Minutes of the Ad Hoc Airport Advisory Committee 2/23/97 The Little River Airport Ad Hoc Airport Advisory Committee met on Sunday 2/23/97 from 4-6pm. Five committee members were present: Tim, Trey, Joel, Ray and Jack. Dick Ahrens and Grant Wheeler were also present. We agreed that the next Ad Hoc meeting will take place Sunday, March 9 from 4-6pm at Coast Flyers. Reports ------- Susan was out of town due to a death in the family. Tim passed out copies of the minutes of the last meeting. They hadn't been mailed earlier because Dick was sick. Tim passed out a new draft (dated 2/23/97) of the GPS report and a new one page summary for the GPS report, both incorporating changes suggested at the last meeting. He passed out copies of the DPW noise abatement flyer, a letter from DPW about implementation of the noise abatement policy, a letter from DPW about the survey and copies of letters from two airports with GPS approaches, providing statistics we requested. Tim also read a letter he'd sent to Chuck Boyer regarding the work Grant has been doing on the landing light power supply and the Unicom radio. He gave Ray copies of the handouts from the 2/9 meeting. Trey handed out a 2 page memo on the GPS approach which explained it in layman's terms. Grant Wheeler reported that the power supply has been wired up for the radio in the office, but that there is a remaining problem with the receiver's audio output. He also reported receiving a detailed manual for the constant current generator for the landing lights, with schematics, parts lists and troubleshooting procedures. He noted that the power supply is capable of operating the lights at 3 levels of intensity and asked if we use them. We don't - we only use full intensity. There was a unanimous vote of appreciation for Grant's volunteer work. Joel reported that the County may have already purchased a stand-by generator for the airport - he was contacted by DPW to find out if Skip Jones could help with the installation. Someone noted that the Beacon reported that Budge Campbell plans to retire at the end of March. Jack moved that we send a note of appreciation to Budge for his help on airport issues. This was passed unanimously. GPS --- Joel had a few comments on the previous draft report. He wondered if we can research the meaning of AGL more precisely, determining what radius around an aircraft is examined. He suggested edits to the section on scud running, which turned out to have already been made. Trey asked if weather observations (other than the altimeter setting) are needed for the GPS approach. Tim said that some commercial operators require a certified weather observation before they can land, but that Part 91 (non-commercial general aviation) pilots do not. If no weather observation is available, they may fly the approach to the missed approach point and then either land or execute the missed approach, depending on whether they see the runway. Appendix L of the latest GPS approach describes a sample GPS approach to Little River and includes a description of this procedure. Trey asked if the altimeter setting could come from someone's house near the airport. The answer was, yes, if they have two certified altimeters and the location has been accurately surveyed. The discussion turned back to scud running. Joel pointed out that tourists don't normally use this procedure, it is commonly employed by local pilots who are very familair with the area. He said it can be legal, sometimes. We discussed IFR-VFR conflicts. When the weather is good enough for pilots to legally fly visually, some pilots will still choose to use the instrument approach. This requires good radio communication by both pilots to report their positions to each other. Once we have an instrument approach, an educational flyer can be made up and distributed to local pilots to remind them of the importance of monitoring and using the Unicom frequency for position reports. Joel mentioned that the Class E airspace around Ukiah continues down to the ground. We wondered how they did that without having a control tower. Tim said that he hoped we'd soon converge on a draft report that everyone could agree on, then distribute copies to publically accessable locations and schedule a community meeting. Trey said that he's running out of objections. We agreed to adjourn early since the next step is for everyone to go over the latest draft report, letters, etc. We agreed to meet next on March 9 at 4pm. The agenda will be: - approve minutes of previous meeting - reports on recent events - GPS instrument approach - new HWP&T committee - agree on agenda for next meeting Ad Hoc Airport Committee voting members: ----------------------------------------- Joel Bornstein pilot, flight instructor lives near airport Trey Loy non-pilot, lives near airport Jack Reichel pilot, businessman Tim Scully pilot, computer programmer, lives near airport commutes by air to Oakland weekly Susan Winding airport neighbor, non-pilot, local business owner Ray Yates non-pilot, Albion businessman Fran Tucker non-pilot, neighbor of the airport manages the Woods Ad Hoc Committee alternate members: ----------------------------------- Michael Moore pilot, economist Dick Ahrens pilot airport neighbor