Restricting Glider Ops at Public Arpt.

What is the latest status report on the situation at your airport?

Stewart Kissel wrote in message ...
What is the latest status report on the situation at your airport?


Stewart, thanks for your continued interest in this matter.

We are awaiting the FAA ADO rep's formal written determination of our
informal assurances complaint allegating equal airport access sponsor
violations (refusal to rent hangars and discriminatory restrictions to
flight).

Last weekend, the FAA FSDO completed their formal safety inspection.
Note that this safety inspection is required by FAA procedures when
the sponsor's reason for such restrictions is for safety or capacity
concerns. Also note that the inspection was accomplished well after
the FSDO had already approved flight and operating restrictions [in
*addition!* to the one's in which we initiated the original
complaint]; these new restrictions being unilaterally authored and
implemented by the airport authority without any input from the glider
operators in spite of the FSDO's directive that *both* parties draft
operating procedures.

No comments were made by the FSDO with respect to our operations at
the time of the inspection other than alluding to a good, safe
operation. I imagine anything to the contrary will come out in the
ADO determination. We suspect the requirement for a runway
intersection observer will be retained. If so, the glider operators
will continue to press for relief from that stipulation
administratively through a now formal assurances complaint to FAA HQ,
and/or legally through civil lawsuit.

As a side note, the glider club has contacted the AOPA on this matter.
The AOPA said that we would be contacted by the local AOPA field rep
within ten days (of the initial phone call to AOPA HQ). This never
occured. Come to find out, the local AOPA field rep is none other than
the Vice-Chairman of the LGC Airport Board! When Mr. Loudermilk of
the AOPA was notified of this, he said that the field rep had
submitted a lengthy report which accuses the glider club of numerous
safety violations which, per the report, have resulted in FAA
intervention and enforcement action. We refuted these outright lies
to Mr. Loudermilk and questioned the field rep's conflict of interest
and lack of objectivity in this matter. For the most part, Mr.
Loudermilk comments were to make excuses for his field rep. So much
for help from the AOPA...the ludicrocity of this situation just keeps
getting more and more absurd!

--The govenment solution to a problem is usually as bad as the
problem.
-Milton
Friedman


....of course, as the honorable Mr. David Kinsell previously so
astutely and tactlessly pointed out, this is only a one-sided account
of the situation, and therefore one cannot trust my integrity in
reporting this matter, nor can this report be considered credible
since the author chooses to protect his privacy by not splashing his
personal data all over the internet. I suggest anyone wishing the
opinion of the LaGrange-Callaway Airport Authority contact the airport
manager, Mr. Glen Boyd, at (706) 884-3412. Be *sure* to identify
yourself as a glider pilot!

On 17 Aug 2003 07:44:28 -0700, (rjciii) wrote:

Stewart Kissel wrote in message ...

No comments were made by the FSDO with respect to our operations at
the time of the inspection other than alluding to a good, safe
operation. I imagine anything to the contrary will come out in the
ADO determination. We suspect the requirement for a runway
intersection observer will be retained. If so, the glider operators
will continue to press for relief from that stipulation
administratively through a now formal assurances complaint to FAA HQ,
and/or legally through civil lawsuit.

I was wondering if you couldn't set up your glider launch from near
the center of your runway instead of from one end. From the center,
you'd probably be in position to easily visually clear the crossing
runway by the tow pilot and/or the wind runner. I would think your
runway is long enough to only use half of it (unless you're using a
cub as a tug.) You'd also be near to a taxiway to keep the runway
clear if needed.

Good luck,
Klein