another airport going away ? ?

[Tom-D]

http://www.registerguard.com/web/ne...t-creswell-skydivers-field-skydiving.html.csp

 

[Jim Logajan]

http://www.registerguard.com/web/ne...t-creswell-skydivers-field-skydiving.html.csp

Creswell (77S) happens to be the airport I fly out of. My own uninformed opinion is that the probability of it closing are very low. I think this is a case of the city trying the old ruse "if we don't play by my rules, I'm taking my ball and going home."

I do not know all the details, but the genesis of this story go back a few years. I believe it all started in earnest when a CFI and a student were in the pattern and an airplane of one of the skydiving outfits had some sort of WTF moment where they may have come a tad too close. Angry words were exchanged on the ground, and eventually one of the parties filed a formal complaint to the FAA. I believe after much claims and counterclaims, nothing came of it except bad blood. I suspect that other parties based at the airport, and the city itself, started taking sides. At that time, I believe there were 2 skydiving outfits, 2 places where you could train and rent airplanes, and a few other traditional services (in addition to a place specializing in aerobatics training.)

The city eventually tried to ban the skydiving outfits from using airport property as a landing zone. After several bouts over a year or two, the FAA basically said parachuting was a protected aviation activity and the city had not shown it to be dangerous.

One of the two skydiving outfits folded in the mean time. The aerobatics trainers moved to Florida.

Since work is being done to develop an instrument approach for the airport using federal funds, one has to wonder what the city is thinking. This site was set up a while back by a critic of the city's management:
http://www.creswellairport.com/

 

[Jim Logajan]

What's really stupid is the FAA has agreed the jumper can jump thru traffic.

I'm not sure where their jump zone was (I didn't start flying out of 77S till well after this fight started) but I believe the skydivers had been doing it for years without it being a problem; according to the video below taken 2 years ago of a Creswell council meeting, it sounds like the sky diving had been going on for 14 years without incident! But like any long-simmering feud, this IMHO appears to involve a lot of emotion and not much else to keep it boiling. I think the city has dug itself into a hole and doesn't want to stop digging.

 

[Jim Logajan]

For anyone interested in this saga, here are news reports on what happened at the city counsel meeting soliciting public comment:

http://www.registerguard.com/web/ne...irport-reimer-creswell-problem-moore.html.csp

This one has some video:

http://www.kval.com/news/local/Pilot-The-airport-is-Creswells-golden-gate-139343463.html

 

[Jim Logajan]

It looks to me that the skydivers are total jerks.

After looking at New Braunfels saga, I am predisposed to suspect city bureaucrats, but this is just wrong.

That is an interesting assessment. I'm genuinely curious to know what factors you considered and your thought process in developing it.

 

[Jim Logajan]

Harvey Field in Snohomish Wa. operates the largest jump facility in Puget Sound, they have a landing area east of the field, that most jumpers land at, but after (?) jumps and a sign off they can land back at Harvey. but all Harvey traffic is held west of the field because noise abatement does not allow aircraft over the city. So the jumpers use the east side and have no traffic problems.

I don't see why some thing like wouldn't work at Creswell

They were performing skydiving (presumably successfully) for something like 14 years, so I believe the jump zone (probably well inside the standard traffic pattern to the east of runway 15) proved to be not a problem. I think it has gotten past the point of what would work or what is rational and reasonable.

 

[Jim Logajan]

What I understood, was they had jumpers walking across the active runway, to start all this mess.

Next time I'm at the airport I'll have to ask around to see if I can get a consistent story.