Tower Talk | Arkansas Air Museum | Local Flying Organizations | Fayetteville Air Service Three hundred twelve feet and one mile. The decision height and visibility we have been working effortlessly to obtain for the LDA-GS 34 became a reality on 05 DEC 97. The Jonesboro PS3 issued the FDC Notam just in time for the low ceilings and peak Christmas travel time. The general publication for the approach plates will be in the late January update cycle. Many of you are due credit in your effort and support in submitting the pilot comment forms, as without your help the minimums would not have been lowered. Mr. Pete Dula, Manager LIT FSDO, was the driving force that guided us through the final obstacle and we owe him many thanks. On a sad note, Board Member John Gearhart passed away in December. His efforts in trying to establish the marketing of Drake Field was, in part, the catalyst of the marketing plan we have today. His caring nature touched many people in the community and he will be missed. I would like to welcome a new board member, Dr. Charles Wallace, who was appointed to fill John's position. Charles moved in from California about 18 months ago and has a diversified past in aviation and is quite enthusiastic about the activities at Drake Field. I also want to congratulate board member Truman Smith on his reappointment for a five year term to the board. Truman had the opportunity to fly the Skyraider in its' last years of service in the military and has a very interesting history in aviation. His participation on the board has been a great benefit to the airport and we all look forward to working with both of these gentlemen. Welcome to Wings Avionics, Drake's newest tenant who is remodeling the East side maintenance hangar for their new office and shop. We're glad to have an avionics shop on the field again and they are a nice addition to the growing number of new tenants. We are looking forward to the new regional jet service scheduled to start later this Spring. The use of regional jets for flights at Drake Field is a great step in the next generation of service from the airlines and should resolve any doubts about the ability of those aircraft to operate in and out of our airport. During the October 15 open house, guests were allowed to tour Atlantic Southeast Airlines newest 50-seat Canadair Regional Jetliner. The aircraft was brought to Fayetteville by Samuel J. Watts, Vice President of Marketing of Atlantic Southeast Airlines. After the unveiling of the Northwest Airlinks' "Spirit of Fayetteville" by Mayor Fred Hanna, guests were allowed to tour the refurbished Saab 340. The Open House was hosted by the Fayetteville Municipal Airport and the Airport Subcommittee of the Economic Development Committee of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce. The following sponsors also assisted in the events:
Drake Field 1998…We're looking forward to 1998. Great things are planned! Research has shown that travelers spend an average of 60 minutes in an airport and we have several terminal projects planned for the convenience of our travelers. Renovation of the terminal's south rest rooms, new automatic doors for the terminal, and the installation of a covered/lighted walkway for passengers on the ramp (construction has already begun) are a few projects planned. Also American Eagle has an expanding covered walkway waiting to be attached to our walkway to accommodate their passengers. Our LDA was installed and became operational late last year. Already the airlines have been able to take advantage of making more landings with the lowered landing minimums than they were able to before. This keeps the travelers and the airlines happy as more of the flights are on schedule. Other projects for 1998 are: Improvements scheduled for the fuel farm; Expansion of our ramp areas which will provide additional aircraft parking; and Ramp, pavement, and airfield lighting rehabilitation. The new sewer lift station, which serves the east side hangar complex, has been installed and will allow for further development of corporate hangars and additional T-Hangars. Our Airport Master Plan is scheduled to be completed soon and will provide an additional planning tool for the future. We have a new business on the field, Wings Avionics, Inc., which will open their doors for business on February 20th. They are remodeling a former maintenance hangar located on the east side hangar complex. They will provide sales, service and installation of avionics. We welcome them and look forward to the opening of their new business. For those of you in the community who haven't visited the airport very often, let me suggest a family outing to the airport. A visit to the Air Museum can be very educational and interesting and there is a gift area in the Museum, which has a lot of aviation items for the younger members of the family. In the Airport Terminal the children can watch planes arrive and depart. Also plan to visit the Air Host Gift Shop. They have a lot of unique seasonal and collectable items. To complete your outing, refreshments can be enjoyed at the Air Host Deli. We look forward to seeing you at the airport!
