Jay Honeck in AOPA Pilot

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:eTNil.559481$yE1.336076@attbi_s21...
How has the fight gone, at Jay's airport? I know they had some issues,
at last time I heard.

Boy, maybe I should check in here more often?

:-)

First off, Jim, let's put the blame squarely where it belongs: "Bertie
the Bunyip" single-handedly killed this group. MX was a minor annoyance
who could be mildly amusing, but the ever-caustic king of the trolls drove
off every good poster here.

Secondly, many of us have gone to "Pilots of America". It's a good group,
and, yes, the interface can be difficult. It's worth it, however, to be
able to discuss aviation again. (And, for those who really want to go on
political rants, there's a place there called "The Spin Zone" that can be
a lot of fun.)

ANYWAY, our airport here in Iowa City is doing fine. We're down to just
two runways now (we lost our North/South runway a couple of years ago),
but our airport advocacy group, "Friends of Iowa City Airport" (FOICA) and
airport commission have worked together to make sure that local Iowa City
residents and our city council are aware of the essential role our airport
plays in our local economy. This public relations effort is the key to
keeping any airport viable.

Thanks to these (and other) efforts, we've seen a lot of good things done,
although they were very painful in coming. Things like taxiways paved,
runways reconstructed, and hangars rehabilitated have been common-to-see
each construction season for the last several years.

Sadly, amongst all these victories have been terrible losses. We lost our
historic Boeing/United Hangar to the wrecking ball, after a 5-year battle.
We lost Rwy 18/36 virtually overnight, without warning. This summer our
airport is going to be completely, 100% closed for 3 to 4 weeks, while the
intersection of Rwy 12 and Rwy 25 is reconstructed -- an act of stupidity
that could have been avoided if only we hadn't lost our third runway.

Still, in the end we will have a terrific, completely refurbished airport
when -- just a few years ago -- our city council was trying to shut it
down. So, all in all, we've won more than we've lost. Victory is never
complete, however -- the anti-airport crowd is like the Frankenstein
monster, never *really* dead, always threatening to pop back to life at
any moment.

It would be nice to come back here more often -- I really miss the
interface, and all of you guys! We'll see how well this post is met.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
Ercoupe N94856
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I can't believe the city didn't seize the airport over imminent domain
considering it looked to be the only place in Iowa City that wasn't under
water last summer!