On Sunday, February 19, 2017 at 12:05:27 PM UTC-7, S9 wrote:
Hello all,
We have a municipal airport wanting our club to relocate to their airport.. It is a good location and has both a paved runway and an excellent 150' wide grass runway. This location could be a good contest site and closer to the city than our current location. The club is considering making a proposal to the airport board about what the club would need to re-locate. In the meantime we are going to have a couple of weekends at this airport to try it out. BTW the board said they would build hangar and would support contests.

SO, what would you suggest we request in the proposal. Thank you for your comments.

S9

Steve,

I've made a suggestion by PM.

Oklahoma Soaring Association has a nice home at Hinton Airport, 48 movement/week, hangar rentals, easy staging, nice lounge, etc. Distance from Oklahoma City is a factor. 100LL for sale.

El Reno Regional Airport is half the distance from Oklahoma City. The airport is a different class and category than Hinton. 100LL/JetA. Looking at Google Earth, it appears the turf runway is not adjacent to the hard surface, but about 350 years west. It's covered with 1500lb bales in Google Earth. Mowing and grass height should be discussed for sure. Minnesota Glider Club has a mowing issue and use of soft surfaces at Osceola, WI. Could be an extended cost if the hay and baling revenue is foregone for use of the runway. That's far enough for concurrent operations with the hard surface. I'm presuming that's the case because it's listed as a separate runway in AirNav. If it's the turf adjacent to the hard surface, that's one runway and no concurrent operations. It appears to be just wide enough to stage on the far side as you will need 250ft clearance from the runway centerline. This airport is under the same ADO as Midway-Midlothian in Texas. You might want to discuss with Carole Walker at Big Q Aviation who cannot stage on the soft surface because a drainage ditch is at the 250ft mark. The city airport board was willing to waive the distance but the ADO said no way. The turf runway that about 1000ft west appears to be just a tick over 200ft wide, so should work well. The logistics of moving from the hangars to that area just mean your group would have to show up much earlier than you normally do and stay later. Would make a very good winch site. Too bad that got sold.

Jets probably won't fly a pattern but will call about 15 miles out. I suspect there are several governmental flights weekly regarding FCI El Reno.

Is the airport manager on a career climbing track? If OSA is being recruited, who else is being recruited? How busy will this airport get? Tower being discussed? Will the next manager be your friend? Regional airports often have towers and class D.

Just my $.02,

Frank Whiteley