Traffic for the U of A basketball games seems to be running smoothly. Both Razorback Approach Control and Drake Tower have refined and standardized their handling procedures a bit, and we hope you are not being delayed or inconvenienced. Please remember, during peak traffic periods (immediately before and after games), Razorback Approach Control has requested that all inbound aircraft contact them on 121.0 for sequencing. We in the tower seize this opportunity to thank our local, as well as visiting, pilots for their unswerving cooperation during these periods of near traffic saturation. It wouldn't work at all without your help. Let us know how it looks from inside the cockpit...we need to know.
New minimums for the LDA/ DME Runway 34 Approach
It's Official
Our Atta-Boy Honorable Mention Goes To:
Contradiction In Terms
On December 30,1997, Bob Younkin donated his beautiful Howard DGA-11 to the Arkansas Air Museum. This aircraft becomes the fourth museum owned aircraft along with the British SE5a, Howard DGA-18K, and Monarch Sailplane. On hand to accept the donation were Bill Callan and George Moore, both board of directors' officers, and John Kalagias, Museum Director. The Howard DGA-11 is the orange and black high-wing monoplane that is parked on the east side of the hangar next to the conference room entrance. It was one of the first aircraft in the hangar when the museum opened in 1986. It is one of only five DGA-11 in existence today. The Howard DGA (Damn Good Airplane!)-11 was the commercial version of the famous 1935 Bendix and Thompson Cup winning DGA-6 "Mr. Mulligan" racing aircraft. The custom-built Howard, designed jointly by Benny Howard and Gordon Israel, was reportedly the fastest four-place personal aircraft on the market. Standard price for the DGA-11 would have been around $ 16,500. It was one of the most costly aircraft to build, which would explain why well-to-do people and movie stars often owned them. The wing span on this aircraft is 38 feet and is 25 feet, 4 inches long. It is powered by a Pratt and Whitney R450, 9-cylinder radial producing 450 horsepower. It's maximum speed is 200 mph. We would like to thank Bob for donating this beautiful aircraft to the museum. It will continue to enhance the collection for years to come. Northwest Arkansas is home for several active aviation groups. There are two chapters of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Chapter 732 which is active in all aspects of the EAA, and Chapter 77 which is primarily involved with ultralights. We also have the Northwest Arkansas Flying Club that is mostly a social organization that organizes and sponsors flying trips to interesting places. Both the Flying Club and Chapter 732 are involved in the activities at Drake Field. Some of our airplanes are hangered and maintained there and we are active with the museum and have concern for the operation of the airport. We have members that are on the Board of Directors of the museum and on the Airport Board. Needless to say we are all interested in the continuing and improving operation of Drake Field as a general aviation airport. EAA Chapter 732 is more of a technical organization. With about 60 family memberships, there are about 30 airplanes that are under construction or have been completed by members. These projects include rebuilding of certified airplanes, airplanes built from kits, airplanes built from plans only and some that are designed by the builders. Most of these "homebuilt" airplanes are quite sophisticated and will outperform "factory" airplanes of the same horsepower. We usually meet on the third Sunday of each month and the meetings are held at one of the project sites which may be a hangar or someone's garage. Our other activities include safety concerns, FAA regulations and the promotion of general aviation. Each year, usually in the fall, the chapter has a Young Eagles Day at one of the Northwest Arkansas airports. This is where young people between the ages of 8 and 16 are invited to experience flight in light aircraft. This is a national program sponsored by the EAA to promote general aviation and to get kids interested at an early age. Years ago kids hung out around airports and were able to come into close contact with the planes and often be able to catch a ride. Nowadays, airports and airplanes are not so accessible and this is part of the reason there are fewer pilots now than 20 or 30 years ago. We want the kids involved again. The Experimental Aircraft Association is a major factor in general aviation with several hundred thousand members and several hundred active chapters. It sponsors many fly-ins and conventions with a major week long convention at Oshkosh, Wisconsin each summer that attracts nearly a million people and over 10,000 airplanes. There are more attendees at Oshkosh than there are active pilots in the United States. The interest is there, we just have to find the obstacles and eliminate them. The Northwest Arkansas Flying Club usually meets on the second Sunday of each month and often the meeting is a fly-out to some interesting place. Last year we had trips to Durango, Colorado and Panama City, Florida. This year, we plan to go to Los Alamos, New Mexico, the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, Niagara