NRRA NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 9TH, 2006
Welcome to the 69TH 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 . . . .
There's a lot going on at NRRA right now. Here's an update.
NEW FBO BUILDING
The long awaited FBO building located in the corporate aviation area on the
north end of the airport is nearing completion. The new building will feature
full-service fuel (Griggs Aviation will remain the fuel provider), aircraft
maintenance, car rentals, pilot lounge, vending, aviation weather, and quarters
for the Life Link III crew. New yellow and black aviation information signs were
recently ordered. The signs will be placed near the threshold markings to runway
14-32 with arrows indicating the full-service FBO area and the self-service FBO
area. The new building should be ready for occupancy next month.
http://www.nrairport.com/pics/photos.htm for an aerial photo of the north
hangar area taken April 5th. The new FBO building is situated near the auto
parking lot.
TSA INSPECTION
An aviation security inspector from the Transportation Security Administration
conducted a security inspection of NRRA in late February. The results were very
positive. The TSA has typically worked almost exclusively with air carrier
airports over the past few years. They are now branching out and making
inspections of the general aviation airports in the US.
NEW WINDSOCK
A special thank you to local air ambulance provider Life Link III for recently
donating a new windsock to NRRA. The windsock near the approach end to runway 14
was replaced with the new donation. The new windsock has the Life Link III name
and logo on it.
Also, the Life Link III Bell 222 helicopter was seen on the KSTP TV news on
Friday as they were leaving the scene of a traffic accident. Go to
http://www.nrairport.com/FBO/lifelinkiii.htm for a link to the story and
video.
SEA-PLANE SEASON
The ice left Hatfield Lake, located on the south end of NRRA, the evening of
April 6th following 1.6" of rain. The sea-plane season isn't quite ready to
begin, however. The New Richmond Parks Department needs to remove the ropes and
buoys used to keep snowmobilers from entering open water. Presently, the ropes
and buoys cross the lake near the western most softball field in Hatfield Park
and extend to near the approach end of runway 4. Check the area carefully before
arriving or departing via sea-plane.
AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING
The Airport Commission will hold a meeting on Tuesday, April 11th. The meeting
will be held in the basement of the New Richmond Civic Center beginning at 6:30
PM. Everyone is welcome to attend.
SNOWSTORM 2006
The big storm that hit the area last month forced the temporary closure of the
airport for the first time since 1998. 13.8 inches of heavy, wet snow fell in a
few short hours. A thin layer of ice formed underneath the snow making snow
removal nearly impossible. The two NRRA plow trucks got stuck over 20 times due
to the slippery conditions. NRRA was reopened at 1 AM the night after the storm.
Nearly 20 hours of continuous plowing was required before all taxiways, aprons,
and runways were useable. The airport was closed a total of 14 hours.
TERMINAL AERODROME FORECAST
I mentioned in the December newsletter NRRA stood a good chance of getting a
terminal aerodrome forecast (TAF) for the airport. I received word from the
National Weather Service about two weeks ago we are eligible for a TAF and the
paperwork to establish it is underway and nearing completion. Once established,
a TAF will be issued every six hours by meteorologists from the National Weather
Service office in Chanhassen, MN. The TAF will have forecast winds, cloud cover,
visibility, restrictions to visibility, and other significant weather within a
five statute mile radius of NRRA.
MAJOR ROAD CONSTRUCTION
Tried to get to the north end of the airport lately? NRRA is nearly surrounded
by a major road construction project. STH 64 is being rerouted and turned into a
four-lane highway, beginning near the airport entrance and continuing to the
Houlton, WI area. Both the north and south entrances to the airport will be
impacted by the construction. Presently, CTH K is closed near the New Richmond
Golf Club. A new bridge was constructed over the new four-lane highway. CTH K
should be available for use in another month. CTH CC (aka Wall Street) is also
closed, beginning at North 4th Street and continuing to Industrial Blvd. Watch
for detour signs to get around the construction. If you are traveling to the
north end of the airport from the Stillwater, MN area - I recommend you take the
CTH C exit near Somerset, continue on CTH C to CTH CC, turn south on CTH CC and
go 1 mile to the north hangar area entrance. Watch the airport website for
updates.
http://www.nrairport.com/pics/photos.htm for a picture of the STH 64
construction and the CTH K bridge.
