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Upcoming Events

• 8 Jul 2009 - Cookout, Safety Seminar

Complete calendar of events...

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The end of an era - the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission

George Clark writes: ... With the recent signing of the Massachusetts Transportation Reform Legislation, the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission has been eliminated, and is incorporated into the Department of Transportation. The MAC has been a strong advocate of airports and aviation in Massachusetts. Hopefully the new Division of Aeronautics within the DOT will continue it's strong support of Aviation.

Thanks to Gregg Andrews for passing along the news to WAPA.

Click here to read more... a copy of the the e-mail from Chris Willenborg, Executive Director of the MAC.

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Wapa News - April 2009

George Clark writes: ... News from WAPA. The WAPA nominating meeting for officers and the BoardOfDirectors was held prior to the FAA Safety Seminar on April 1st, 2009. Detailed minutes from the meeting are available to WAPA Members at WapaSecure.MeetingMinutes2009x04x01

Highlights:

• Dues have been reduced to $25/year
• May meeting is our Annual meeting. We'll have a movie night for entertainment.
• A Porsche event is planned at ORH - tentative date June 12th.
• EMAS will be installed at the approach end of Runway 11 later this year.

There were some questions that came up during the meeting:

How do I find out more about the new Wings Program?

Go to the FAA FAASTeam web site. http://www.faasafety.gov/spans/

Where do I find out about the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS)?

ASRS is online at http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/ Have a look at the "Callback" newsletter while you are there, and print out one of the ASRS incident report forms to keep in your flight bag.

• And What was that beeping noise again???

Click here to read more...

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What do you want to ask the new ORH Director?

George Clark writes: ... We had a good meeting in February and an opportunity to meet the new Airport Director at Worcester - Andrew Davis. Andy took time to go over his impressions and thoughts after his first 30 days. He talked about his plan for the upcoming months. As you can expect it will take some time to meet all the stakeholders. His 6 month plan - spend 3 months on orientation, meeting people, etc. Then put together a specific action plan.

We agreed to solicit area pilots and members for their opinions, issues, concerns and suggestions. We want to get this to Andy over the next couple of weeks, and he agreed to address them in a more formal presentation at our March 4th meeting.

So member or not, please put some thought into the survey at: https://survey.worcesterapa.org/orh.survey (Depending upon your browser, you might get a security warning. You can safely bypass it, WAPA uses a free security certificate not accepted by many browsers.)

WAPA members can discuss this on the unicom mailing list. unicom@worcesterapa.org

If you want to respond by email, you can direct your replies to feedback@worcesterapa.org.

Click here to read more...

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Meetings changing to Wednesdays

George Clark writes: ... As of January 2009, the WAPA meetings will move to Wednesday evenings. The primary reason for the change is to accommodate the Thursday evening commercial service at ORH. We will not have access to the terminal on Thursday evenings.

Click here to read more...

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Wind turbine proposal interferes with ORH approaches

George Clark writes: ... Eric Waldron contacted me to let us know that the FAA is considering a proposal by the Tersian Carmelites to install a large wind turbine on Asnebumskit Hill, 2 NM northwest of the Airport. The proposed turbine will extend 425 feet AGL (1690 MSL), and the FAA has determined that any height exceeding 200 feet would be a Hazard to Air Navigation.

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=558373

The changes to instrument approaches would be significant. Click read_more for details

I'd also consider it a VFR hazard. On busy days, I've had my downwind leg extend towards Asnebumskit hill or even beyond. At 1690, that's not very much margin for error. And for the departure minimums, 612'/NM is a rate of climb of over 900 FPM with a 90 Knot groundspeed.

Deadline for comments is Wednesday 8/6/2008 Comments must be relevant to the effect the structure would have on aviation, must provide sufficient detail to permit a clear understanding, and must contain the Aeronautical Study No. 2008-ANE-100-OE, and must be received on or before the 6th. Comments can be submitted electronically at https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=558373 (Create an account and log in to comment) or in writing to: Federal Aviation Administration; Air Traffic Airspace Branch ASW-520; 2601 Meacham Blvd. Fort Worth, TX 76137-0520

FAA Documents:

• Wind_Turbine_Notice.pdf
• Wind_Turbine_Hazard_Notice.pdf

Click here to read more... to see Eric Waldron's letter

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Mass Sales Tax Exemption Repeal Update

David Libbey writes: ... Budget bill reported out of legislature conference committee did NOT include repeal of the aviation sales tax exemption.

Click here to read more...

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An "Arresting Experience" to avoid

George Clark writes: ... At Wednesday's WAPA meeting, Airport Manager Eric Waldron and others from Massport presented plans for construction at ORH over this summer. Two major projects are being undertaken -

• Installation of an EMAS - "Engineered Material Arresting System" at the approach end of Runway 29. (The other end will be done in a couple of years.) This system is used to provide the equivalent 1000' overrun area on runways where it is geographically or practically impossible to obtain the required overrun. The system consists of crushable concrete blocks of increasing thickness out from the runway end. Here is a Video of the overrun system [esco.zodiac.com]. One note... if you run into it, you (or your insurance) will most likely be held liable for repair of the system. So don't do that.
• A major resurfacing effort on Runway 11-29 West of the Delta taxiway, and a new runway lighting system. The new centerline lights will require trenching the entire length of 11-29. Work on the remaining 4000' of the runway will be done in a later project.

This work will be done during regular working hours, and results in an extended runway 11-29 closure beginning in mid-August.

Other news from the meeting; One of the new flight schools was introduced to the members. Bill Allen of Emerson Aviation was introduced to the attendees. The school will be located in the Swissport building, and once the new school is up and running, anyone who has turned in an Amity issued Airport Badge will be eligible for a reissued badge for the remaining valid time at no additional charge. Note that Amity issued badges are no longer valid and must be turned in to the Airport per TSA regulations. Also, ORH Master Plan was presented, and there was some lively discussion of some of the happenings at ORH.

Click here to read more...

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-- GeorgeClark - 29 Apr 2005