Wingtips Volume 3 - Number 2

A 5010 is not a sweet onion. Each airport has an “Airport Master Record” (FAA Form 5010) which is the “official” record for the airport. It describes who owns the airport, its use (public or private), and details about the facility such as runways, runway length, obstructions, and other pertinent information.

Inspectors use the Master Record to verify data and note any changes. The inspection serves two main purposes. First, to insure the airport meets minimum safety standards, and second, to assist the airport owner in operation of their facility. Inspectors check not only to make sure the airport meets applicable regulations, but often will make recommendations on more efficient operating procedures. A copy of the updated 5010 Airport Master Record is sent to the National Flight Data Center in Washington D.C. They check the accuracy of the information and include it in the next edition of the federal Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD), and distribute updated data to FAA offices, and Flight Service Stations (FSS).

The airport owner receives a copy of the revised Master Record and a letter explaining deficiencies that must be corrected.

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and ESPN, the world’s leader in sports programming, have reached an agreement to air 12 original one-hour specials on ESPN2 beginning this summer. Each month the new series will air as part of ESPN2’s prime weekend sports programming.

The series will feature a number of personalities from the world of flight who will host individual segments, as well as “Young Eagle” segments designed especially for kids.

Construction contractors have been given Notices To Proceed and work will begin within the month for Silsbee/Kountze-Hawthorne Field and Dimmit County Airport.

Construction contracts are being executed for Hamilton Municipal, Stanton Municipal, and Pineland Municipal. Notices to proceed and actual construction should begin shortly.

Final design for the following projects is complete, and they will be put out for bid advertisement within the next few weeks.

• Wharton Municipal
• Columbus-Robert R. Wells, Jr.
• Gilmer-Upshur County
• Crosbyton Municipal
• Paducah-Dan E. Richards Municipal
• Brenham Municipal
• San Saba County Municipal

Hutchison County and Vega-Oldham County Air- port development projects are getting underway with the design phase.

A Grant Agreement has been executed with Winkler County Airport to provide state grant funds to replace the rotating beacon and tower.

Work is beginning on Feasibility Studies for Leon County and Goldthwaite, and on a Needs Assessment for Clifton Municipal.

Airport Action Plans are underway for Lampasas Municipal, Uvalde-Garner Field, Hondo Municipal, Hallettsville Municipal, Mexia-Limestone County Airport, Palacios Municipal, Bowie Municipal, and Alpine-Casparis Municipal.

Cessna will invest at least $30 million over the next three years to build a new Kansas plant and will refurbish another plant to restart production.

The main impetus behind Cessna’s restart is the federal General Aviation Revitalization Act, passed last year, which limits lawsuits involving airplanes more than 18 years old and protects makers from serious liability exposure.

Cessna plans to make four varieties of single- engine planes starting in 1996: the 172 Skyhawk, the 182 Skylane, the 206 and 206T. The first two can accommodate a pilot and three passengers, and the third is a five- passenger plane. All are proven older models, but will be equipped with improvements, including fuel-injection systems, rather than carburetors to avoid engine-icing problems.

Cessna intends to build about 2,000 piston-powered singles a year by 1998. Instrument panels will be all- metal instead of the plastic false panel used on earlier versions of the Cessna singles, and every aircraft will be corrosion-proofed. Cessna predicts it will sell most of the Skyhawks and Skylanes domestically, and as many as half of the 206 models overseas. The 206s are well-suited to landing on dirt and gravel strips in underdeveloped regions like Africa or Northern Canada.

Cessna anticipates that 50 percent of the airplanes delivered will be leased, as opposed to purchased, and the lessee will not be given the option of buying the airplane at the end of the lease period. Cessna has not yet announced prices for the line of piston singles.

Not something you can truthfully say most days of the week! FAR Part 61 flight schools will now have the same sales tax exemption status as FAR Part 141 flight schools. Senate Bill 833, sponsored by Senator Frank Madla, was signed by Governor George Bush on May 19, 1995, and will become law on July 1, 1995.

The bill will also change the definition of aircraft to include lighter-than-air and unpowered craft and to include all flight simulators and flight procedures simulators.

Schools are responsible for paying sales tax for the period of July 22, 1994 through July 1, 1995, when the Act becomes law.

Yoakum Municipal Comes Alive!

As little as a year ago Yoakum Municipal Airport appeared to have been abandoned. But that has changed drastically. In the spring of 1995, TxDOT completed an improvement project at the airport. The reconstruction project for Yoakum Municipal included a hot mix overlay of the runway, taxiway, parking apron, and replacement of the runway lighting system. The City of Yoakum has executed an agreement for a fixed based operator for the airport effective July 1, 1995. The FBO will provide aircraft maintenance, aircraft rental, and has moved three aircraft onto the airport with plans to use them for flight training. The FBO will also operate a Unicom radio system. Plans are underway to provide 24-hour aircraft refueling.

It appears that Yoakum has rediscovered a community asset that has been under-utilized for years. A celebration is planned for the near future.

Greater Southwest Fan Fly

Over 150 participants with their remote controlled aircraft will converge upon Majors Field in Greenville, Texas, on September 8, 9, and 10th, for the 13th Annual Greater Southwest Fan Fly. This is the oldest jet rally in existence and is sponsored by the Austin Radio Control Club It is held in different locations throughout the state from year to year.

This is an international event with pilots attending from England, Australia, Mexico, Canada, and South America. Some of the confirmed states that will attend other than Texas are Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Oregon, California, Colorado, and Oklahoma.

Turbine jets will also be included in the fan fly. These turbine engines are new to the modeling community. During flight they will reach 125,000 PRMs and have an exhaust temperature of 715 degrees at engine and 260 degrees at the tailpipe. The cost of the jets ranges from about $2,000, to a value of over $15,000, with speeds that range from 60 mph to 230 mph.