WHO IS THAT?
That was the question asked by dozens of individuals at NRRA on March 29th. It
was actually FAA Flight Check 57. The FAA had their Lear 60 at NRRA conducting
flight checks of airport approaches and precision approach path indicator lights
(PAPI) ( http://www.nrairport.com/equipment/PAPI.htm ). The Lear made over 20
passes down runway 14-32 between 11:30 and 12:45 PM. The PAPI lights to runway
32 were found to be slightly out of tolerance during their initial approaches.
Airport personnel adjusted the angle of the two middle lights to bring the
lights back in tolerance. All other equipment was found to be satisfactory.
Picture of the Lear 60 -
http://www.naco.faa.gov/images/lear60.jpg
HANGAR SPACE
NRRA once again has hangar space available for corporate/business aircraft. A
new corporate hangar was completed last month in the corporate hangar area. The
15,000 square foot building is ready for occupancy. Go to
http://www.nrairport.com/rent.htm
for a listing of available space.
GAMA GOAT - BACK IN ACTION
In the early 1990's, NRRA was given custody of two military surplus M561
vehicles, also known as Gama Goats. The M561 is an articulated 6-wheel utility
vehicle designed in the 1960's as a potential replacement to the jeep. That jeep
replacement thing didn't quite work out. Several airports in Wisconsin were
given Gama Goats for use as airport maintenance vehicles. The Gama Goat is a
unique vehicle. It wasn't practical for use as a utility vehicle or anything
else, until recently. During the winter, airport personnel removed the trailer
portion of the Gama Goat and refurbished and cleaned up the remaining four-wheel
drive tractor powered by a Detroit 353 diesel engine. A tow-bar hitch was
installed on the vehicle. We now have a camo-green aircraft tug capable of
moving everything short of a 767. The Gama Goat will be painted and placed in
service this spring.
http://www.nrairport.com/equipment/airpor13.jpg
NASCAR AT NRRA
Some big names in NASCAR are coming to Cedar Lake Speedway this year via NRRA.
Typically, the NASCAR drivers fly to NRRA for big events. Tony Stewart, Bill
Elliott, Dave Blaney, and Matt Kenseth have all stopped by NRRA in the past few
years. Watch the Cedar Lake Speedway website for details on who is stopping by.
http://www.cedarlakespeedway.com
AIRSHOW 2006
June 24th and 25th will be great days at NRRA. An amazing airshow lineup is
planned for Airshow 2006. John Mohr, Pete Tallarita, Joe Dooley, Darel Massman,
and Bob Post are all scheduled to appear this year. Watch the airport website
for details. As the airshow gets bigger and better each year, the requirement
for volunteer help becomes more and more important. Volunteers are needed to
assist with concessions, auto parking, aircraft parking, security,
transportation, and advertising. A volunteer's meeting is planned for early May.
Help is needed now, too. If you can help sell advance tickets or distribute
flyers, please let me know.
A FEW LAST ITEMS
- The Wisconsin Aviation Conference is scheduled for May 1-3 in Green Bay
http://www.wiama.org/WAC/conference.htm
- A new 20,000+ square foot research lab will be constructed just off of airport
property off of 200th Ave.
- nrairport.com passed half a million hits since its creation
For a listing of fly-ins around Wisconsin, go to:
http://www.dot.state.wi.us/travel/air/fly-ins.htm
Support the businesses based at NRRA.
http://www.nrairport.com/fbo.htm
Thanks!
Mike Demulling
NRRA Manager
mike@nrairport.com
Airports Mean Business!
