NRRA NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 10, 2004
Welcome to the 61st issue of NRRA News - an almost weekly, sometimes monthly, occasionally quarterly, summary of events at New Richmond Regional Airport. This newsletter is sent to approximately 245 individuals associated with NRRA.
WEB SITE ADDRESS . . . Check out the airport website at: http://www.nrairport.com . . . .
AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING
A meeting of the Airport Commission is scheduled for Tuesday, October 12th, 2004 at 6:30 PM. The meeting will be held in hangar 6-1 at the Airport. Updates on the various projects will be presented, as well as the 2005 operations budget. Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting. Make sure you plan on staying after the meeting for the cookout.
AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS
The hangar area construction project at NRRA is drawing to a close. The project consisted of construction of a new taxilane in the north hangar area accommodating 16 private hangars as well as construction of a corporate hangar area accommodating 7 large hangars. The corporate area has two taxilanes, an auto access road and parking lot, and a large addition to the aircraft parking apron. The paving was completed in late August and is now ready for use. You will see several hangars under construction over the next few months - 23 hangars to be exact. Personnel from the Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics will be on-site on Tuesday for a final inspection.
FENCE PROJECT
The security fence project at NRRA is approximately 80-90% completed. The original completion date was scheduled to be September 15th. The fence contractor experienced a shortage of materials and had to push the completion date back to late October. Most of the remaining work is now focusing on the automated security gates. A memo will be going out this week to each hangar owner detailing how the gates will function and the plan for accessing the airport. The current plan calls for having the gates automatically close during the evening and open automatically at night. Push button access codes and key fobs will be used for after hours entry.
GOT TFR's?
Multiple VIP visits bring multiple temporary flight restrictions ranging in diameter from 6 miles for the Vice President to 60 miles for W. I think we've had 8 or 9 TFR's in the area since April. Although the TFR's bring general aviation to a screeching halt whenever they are in effect, at least the military and Secret Service helicopters stop by NRRA occasionally and buy jet fuel. I will record an announcement on the Automated Weather Observation Station (AWOS) if we have any additional TFR's this fall. Make sure you check your Notam's any time a VIP is in the area. A TFR violation in the Lake Elmo area was the lead story on KSTP's 10 pm news on Saturday night. Be careful up there.
http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S3228.html?cat=64
ROTARY PRESENTATION
I spoke at the local Rotary club meeting in mid-September. Several dozen business owners from New Richmond heard about the current status of the airport and the value to the community. The Power Point presentation I used will soon be seen a few times per week on New Richmond Cable Access channel 19.
YOUNG EAGLES
Local hangar owner and pilot, Jon Cumpton, organized the Young Eagles rally held at NRRA on October 2nd. The Young Eagles program allows kids to receive free airplane rides from Experimental Aircraft Association members. http://www.eaa.org/youngeagles/index.html
JUST IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING
The wrecked cars located just south of Airport Road in the south hangar area are the remnants of auto extrication training conducted by New Richmond Area Ambulance and Rescue Service (NRAARS). Typically, NRAARS conducts multiple types of training at the Airport each year, including confined space rescue, aircraft rescue, and advanced auto extrication.
LOOKING FOR AN INTERESTING FUEL STOP?
Try the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, MI (OSC), located on the shore of Lake Huron in northern Michigan. I stopped in for self-service fuel last week - strange place. The airport was once a Strategic Air Command B-52 base and aerial refueling base up until mid 1993. It has an 11,800' runway and dual ILS approaches. The Wurtsmith AFB historical website said 6,500 people were based there when it was active. Now, it is nearly deserted, except for a few stripped down 747's sitting on the former tanker apron. http://www.wafb.net/
JUST A REMINDER
The price of aviation fuel here at NRRA continues to be the lowest in the area. 100LL is $2.39 per gallon and Jet A is $2.09 per gallon at Griggs Aviation, located in the south hangar area. http://www.nrairport.com/FBO/griggs.htm
Also, the fine people at RC Avionics asked if I could pass along a reminder. . . Their free oil change offer expires January 1st. RC Avionics is located in hangar 14-4 in the north hangar area. http://www.nrairport.com/FBO/rca.htm
Congratulations to the following individuals on their new certificates or ratings: Lynn Henderson (Instrument), Don Alstad (Private), Mike Jacobson (Private), John Polk (Commercial Multi & Instrument Multi), Glenn Newby (Instrument), Mike Reiter (Commerical)
Thanks!
Mike Demulling
NRRA Manager
mike@nrairport.com