Tiny Airports Get Stimulus

Some that aren't so tiny as well. This is just kinda interesting.

ProPublica. Links at site.

The Federal Aviation Administration has now allocated all [2] of its $1.1 billion in stimulus money for airport improvements. But the complex set of rules [3] laid out in the recovery act has led to some counterintuitive results.

The biggest winners aren't the busiest airports. And more than $100 million is going to airports that have fewer than one flight an hour [4] -- airports that cater to recreational fliers, corporate jets or remote communities.

Aside from California, Alaska has received the most airport money. Many communities there are so isolated they lack construction equipment, increasing costs.

I get a visual of two Inuits and a pick an' shovel...

Here's a map of the airports that will get some money. My little Truckee-Tahoe Airport is on it as are Reno-Tahoe and Carson City. You can put your mouse on an airport near you and see how much they're going to get.

I live about a mile from our airport. This is a resort area and a lot of rich folks, rich enough to have an airplane anyway, fly in and out all the time. There's also an EAA Chapter there because we're in some kind of experimental/aerobatic flying area where if you get the plane away from the houses you can do what you want. It's a reasonably busy airport for being out in podunk country.

There's two things the airport needs to do with the money, as I see it.

First, they need to cut down the trees at the west end of the runway. Folks who don't fly out of high altitude airports (ours is at 5900') very much sometimes don't take 'density altitude' into account and end up in them after a very short flight. It would be easier to find them without the trees.

If you have a Flight Simulator program, try taking an early no-horsepower Piper Cub off our runway. You'll see what I mean. Many years ago, our airport was in a different place, and the little sneezers just went off a cliff and let gravity finish their takeoff roll.

Just as an aside, the old joke about 'please confine all crashes to the far end of the runway' takes on new meaning here since the east-west runway is in two different counties. It's a 'which first responders do we call this time?' kinda thing. Heh.

Second, they need to provide some kind of air defense for our world-class shit plant located north of the runway. Since most of the cocaine and other pharmaceutical party goods come into the affluent North Lake Tahoe area via our airport, we should do more to prevent a speed-crazed pilot from crashing into it. Since the treated water flows directly into the Truckee River and thence to Reno for people to drink, the last thing I want is for the residents of that august city to get our drugs for free. It's a 24-hour city and they can go buy their own!

Almost thirty years ago, a local cop (who is a friend of mine) wrote a several-part article in our local paper about the cocaine route through Truckee into North Lake. I went looking for a cite, but it's too old and I couldn't find one. I did, however, find this lovely, well-written, and insightful article about a local flying experience. Thank you, Google.

One problem we don't have here is runway snow removal. There's a lot of snow, but the airport folks have it handled. Good thing, too. I don't even wanta think about how a pilot puts tire chains on to land...