NRMA NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 8TH, 2001

Welcome to the 29TH and 30TH issue of NRMA News - an almost weekly summary of events at New Richmond Municipal Airport. This newsletter is sent to approximately 115 individuals associated with NRMA.

WEB SITE ADDRESS . . . Check out the airport website at:

http://www.nrairport.com

It has been a while since the last newsletter. We'll call this one a double issue....lots of things to talk about.

A REALLY BIG CLASS B EXPANSION IS PLANNED
Most pilots in the area received notice of the FAA's plan to expand the Class B airspace above Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport from a radius of 20 miles out to a proposed 30 mile radius. NRMA sits 32 miles from MSP and as a result, we could have severely regulated airspace a short 2 miles away. A public hearing is planned for tomorrow night, January 9th at 6:30 pm in the Army Aviation Facility at the St. Paul Downtown Airport. I will be attending. If you can't attend the meeting but would like your comments added to the record, e-mail them to me. I will make sure they are recorded. 

NOW WE'RE TALKING
122.975 officially became the new common traffic advisory frequency at NRMA one minute after midnight on December 28th. Our old frequency, 122.9, was shared with dozens of other airports around Minnesota and Wisconsin. Frequency congestion necessitated the change. Over 300 notices were mailed to airport managers and FBO's in both states advising of the change. So far, nearly all local pilots have been using the new frequency, but transient aircraft are having a few problems. About two-thirds of the transients are still using the old frequency. I highly encourage all pilots with two radios in their aircraft to monitor 122.9 for the next several weeks until compliance increases. You may notice a message was added to the AWOS broadcast advising of the new frequency, also. One minor inconvenience of the new frequency change was the need to change the frequency for the pilot controlled lighting. A couple of circuit boards were shipped to a company in Ohio on December 22nd. They changed the frequency on the boards so the pilot controlled lighting will be on the new frequency. The pilot controlled lighting should be back on-line effective Tuesday the 9th. One last thing...there appears to be a bit of confusion on which radios can actually use the frequency. If you have a 720 channel radio, you have the ability to transmit and receive on 122.975. You simply need to tune your radio to 122.97 (the last digit is omitted on most radios).

IT'S OPEN!
The big construction project is coming to a close - just some minor landscaping remains for this spring. NRMA now has a 4000' x 35' parallel taxiway to runway 14-32, a new access road to the north hangar area, and enough hangar spaces to accommodate about 40 new hangars.. The Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics officially gave us the green light to allow hangar construction in mid-November. The new taxiways were painted and control joints were saw-cut into the pavement in late November. Runway guidance signs were installed in mid-December. The parallel taxiway project represents a tremendous increase in safety at NRMA. 

EVERYTHING IS WORKING
Every once in a while, the planets must line up just right and as a result, everything at the airport works....read on

AND THEN THERE'S THE RED-FACED BACKHOE OPERATOR - AWOS PROBLEMS
Back in early December, a backhoe operator (in Kansas City, I think) severed a fiber optic cable. So what, happens all the time, right? Just so happens, our AWOS unit depended on that particular cable to send the local weather observations to the FAA, National Weather Service, the folks at the Weather Channel, etc. Technicians were forced to reroute the data using another, less reliable phone line. The AWOS unit tried to send the weather observations to the appropriate agencies three times per hour, but was met with busy signals most of the time. As a result, the weather was severely restricted or outdated. As of last Thursday, technicians were able to solve the problems and the AWOS has performed flawlessly since.

GROUND COMMUNICATIONS OUTLET
The GCO was placed back in service in November. The GCO is a device that permits pilots on the ground to communicate with air traffic controllers at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. The unit was shipped back to the manufacturer for troubleshooting. After about 60 days of down-time, the unit was repaired under warranty and returned to NRMA. 

WEATHERMATION IS BACK
You may have noticed the weather computer located in the Griggs Aviation hangar has experienced its share of trouble. Monitor, hard drive, keyboard, and keypad failures all occurred at various times. Technicians replaced nearly all components over a one month period and we appear to be back in business. You can access the weather data from the weathermation computer via modem by dialing 246-7144.

BIG RED TRAVELS TO THE REPAIR SHOP
The airport dump truck/snow plow suffered a set back in late November after the oil cooler in the International engine developed a serious crack. The internal crack allowed engine oil and antifreeze to mix leading to a not-so-good situation. About $1,100 and five days later, we were back in business for a very snow-filled December. Each snowfall of 2" or more is a major event now, thanks to the new pavement that was added last fall. About 4 hours of plowing is required to remove 2" of snow at the airport. The 9.75" snowfall on December 28th and 29th required 11.5 hours of plowing, 2 hours of snow-blowing, and 1.5 hours of pay-loader work. We were able to keep-up with the plowing - the airport did not have to close during the storm.

THE NDB IS WORKING GOOD
Last summer, the non-directional beacon (an AM radio transmitter used for instrument approaches) at NRMA was struck by lightning and destroyed. NRMA purchased a new NDB and had it commissioned by the FAA. FAA specs call for the NDB to have a typical range of about 25 miles or so at a power output of 25 watts. Last week, I received a letter from Dave Tomasko of Downers Grove, IL - a suburb of Chicago. He stated he picked up the NDB signal on his amateur radio some 310 miles away from NRMA on December 20th, 2000. He said he had a very good signal and the Morse code identifier for NRMA was easily identifiable. 

APRIL 22ND 
Watch for details on a fly-in/ribbon cutting/dedication ceremony for the new taxiway and north hangar project scheduled for Saturday, April 22nd.

BUILDING A HANGAR?
Three hangars are nearing completion and two more are scheduled to begin construction next week. Eleven leases have been issued for the north hangar area, and several more are on the way. If you are thinking about building a hangar, checkout the new NRMA hangar info page. The page has links and phone numbers for area hangar builders, door companies, concrete and asphalt companies, insulation, etc. There are still a few hangar spaces available for lease at NRMA. If you are interested in leasing a hangar space - send me an e-mail. The hangar info page can be accessed from this link: http://www.nrairport.com/new%20hangars.htm

FUEL PRICES
Avgas and jet fuel prices are still only $1.99 for 100LL and $1.79 for Jet A. 

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

January 9th - Class B airspace expansion meeting in STP
January 30th - Airport Commission meeting at the Civic Center
April ????? - Aviation Safety Seminar to be held at WITC in New Richmond
April 9-10 - Wisconsin Aviation Conference in Appleton, Wisconsin
April 22nd - Fly-in at NRMA!

Thanks

Mike Demulling
NRMA Manager
mike@nrairport.com