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ENGINE RUN-UP AREAS
As mentioned in our July newsletter, four (4) specific areas for engine run-ups have been identified. While 40 acres of concrete seems like a lot, we have a multitude of businesses and private hangars located along the entire stretch of ramp.
In order to keep everyone safe, we ask that you use the pre-defined run-up areas labeled in the above map before your flight or while doing maintenance checks. Using these areas helps us all be better neighbors and makes our ramp safer (and quieter!) for visiting customers and pilots walking to and from their aircraft.
We appreciate your cooperation.
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TRAFFIC COUNTS ON THE RISE
Continuing the trend for 2017, the traffic counts for July did not disappoint! Our best month thus far showed a total of 6,882 operations - a 57.3% increase over July 2016 and a 10.2% increase from last month.
Altogether, for the same time period last year, operations are up by 11,408 or 38.7%. The increased activity reflected in these traffic counts helps us secure funding for future airport projects and improvements.
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RESERVED TIE-DOWNS
On December 6, 2016, Council established rates for reserved tie-downs on the ramp. These rates only apply to users and tenants who wish to establish and mark a specific location on the ramp for their aircraft. However, general parking will still be available and permitted at no cost.
We're in the process of marking and numbering 60 tie-downs on the ramp. Of those, 35 are currently reserved. Please take care to avoid parking in marked spaces.
If you're interested in reserving a tie-down for your aircraft or for you transient customers, please give us a call at (512) 216-6039.
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ACCESS GATES TO BE ACTIVATED IN SEPTEMBER
On Monday, September 4, 2017, the airport gates will be activated.
A letter to our tenants outlining code and procedural information will be sent this month. Visitors or those making deliveries may access the ramp by using one of three (3) gates controlled by Berry Aviation and Redbird Skyport (Gates 1, 2, and 4).
We ask our tenants to please use discretion in sharing the code. The main objective for the fence and gate system is to limit unauthorized vehicles on the ramp and around taxiing aircraft. The maps above show the gate locations and public parking areas (shown in green) to be utilized by guests and visitors.
If you are a subtenant, keep your aircraft tie-down in a non-reserved space, or otherwise feel you need access to the ramp, please call the office at (512) 216-6039.
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AIRPORT ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
Our next Airport Advisory Board Meeting will be held Monday, September 11 at 10:00 am.
The meetings are held at the Airport Management offices at 4400 Highway 21.
Come by to learn more about what's happening at your airport, meet the board, and enjoy a free cup of coffee and donuts!
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THE PHANTOM OF OSHKOSH
Retired F-4 Phantom pilot and San Marcos Regional tenant Greg Hughes (center) took in the show at EAA AirVenture with AOPA East Coast Media Representative Jeff Rockwood (left) and Mike Rice (right). Photo courtesy of Greg Hughes.
By: Dan Namowitz, AOPA
Retired fighter pilot Greg Hughes of Austin, Texas, waited patiently during EAA AirVenture in hopes of a glimpse of a McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom like the ones he flew during his years in the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Air National Guard.
Then, during the final day of his first visit to the annual aviation gathering in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, he not only got to see a Phantom, he got to fly it home.
Fly it home in the baggage compartment of his single-engine Mooney M20C, that is, because that's where there was room for an F-4 scale model given to him by a young aviation buff from Oshkosh. It was the only Phantom he encountered during the show.
How he came to acquire the scaled-down souvenir is a story that starts with Hughes's hat, and a July 25 shuttle bus ride he took during AirVenture at Wittman Regional Airport.
"On Tuesday afternoon, I caught a shuttle bus from the main airshow site back to the area where I had parked our Mooney," he wrote in an email. "I took a seat next to a young man whom I figured was 13 or 14. We struck up a conversation during which I learned that he was from Oshkosh. He knew the airshow area layout like the back of his hand, and knew way more about the airshow performers than I.
"I was wearing a cap which identified me as a retired Air Force 'Phantom Driver.' He mentioned that he had a miniature-scale model of the F-4 at home. At that point I told him that I was hoping that the Collings Foundation Phantom or one from Tyndall air force base (manned drone) would show up, but that I didn't think they would."
Hughes, who flew corporate aircraft after his military service, and still flies two single-engine airplanes, said he thought no more about the passing conversation until the next day when he received a kind of phantom text message, coming as it did "from an unknown individual."
"It read: 'Sir, I'm the kid who sat next to you on the bus yesterday. I left my model of the F-4 on your wing, so the F-4 did make the show.'"
Hughes figures that the young model collector noticed where he exited the bus, and re-appeared on July 26 at the Mooney parking and camping area, where he got Hughes's phone number from another pilot while Hughes was elsewhere watching the airshow.
Hughes learned that the youngster-Hughes speculates that he could be the prototypical "kid from the other side of the airport fence"-had been asking around as to which Mooney belonged to the F-4 pilot.
The pilots in the Mooney neighborhood took it from there.
"Other members of our group took him under their wing, showing him their planes and allowing him to sit in them, etc. When I returned to the camp site, the leader of our group rushed up to me and told me what had happened and that the young man was still hanging around. We sought him out and I met him-again."
By then the hungry show-goers were lining up for a barbecue dinner. Hughes had an extra meal ticket, "so I offered the ticket to my new buddy."
"Funny how things like this work out," he added.
Later, Hughes was dismayed to discover that the young model builder's number had vanished from his phone. As the owner of the 1975 Mooney M20C and the occasional pilot of a 1946 Taylorcraft BC12D, Hughes gives EAA Young Eagles program introductory flights to youngsters back home in Texas in both aircraft-passenger's choice, he says-and he would have liked to explore his new friend's interest in aviation, and encourage it.
Hughes hasn't given up hope of reconnecting. In the meantime, he has been enjoying his Oshkosh souvenir scale-model Phantom, recalling flying the reconnaissance variant of that "fast beast" of an aircraft that "proves that if you put enough thrust on a brick it'll fly."
He has also widely shared the story of how he came to own the model, informing listeners that the experience "fuels my passion more than ever to 'give back' a portion of what I've been so blessed with as an aviator."
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KHYI INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CLUB MEETING
The KHYI Instrument Meteorological Club (IMC) meets the third Thursday of each month at Redbird Skyport at 6:30 P.M.
Their next meeting will be Thursday, September 21.
Complimentary pizza and soft drinks will be provided.
To learn more, or be added to the newsletter list, email Gary White.
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FREE POLOS
We had a great response from airport users regarding our
free San Marcos Airport polos. If you haven't had a chance to pick yours up, don't fret! We recently received a new order so we're stocked up.
Pictured is the men's polo which we have in large, x-large, and xx-large. We also have a women's version in small, medium, large, and x-large.
Swing by 4400 Highway 21 Monday-Friday between 8:00am and 5:00pm.
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