Before plans to extend the runaway at the Blair Municipal Airport can move forward, the Blair Airport Authority has to justify the project to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), City Administrator and Airport Manager Rod Storm told the board during its regular meeting Tuesday.
The airport authority wants to extend the runway to 5,500 feet. It's currently 4,200 feet long and 100 feet wide. An application for funds to complete an environmental assessment, the first step in the process, has been submitted. However, the FAA is questioning whether the extra length is needed.
Tim Hauder with SkyWerx, the fixed-base operator at the airport, has collected letters from aircraft owners and pilots who regularly use the airport in support of the extension. Hauder said most fly turbo prop or jet aircraft.
“The letters explain quite well the challenges that they have operating these types of airplanes off of Blair,” he said. “Even though we have jets already at Blair, a lot of times they are forced to take off with less than a full load of people or fuel because of the runway length. That gets more challenging with weather or heat because the performance of the airplane goes down or the stopping distance gets increased if you have an emergency and you need to stop in a hurry on a slick or wet contaminated runway.”
Letters were also collected from those who no longer use the airport because of the inability to operate their planes due to the runway length.
The Blair Municipal Airport could see more development in the coming months as the airport authority approved land leases for two new hangars.
Leases were made with George Babcock under HBHS, LLC and Bob Krist's company Dyna Tech. Both hangars are to be 100 by 100 feet. The area to be leased is approximately 13,875 square feet.
Though the leases were approved, City Administrator and Airport Manager Rod Storm said the airport authority will likely not have funds available to extend the taxi lane in front of the two new hangars.
The cost for the extension would likely be $140,000 to $150,000.
“I've been in contact with the department of aviation. They currently understand our need. Unfortunately, this year they are anticipating there will not be any state grants,” Storm said.
Tim Hauder with SkyWerx said Babcock will be able to move his planes from the apron of his hangar to the neighboring hangar to reach the taxi lane.
Krist said his aircraft could not do that. However, he was willing to possibly finance the extension of the taxi lane privately.
“I understand that either there is money going to come available or that I'm going to have to do it in conjunction with (hangar owner) 13 if I can work that out, but I'm not going to start building until I know that that taxi lane, in one way or another, is going to be built,” Krist said.
The board approved a proposal from Henton Construction to relocate the septic system serving the central hangar area at the Blair Municipal Airport.
The total cost of the project is $60,945.
