I hear and respect your points Jay. I should have added more info because
it's not a black and white situation here. Let me explain.
Republic Airport HAS been around since the 1940's. That's true. The
controversy is not over the closure of the airport but to the proposed
changes. That being said, there are (and always will be) a handful of NIMBY
folks who wouldn't mind if the airport was closed.
One proposed change is to move one runway (RWY 1-19) north a few hundred
feet to clear the approach course of obstacles thus enabling a precision
approach. The other major change is to move a taxiway farther away from the
runway to allow for more wingtip clearance. These are the two main proposal
items but there may be others. There is already an ILS approach for RWY 14
and the DH is right smack over the neighborhood in question. Boeing 727's,
737's, and others can and do land on this runway in both good weather and
low ceilings. They live with the occasional large jet at 1AM on takeoff from
RWY 32 (landing it's almost the same noise level as the biz jets.)
The majority of the neighborhood are against these changes because of the
strong possibility that freight companies like UPS and FedEx may set up
regularly scheduled service from here. Right now, they have admitted that
they will not set up shop because of the availability of a precision
approach on only one runway and the inability for their aircraft to land on
RWY 1-19 due to the taxiway issue. They require at least two possible
runways to operate regularly at an airport. Also as we all know, the bulk of
freight operations occur at night.
Although the second ILS would be nice, the rest of this presents a few
difficulties.
* It's hard to convince these people that more large jets operating at night
is a good thing. Probably impossible.
* I'm not 100% behind something that may negatively affect my flying.
Increased operations means longer wait times before take-off and landings
(yes, making inbounds loiter outside of Class D before landing is a common
occurrence here)
* My family likes to sleep at night too
* The same airport mgmt company manages Teterboro and from talks with local
pilots there, the large number of jet traffic is not making life better for
spam cans
The large majority of these people are not against general aviation and
small airplanes in particular. They are not looking to close the airport.
Some of my neighbors even like to bring their kids to the airport to watch
the planes.
So Jay, if I tell them to "shut the hell up" (I know it's just a figure of
speech) without respecting their views, I look like the narrow-minded
airport fool. Taking their points one by one and judging them on their
individual merits is the way to go I think. In dealing with the
narrow-minded NIMBY-types, yes, I think your approach is on the money. They
should be responded to in a calm, stern manner. I don't think most fall into
that category.
I also understand that one can get into a give-an-inch-take-a-mile situation
where they will want to close the airport next but a large portion of the
village's economy relies on the airport.
This is a delicate situation that requires some level-headedness and I'm one
of the few that sees multiple angles.
Regards,
Marco
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:sDsqb.128529$Fm2.107284@attbi_s04...
Actually, it was owned by Republic Aircraft (hence the name) for the
longest
time. The "I was here first" arguement unfortunately will not get a
pro-airport person very far. It will envigorate a me-against-you
attitude
and impede progress even though it's a true statement. The fact is, both
entities are here now and both have a right to be there so they better
figure out a way to live together.
So that means it's been there since, what the '40s? At least? Give me a
break! Quit being so danged diplomatic, and tell your whining NIMBY
neighbors to shut the hell up.
I swear, pilots have become so worried about stepping on anyone's toes
that
we have become tongue-tied -- which is perceived (by the anti-airport
crowd)
as acquiescence. In the end, what some of us perceive to be diplomacy is
only fueling the NIMBY fire.
Whenever we hear someone utter an anti-airport opinion, be it in the
newspaper or in person, I believe we (as pilots) should respond calmly,
logically, immediately and forcefully.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"
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