NRMA NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 15TH, 2001

Welcome to the 31st issue of NRMA News - an almost weekly summary of events at New Richmond Municipal Airport. This newsletter is sent to approximately 125 individuals associated with NRMA.

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

http://www.nrairport.com

CLASS B EXPANSION FOLLOW-UP - YOUR COMMENTS ARE NEEDED!
I attended the Class B airspace expansion meeting held at the St. Paul Downtown Airport last Tuesday night. The meeting was the FAA's attempt to explain the proposed expansion and answer questions. Class B airspace is very restrictive airspace that surrounds the nation's busiest airports. The FAA's plan, as presented, called for the expansion of the Class B airspace from the current 20 mile radius from MSP airport out to a proposed 30 miles which would put the airspace boundary right on NRMA's doorstep. About 150 not-so-happy pilots from around the Twin Cities metro area attended the meeting to voice their concern. The air traffic administrators from MSP were grilled for about 2 hours with pretty good questions from the pilots. I spoke individually with one of the administrators during one of the breaks. She stated the proposal would probably not go through as is. What she expects will happen is the radius of the Class B will remain as is. Approach path corridors will be added to the southeast, south and northwest areas of the airspace out to a distance of 30 miles. The area around New Richmond will remain the same. A public comment period is in effect until March 10th, 2001. Please download the official comment form by going to the news page located at http://www.nrairport.com/news.htm, complete it and mail it to the FAA. The New Richmond City Council also submitted a letter to the FAA stating their objection to the airspace expansion near NRMA. 

NRMA MOVING UP
NRMA was reclassified by the Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics last week. There are four different categories of airports in Wisconsin, including air carrier, corporate, general utility, and finally basic utility airports. We joined about 30 other airports in Wisconsin by moving from the general utility class to the corporate class of airports. The upgrade in status is a positive move for NRMA because differernt (or otherwise better) design standards are used for airport development. 

BAUMANN FLOATS
Need a new set of floats for your Maule, Husky, Super Cub, or 172? Check out the Baumann Floats website for a complete run-down of float models and prices. They have several amphib models that are awaiting FAA certification scheduled for later this year. A link is available on the FBO page at nrairport.com.

GA FLYER
Watch for an article about the improvements and expansion occurring at NRMA in an upcoming edition of the GA Flyer. The Flyer is a national aviation newspaper published twice a month.

MORE SNOW
Last week I reported it typically takes about 4 hours of plowing to remove 2" of snow at the airport. That rule didn't apply with this last snowfall. NRMA received about 3.5 inches of extremely wet snow beginning Sunday morning and continuing through early Monday. It took about 10 hours this time. Once again, the airport remained open at all times during the storm. 

172 FOR RENT
A Cessna 172N showed up in town last week and is now available for rent. Send me an e-mail if you want to schedule some flight time in eight-zero echo.

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

Don't forget, the common traffic advisory frequency at NRMA is now 122.975.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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