Pre-2008 Archived Articles

Little River Airport Advisory Committee Seeks Members — Mendocino Beacon, CA

Applicants are being sought for the Little River Airport Advisory Committee. The committee is made up of three pilot members and four non-pilot members.

This event will feature 22 vintage aircraft, including the B-52D, RB-36, KC-135, and SR-71. This is the Eighth Annual Open Cockpit Day and it will be held Sunday, May 30th 10-4.

The Division of Aeronautics (Division), in the California Department of Transportation, focuses on maintaining a safe air transportation system statewide. Core safety activities include: permitting and conducting periodic airport and heliport inspections; investigating the acquisition of proposed school sites, community colleges, and state buildings near airports; and authorizing helicopter landings near schools. In the year ending June 30, 2003, the Division conducted 216 airport safety inspections (including 107 FAA Airport Master Record inspections); 133 heliport inspections, almost all at hospitals; and 446 helicopter landing authorizations near schools.

Jan/Feb 2004 Airport Advocate
In the heady 80?s and 90?s, especially in the high tech world, it seemed like we couldn?t create acronyms fast enough. There was also an effort to create and use buzzwords to explain our bold new world. One word, Paradigm, was very much over used. Webster defines paradigm as: ?1. a pattern, example, or model?. Hopefully you will forgive my use of it here because it is important.

The following California Airports have been closed, for a number of different reasons, at a rate of 1.5 per year since 1990. These invaluable California Transportation Infrastructure assets cannot be recovered.

Trona Airport in Southern Inyo County has gotten a facelift. It consists of a freshly painted helipad, and initial FAA approval for lengthening the runway back to its original length of approximately 5930 feet.

Keeping our airports and our airport operating privileges are a few of the reasons we volunteer to represent our airports. We need to be active so as to be in the forefront when it comes to identifying airport problems. Many of us have experienced problems that are the same as those facing pilots at the airport just down the road. Some of us have resolved airport problems in our favor, and some of us have not.

Has anyone read the horror story in the 12/19/03 General Aviation News concerning a group calling themselves “Stop The Noise?”

A review of the Airport/Facilities Directory for Mather, just east of Sacramento, will fail to alert you to the daily use of the airport by T-38’s from Beale AFB. The supersonic T-38’s use an overhead pattern at 2,000 ft AGL and are normally entering the pattern at about 280 kts. When on final they are…

Flying Friendly (from the Nov/Dec 2004 Newsletter)
I heartily applaud Ed Rosiak’s editorial comments in the July/August 2003 issue of California Pilot. His suggestion (recommendation?) to pilots to fly friendlier, fly quieter, is a critical component to saving California’s beleaguered General Aviation airports. Pilots, both based at a given airport and those transiting that airport, should “buy into” the concept that they are in control of the airport’s fate by their own actions, or inaction. Citizens living and working around an airport have come to know that complaining about aircraft noise gets visibility with local elected officials and news media folks. Complaining about aircraft noise is another way of expressing concern (fear?) of airplanes coming to earth on the house, office building, etc. Noise complaints are not only about noise, I have found out over the years!