Wingtips Summer 2010

Construction on the new terminal at the Arlington Municipal Airport began in April.

The city-owned airport broke ground on a two-story, 17,000-square-foot expansion the afternoon of April 1 and is expected to cost about $5.1 million. The terminal was originally estimated to cost $4.5 million.

The turning of the dirt ceremony was attended by Congressman Joe Barton, who presented a check for $637,000 in FAA facility and equipment funding for construction and installation of advanced lighting and landing system equipment.

The terminal expansion is necessary to accommodate the increased traffic associated with events at Cowboys Stadium. Airport officials said there is an average of 50 to 80 planes arriving at the airport when the Cowboys play at home, compared to the normal number of 10 to 15 per day.

The expansion, which is expected to be completed in December, just months before the 2011 Super Bowl in Arlington, will feature a large community room, lobby and expensive office space that will be available for lease.

The terminal will be Arlington’s first LEED Silver Certified building. That certification will make it one of the “greenest” facilities in town.

Sugar Land Regional Airport’s city-owned and operated FBO once again took the top spot in the Aviation International News FBO survey. The airport and the FBO enjoy some distinct advantages that combine to boost its popularity, including strong support from the city of Sugar Land, a dedicated long-term team running the airport, an impressive FBO terminal and a strong relationship with the field’s neighbors. The airport’s unique “airport academy” invites local citizens to learn more about their airport and is a strategy that many airports would do well to consider, especially those having trouble persuading neighbors of the importance of their airports.

Sugar Land Regional Airport has been among the top l O FBOs in AIN’s annual survey since 2007, when it shared seventh place with another FBO. The city, which operates the airport, touts the absence of airline traffic as a major draw for business aircraft operators.

The first move Phil Savko made when he took over as general manager of Sugar Land Regional Airport west of Houston 12 years ago was to develop a business plan for the airport. The city owns the airport and has elected to run FBO services itself, instead of inviting interested companies to form independent FBOs at Sugar Land. Savko used to run a similar setup at city owned and -operated Naples Municipal Airport in Florida.

The city bought what used to be Hull Airport in 1991, renamed it Sugar Land Municipal and in 1994 doubled the 4,000-foot runway to 8,000 feet. Savko helped the city council members realize that renaming the airport Sugar Land Regional would help boost traffic and pull new customers away from nearby Hobby Airport and George Bush Intercontinental. ‘We saw traffic starting to head this way,” he said. West Houston’s new energy corridor was rising out of what used to be empty prairie and there was an opportunity to develop the airport to serve the oil companies and other firms building facilities in the area.

Sugar Land’s absence of airline traffic is another big advantage over Hobby and Bush airports. “You can get downtown more quickly than from Hobby,” said Adam Scott, assistant aviation director, when taking into account delays caused by airlines at the other airports. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have been housed in their own building at the airport for the past three years, so travelers arriving from outside the U.S. can use Sugar Land as a port of entry; the agents come to the Sugar Land ramp to dear arriving customers.

by Jay Carpenter

Jason Schappert and Vincent Lambercy recently flew their Cessna – 152 from Daytona Beach, Florida to Catalina Island off the coast of California and back this summer to help raise awareness of general aviation. Along their journey they stopped in Texas including Houston, Sweetwater, El Paso and Georgetown.

Jason Schappert is a 1500-hour Certified Flight Instructor and was awarded AOPA’s Top Flight Instructor Award at NIFA 2008. He currently works as a flight instructor in the central Florida area and operates Schapp Aviation. Vincent Lambercy is a Swiss private pilot, now living near Frankfurt (Germany). He learned to fly in Geneva, Switzerland, where he earned his IFR rating.

Earlier this year Jason and Vincent used Twitter to communicate their common interests and soon became close internet friends. They agreed to make this trek across America to help raise awareness about the benefits of general aviation. The pilots started on June 18th and ended their long journey on July 17. Their first stop in Texas was June 23rd at Houston Hobby airport. On June 27th they landed in Sweetwater and visited El Paso on June 29.

TXAA hosted their return visit at the Georgetown Municipal Airport on July 10th with a safety day at the new Aero Centex FBO.

Story courtesy of TXAA

by Jay Carpenter

On Saturday, July 10, 2010, the Texas Aviation Association hosted a Safety Day at the Georgetown Municipal Airport (GTU). The venue was at the grand opening of the new Aero Centex Fixed Base of Operations. Over 70 pilots and aviation enthusiasts attended the four-hour seminar which featured experts in aviation safety.

At 1000 local time, the fly-in / drive-in safety event started under cloudy skies, cool for a Texas July day. The color guard, represented by the Air Force Junior ROTC from Leander High School, presented the American Flag while being over flown by Falcon Flight, a group of four RV aircraft led by Stu McCurdy.

Among the guest speakers was Bill Gunn, safety director for the Texas Department of Transportation Aviation Division. Bill gave the most recent updates about the new fuel coming to general aviation, emergency locator devices and how funding works between the FAA, TxDOT Aviation and community airports.

NBAA regional representative Steve Hadley also spoke. Hadley’s presentation was focused on the importance for owner operators of a professional standard of performance and the importance of maintaining a more frequent routine of proficiency training to aid in maintaining safety for them in the use of their aircraft.

The rest of the program was shared by GTU tower chief Shannon Thomas, Carol Jensen who specializes in simulation training and had her new Cirrus simulator at the FBO, and Gary Stamper who is from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Flight Safety District Office in San Antonio.