Page 40 - Sept18T

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Small Airports
Though the majority of U.S. airports are publically owned and we as pilots utilize them frequently, we often are unaware of their individual history or what their own- ers (the taxpayers) actually think about them. Truth of the matter is, pilots com- monly think about airports the same way truckers think about rest stops on the interstate: a public convenience that has always been there and is therefore taken for granted. However, the important dif- ference is that virtually all members of the public have a driver’s license whereas a miniscule amount of the population has a pilot’s license. The majority of citizens are not aware of the benefits local airports brings to their community. As a result, general aviation (non-airline) airports often exist in financially precarious and politically controversial circumstances, with the local taxpaying voters having little knowledge of how they came to be, or how the airport benefits them personally. In a democracy, this does not bode well for the future of many airports.
Given the above problem, the airport I am based (KBVS) decided several years ago to put on an annual community avia- tion event, or just plain “Airport Day.” Once a year, the entire facility is open to the public so they can freely wander around and learn more about aviation and the happenings at their local airport. Special programs are put on for kids (as most of those attending are families with children in tow), speeches are given by lo- cal dignitaries, aircraft are put on display
and demonstration flights are conducted to show the capabilities of various aircraft.
During our flight described above, there were more than 1,500 people watch- ing as we demonstrated what the Lear can do. The most enthralled are usually the kids, wearing their free aviation paper caps, faces plastered with sunblock and all staring up in the sun as we fly by. In between looking upward as well, the parents chat with neighbors or friends, pointing out the relative merits of one aircraft over another (often with a surpris- ing level of recently acquired knowledge). Folks also eat hot dogs from the mobile stand operated by one of the local ser- vice clubs, or examine the wide variety of aircraft sitting on the ramp; everything from WWII fighters (normally only found at the local Heritage Flight Museum) to a mix of general aviation airplanes includ- ing business turboprops and jets like the one we fly. While sitting on the ramp, all aircraft are available for the kids to see and touch; their faces reflected on the shiny fuselage surface, while their proud parents take creative double image photos with their cell phones. As part of the event, the adults also watch a variety of informative programs about the airport’s history, and what it contributes to the community on a daily basis.
Our airport, KBVS, has a history that is fairly common among the community- owned airports in the Pacific Northwest. It is about 50 miles north of Seattle and is a former WWII auxiliary fighter base. It was built in less than a year during the 1940s when there was a perceived national threat. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the fear was that the U.S.
38 • TWIN & TURBINE
September 2018