Trophies will be awarded for Best Military, Best Civilian, Best Flight Performance, and Top Speed. For more information contact Gus Hudson, P. O. Box 222, Sulphur Springs, TX 75483, (903) 885-3611.

Aircraft Assembled At Hondo

The Northrop Grumman Corporation is using a very large hangar facility at the Hondo Municipal Airport as an assembly plant for the new USAF T-3A aircraft. One hundred-fifty Slingsby T-3As will be assembled for the Air Force Pilot Screening Program. Seventy-five of the aircraft will be assigned to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, and the remaining aircraft will be assigned to the Hondo Training Facility. These T-3As will replace the T-2s, which have been used for the Air Force Pilot Screening Program for many years. In November of 1995, assembly will be complete, and the City of Hondo will have a 190′ wide x 225′ long x 59′ high hangar available. If you know of an organization interested in a facility of this size, have them contact Scott Wall in Hondo at 210-426-3378.

Last Victory Parade of WWII

On September 2, 1995, Fredericksburg, Texas, boyhood home of Admiral Nimitz, will be the scene of “The Last Victory Parade of WWII.” The massive parade, air show and field day planned for September 2-3, 1995, and called the “V+50” celebration, will be sponsored by the Admiral Nimitz Museum, the only museum in the country dedicated to the history of WWII in the Pacific. For more information regarding “V+50” activities at Gillespie County Airport, call 1-800-580-9218.

Herb Kelleher-Founder, Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO of Southwest Airlines, was recently honored by the Texas Department of Transportation. Transportation Commission Member, Anne Wynne, presented Mr. Kelleher with TxDOT’s first ever Career Contribution To Aviation Award at the Thirteenth Annual Texas Airport Operators Conference in Austin. Wynne noted, “The recipient of this award is a man who has made a significant impact on aviation, not only in Texas, but nationwide as well. His approach to airline service has revolutionized the entire industry. No longer is the airline industry a matter of one airline competing against another. His company’s entry into the marketplace has resulted in airlines now competing against all other modes of transportation, including the personal automobile.” She further acknowledged that, “One of the most pleasing aspects of bestowing this award is the fact that the recipient had close ties with the TxDOT Aviation Division’s predecessor agency, the Texas Aeronautics Commission. In fact, he received his Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Commission on November 6, 1970, enabling his company to begin air service.

Mr. Kelleher is the deserving recipient of numerous business and management awards. He is highly respected for his outstanding achievements in the aviation industry and greatly admired for his dynamic and inspirational leadership style. His contribution to aviation in Texas has been enormous, and is particularly evident through his commitment to the success of Southwest Airlines.

Andrews County Airport displayed an outstanding commitment to improve the safety, appearance, and usefulness of their airport. The airport funded eligible items through federal and state grant money. Part of the eligible construction items included removing a dip in the main runway that caused problems with takeoff and landing, and installing runway lighting on the secondary runway resulting in safer conditions during night cross- wind operations.

But the airport also managed to fund improvements that were not eligible for federal or state cost participation. The county contributed approximately $200,000 of additional funding for their airport project. These funds made it possible for the airport to extend a runway and taxiway in order to relocate a runway threshold that was too close to a golf course. This extension involved land acquisition, relocation of fencing, and a significant amount of earthwork.

Other ineligible items that the county funded were paving areas of the hangar access taxiways and the airport entrance road, rehabilitation and marking of one runway and taxiway along with a rehabilitation and marking of part of another runway.

All paved surfaces at the airport have been freshly reconstructed, overlaid or sealcoated resulting in a uni- form appearance. All NAVAIDS and lighting are in excel- lent operational condition.

We congratulate the Andrews County Airport for its hard work and outstanding airport improvements that earned them the 1995 Most Improved Airport Award.

Evelyn Gould of Llano Municipal Airport is the recipient of the “1995 Airport Manager of the Year award.” Mrs. Gould has been a volunteer airport manager since 1966. She has also been a pilot as long as she has been an airport manager. Over the past 29 years, she has displayed a strong commitment to improving the airport and its services. Even though money has always been tight and slow incoming, Mrs. Gould has remained faithful to doing the best job possible with the limited funds and personnel that were available to her – even providing personal vehicles as courtesy cars.

Under Mrs. Gould’s leadership, a plan was executed that used local money and labor to construct a terminal facility at the airport that provided new restrooms, expanded the pilot’s lounge area, and added a separate manager’s office. A new project to cover a concrete porch area is also part of this plan.

Don’t let Evelyn Gould’s fresh, homemade chocolate chip cookies, or her bright smile and cheerful disposition make you think she is anything but very serious about managing Llano Municipal Airport. She has an absolute, no-nonsense attitude with regard to the standards of safety that she insists be maintained at the airport.

Congratulations to Evelyn Gould for receiving the 1995 Airport Manager Of The Year Award!

This award is given not just to the airport, but to the community for a job well done in all aspects of owning and operating a general aviation airport.

There are many reasons why this is an exceptional airport. The main reason is that it provides the safety and services that should be the expected standard for general aviation airports in Texas.

• It is well maintained with honest efforts given to maintaining high safety standards.
• The Airport Board and the Airport Manager work as a team to improve and maintain the facility.
• Adjacent landowners cooperate with the county and in the spirit of acknowledging the contribution made by the airport.
• The consulting airport engineers have gone be- yond the professional services agreements to satisfy the needs of the sponsor.
• Fixed base operators provide the expected ser- vices (A&P, instruction, rental, fuel, courtesy cars, rental cars, and maps).

The efforts of all parties are immediately apparent upon arrival at the airport. We congratulate the Orange County Airport as the 1995 Airport Of The Year.