California Airports

Andy Wilson – DirectorI want to thank CalPilots Director Andy Wilson for his tireless effort in answering the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report regarding the Forward, Inc. landfill expansion project at Stockton Metropolitan Airport.

Andy worked right up to the deadline date & time to make an official response against this expansion effort.

All of us at CalPilot should be most greatful for Andy’s unwavering commitment.

Thank you again!

Rick Tutt
RJ Tutt Aviation
Stockton Metropolitan Airport

Andy Wilson – DirectorI want to thank CalPilots Director Andy Wilson for his tireless effort in answering the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report regarding the Forward, Inc. landfill expansion project at Stockton Metropolitan Airport.

Andy worked right up to the deadline date & time to make an official response against this expansion effort.

All of us at CalPilot should be most greatful for Andy’s unwavering commitment.

Thank you again!

Rick Tutt
RJ Tutt Aviation
Stockton Metropolitan Airport

Monterey Regional Airport
Runway Safety Area (RSA) Improvements Project

RSA Project Update:

In preparation for the installation of the Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) material, the construction work will begin to impact the Airport Operations Area. In order to maintain safety for both aircraft and the construction crews, there will be operational impacts occurring between January 19, 2015 and March 19, 2015. The runway will be open throughout the project for all commercial flights (barring unforeseen circumstances) and any work that requires a runway shut down will be done at night with a runway closure. We will continue to provide updates as more specific information is available or if the status changes. We appreciate your support and patience as we continue to improve your Airport.

 See the deatail attached in PDF format

http://www.mryrsa.com

(Calpilots Editor’s Note: So it only takes two people to disapprove of the improved Sim Rule and the FAA rescinds it? Yet, it takes the FAA and Department of Transportation over three years to even respond to the Third Class Physical elimination after thousands support it? Ridiculous!)
The FAA is withdrawing a rule that would have allowed greater use of simulators for instrument training because two people thought it was a bad idea. The agency issued a final rule Dec. 3 that allowed up to 20 hours (up from 10) on an approved training device toward an instrument rating. It also got rid of the unusual requirement that students wear a hood while doing instrument training in a simulator (since the outside view in a simulator can be altered to suit the circumstances). The majority of new rules are established under the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) process that gives the public time to comment, usually 90 days, before a rule is enacted. For whatever reason, the FAA issued a direct final rule in this case and when that happens the comment period occurs after the rule is enacted. That’s where this one went sideways.

When a Boeing 737 jetliner taxied on the runway at Yuba County Airport last month, airport manager Mary Hansen said it was the largest plane she had seen land at the Olivehurst facility.

While the twin-jet, narrow-body airliner is considered only a short-to-medium range aircraft, its presence on the 6,006-foot-long Yuba County runway caused quite a visual stir.

Will Train For Three Months At NAF El Centro
The Blue Angels arrived over the weekend at their winter base at Naval Air Facility El Centro to begin training for the coming air show season.

The Blues will spend three months honing their show routine in California’s central valley, which has been their winter headquarters for 35 years. They made the four-hour flight from Pensacola, FL to California January 3.

FAA Tells Santa Monica It Must Operate Airport Through At Least 2023
City Had Hoped To Repurpose 227 Acres Of Airport Property To Other Uses

The city of Santa Monica, CA has been told in no uncertain terms by the FAA that they cannot close the airport and open up its 227 acres for redevelopment until at least 2023, and likely not ever, according to a communication sent by the agency to city government.

The agency says that the city failed to bring the suit in a timely fashion. “This lawsuit, which involves a recorded real estate instrument signed by the plaintiff over 65 years ago, should be dismissed. To begin, that recordation, and subsequent conduct over half a century, belies any notion that the case was timely brought under the Quiet Title Act,” the FAA wrote in its letter to the city. “That statute allows suits against the United States to resolve disputes about title to real property in which the United States claims any interest (with exceptions not relevant here) only if the plaintiff sues within twelve years of learning of the federal government’s interest. In 1948, plaintiff City of Santa Monica (City) signed a recorded instrument that documented the United States’ interest in the City’s airport (SMO or the Airport Property). Plaintiff’s knowledge in the 1940’s, and in the decades since, of the transaction giving rise to its claim here squarely triggered the QTA’s statute of limitations.

When you fly into Minter Field (KMIT) in Shaftner, Calif., you notice a sprawling, fairly quiet airport situated in the heart of California’s central valley. It is flanked to the east by industry and Highway 99. The other three sides are surrounded by farm lands and orchards. Keep your eyes open for crop […] Read…

Airline industry’s focus on major routes challenges SLO airport’s growth plan– Faced with loss of some air service in recent years, an airline industry in flux and about 60 percent of travelers flying out of Los Angeles or the Bay Area, attracting new airlines and adding routes to San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport is an ongoing challenge with no easy fix.

“There’s no one factor,” said Kevin Bumen, general manager of the airport. “And this isn’t something that’s unique to San Luis Obispo.”

Comedian Bob Hope might not find humor in a promotional campaign proposed for the regional airport named after him.

Nationwide demand for air travel has been on the rise, but you wouldn’t know it by visiting Bob Hope Airport. Passenger traffic was flat for the first ten months of 2014, after two years of declining numbers, according to airport statistics.

One possible reason for the lackluster flier traffic, according to airport officials, is that many out-of-town travelers don’t know that Bob Hope Airport is located in Burbank, less than 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles.