needles. Locating a smaller general aviation airport is about as easy as finding a bed of fire ants, and the Texans flying in and out of them (in some cases) may even reach their destinations sooner than if they’d flown with the “Big Birds.”

So, how does this affect our economy? Just great! Some may even say this could be the oil boom of aviation for general aviation airports which are either city/county-run or privately-owned. The pendulum is finally swinging back toward the almost extinct private business owner, better known in some circles as the “little man.”

The cities usually receive a percentage of aviation fuel sales as well as lease proceeds on hangars they’ve built. Fixed Base Operators (FBO’s) also receive a percentage of aviation fuel sales for running terminal buildings, renting hangar space, and for selling aircraft and pilot supplies. Consequently, the wealth is spread further through the use of airport courtesy cars, “ground-pounding” pilots using local restaurants, motels, hunting and fishing lodges and visiting tourist attractions.

Flight instructors also remain busy, teaching students in a more relaxed atmosphere without the garbled cautions from air traffic controllers in Class B & C Airspace calling to expedite taxi or hold short for a 747. Laid-off airline pilots are turning now toward instructing and corporate flying, as unemployed aircraft mechanics are finding work once more.

The line-crews usually consist of students hired through their local high schools or colleges, and after a brief course in procedures and safety, they’re ready to assist with the moving and fueling of aircraft.

Best of all, Texans are known for their love to party, and usually this calls for “Fly-Ins!” Whether it’s airport hopping for a hot-dog and some hangar flying (telling tales), or playing tourista at a city sponsored event – it doesn’t take much for our pilots to hit the skies.

And, if that’s not enough to put a shine on your buckle, the state’s FBO’s have taken their Texas pride and unspoken competitiveness a “two-step” further by trying to produce the best Fly-In events, from poker runs to tamale feasts.

Here’s just one for you: on July 20, Lockhart Aero in Lockhart, Texas will host an Aviation Scavenger Hunt. Never heard of one before? Well, there’s never been an event like this before! But, we intend to have a heck of a good time by inviting pilots statewide to “saddle up” their planes and drop in for a good time.

The only thing stopping this state’s general aviation industry from future prosperity and a good time, is the weather and in Texas that only means a short wait for a great change!

Originally published in 2002
By Bill Gunn

Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is getting a new runway. Despite the effects of 9/11, airport growth is badly needed to keep up with demand. As part of the process of adding this new runway, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a revision of the Houston Class B Airspace. The proposal from the FAA is to lower the floor of the Class B Airspace by 1,000 feet to the west and east of IAH. Additionally, a small addition to the surface area keyway in the northeast corner is proposed.

General aviation airports that are directly under the proposed lower Class B floor are May (T5 l) and Weiser (EYQ). Hooks (DWH) and West Houston (IWS) are right on the edge of the proposed lower area. Other airports nearby, as well as the high volume of transient visitors and through-traffic will be affected. The FAA and Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Aviation Division, are forming an ad-hoc committee to solicit user comments. The committee process assures that all factions of aviation-air carrier, charter, business, and general aviation will have an opportunity to comment and propose alternatives to the FAA proposal.

The new runway at IAH is scheduled to open in the spring of 2003. Furthermore, the committee will recommend summer 2002 changes to the Class B Airspace (if any) as part of the process of accommodating anticipated added traffic at IAH. The impact on other factions of aviation in the Houston area will depend on the final configuration of the Class B Airspace. In busy areas, one change at one airport can affect the whole region. The individuals who volunteer their time and expertise to devise a plan that will work for all parties understand that aviation today requires more than experience in the cockpit – experience with the community and other aviation users is just as important.

Originally published in 2002

Julie E. Clark, a veteran airshow performer and captain for Northwest Airlines, was inducted into the Women in Aviation lnternational’s Pioneer Hall of Fame during the Women ln Aviation International Convention in Nashville on March 15. Clark’s professional flying career spans more than three decades. She has logged more than 25,000 hours of accident-free flying time and is rated in more than 65 types of aircraft, including the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and PBY Catalina flying boat. Clark resides in Cameron Park, California and commutes to Northwest Airlines’ Minneapolis hub for her commercial flying duties.