Falls and Padre Island in Texas. There will also be shorter trips like to visit Razorback Approach facilities in Fort Smith and to the Imax Theatre in Little Rock. We welcome anyone interested to participate in the fly-outs. The Flying Club is associated with the Arkansas Pilots Association and the United States Pilots Association. Chapter 77, the ultralight chapter, has fly-ins and other activities, usually at the smaller airports like Huntsville and Wedington Woods Air Park. These small airplanes are very inexpensive to own and fly and are a lot of fun. General aviation is a viable economic activity. It creates jobs and business. There seems to be a feeling among the population that we are just a bunch of rich people having fun and not contributing anything to the community. That is not so. Do you think that all those people waiting in the terminal are traveling just on business or some other activity that is important to the community? No way. Many of them are going on vacation, to visit family or friends or many other "non-essential" activities. Notice the golf clubs and tennis rackets and family groups traveling together. It's the same with private flying—some business, some pleasure. Both are important, but it is a mistake to consider airline travel more important than general aviation. Anyone interested in joining EAA Chapter 732, contact Thomas Wyatt at Rt. 5 Box 845, Huntsville, Arkansas 72740. His phone is 501-665-2997 and e-mail is thomas.wyatt@juno.com. For joining the Northwest Arkansas Flying Club, contact Barry West at 10807 Spring Mountain Drive, Farming ton, Arkansas 72730. The phone is 501-267-5545 and e-mail is BARSHER@AOL.COM. If you are interested in the EAA Chapter 77, contact ]. D. Ball at P.O. Box 256, Elkins, Arkansas 72703, 501643-2635. We'd like to start the New Year welcoming the new people hanging out around the general aviation areas. The new line technicians you've seen standing by for that quick turn include: Greg Heinze, Alan Main and Ken Proffitt. Hello and welcome to the new base customers, Horst Brinker, Rusty Coonfield, Mike Cams, Bennie Webb, Mike Morlin, Steve Patton, Darin Dowd, and Jeff Williams. Thanks for choosing FYV to base your aircraft. We value and appreciate the customers here on Drake Field. Your business is very important to us. Airport Administration very graciously showed us their support and appreciation for General Aviation this past year. A "prime" example of this was the T-bone dinner they sponsored. Over 100 people turned out to enjoy the incredible spread. But success was not achieved from dinner alone, the skydiving demonstration and the opportunity to socialize with everyone lended to the festivities. But the icing on the cake was exactly that, the icing on the cake. Rudy Furr insured that the dessert was not just tasty, but also a sight to see. Our personal thanks to the city for their recognition and support of general aviation. Congratulations goes to Jeff Gibbs, who is flying professionally in Florida. We will miss him. Good Luck, Jeff and Goodbye. Drake Aviation Academy Flight instruction is taking off! DAA has not only brought the number of training and rental aircraft up to 5, they also have a Piper Apache available for multi-engine training. So make arrangements for that intro flight or add new ratings to those you already have. Troy Bates, the new office manager, will be happy to schedule you for those flights. Stephen Smart, CFI will also join the DAA team in February. They have also started the process to become a 141 certified school which will accredit them and allow pilots to license with less hours of instruction. Good Luck, Drake!
CREATING A PERCEPTION... When things go wrong at an airport passengers usually don't care whose fault it is -- they blame the airport and to them that is anyone who works at the airport. Visitors on a business trip or arriving on a long-awaited family vacation look at the airport as the gateway to the community. So in this light the airport serves as the benchmark of the community. We take pride on the appearance of the airport and receive many compliments on our airport. We d like to take this a step further encouraging community pride as well as airport employees pride in Drake field. It is our intent to make each visitors trip to the airport a pleasant enjoyable entry or departure from Fayetteville. COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR DRAKE FIELD...GET INVOLVED! It is essential that the airport be involved with (if not the driving force behind) an executive marketing committee of local and community leaders. The rote of this committee would be to work with our airport's Marketing Coordinator to establish an aggressive public relations program in order to achieve business and public commitments in support of the airport. Critical to this effort is sustaining these commitments -- no commercial airline will continue service to an area in which it consistently loses money. We must convince the airlines that continuing or establishing flights to Drake Field is not only profitable, but more profitable than service at competing airports. For more information contact Rudy Furr, Airport Marketing and Development Coordinator, at 50t-521-4750, ext. 6.
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