Promised Certification Is In The Mail
Bult Field in Monee, IL has had more than its fair share of
turbulence in its month-long life. But, things are looking up...
literally. On the day the airport was to receive its certificate of
occupancy from the state, its owner welcomed its largest
customer.
The Goodyear blimp arrived Monday as part of a promotional
appearance for the 35th anniversary of a tire store, and is
scheduled to remain until Wednesday.
"It's pretty impressive," airport owner and developer Jim Bult
told the Monee Daily Southtown. "It's the first time I have ever
had a blimp at my airport."
Goodyear representatives called Bult about two months ago, he
said, looking for an airport that was free of trees and buildings
to land the "Spirit of Goodyear" -- one of three blimps kept at the
company's headquarters in Akron, OH.
An impressive 192-feet-by-50-feet, the airship's top speed is 55
mph. "We are built for beauty, not for speed," Goodyear spokesman
Ed Ogden said.
Having the blimp and the accompanying publicity soothes Bult's
nerves somewhat, after a long and frustrating battle with a
bureaucracy that can't seem to make up its mind.
Bult requested a routine inspection from the Illinois Department
of Transportation that would allow him to open for business more
than six months ago, but IDOT has reportedly withheld issuing the
necessary permits, because the airport's location falls within the
'footprint' of a proposed airport in Peotone.
Peotone is located about 40 miles south of Chicago. As reported by ANN,
transportation planners have been working on a third regional
airport for Illinois for at least 25 years, and Peotone is seen as
a strong possibility for that field.
The state of Illinois submitted two plans for a much-anticipated
Peotone airport to the FAA earlier this year... but the agency's
reaction was: just one, please -- an unanticipated response to
Peotone backers, according to Suburban Chicago News.
Said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro, the FAA "doesn't consider the
state's planning process complete until one design has been
selected. We typically receive just one preferred plan."
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
himself included a second plan in addition to the Illinois DOT's
own design at the urging of US Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-Chicago),
often seen as the airport's biggest cheerleader.
By doubling the distance between the runways from the state's
preference of a half-mile to a mile, said Rick Bryant, Jackson's
spokesman and executive director of Jackson's Abraham Lincoln
National Airport Commission (ALNAC), Jackson's plan takes into
account recent growth at Bult Field. The plan "is safer and allows
for easier future expansion," Bryant said.
Bryant noted the FAA's one airport-one plan announcement,
"contradicts what we have previously been told."
The submission of two plans for approval and the FAA selecting
the best one, was the result of the governor's hopes of resolving a
dispute over rival visions for the single-runway airport.
IDOT spokesman Mike Claffey said the FAA statement -- made to
the Daily Southtown before IDOT and ALNAC officials had been
contacted -- had been a "surprise" to the state, too.
No matter which plan for the airport is chosen, it's hard to
imagine everyone being happy about it.
With the IDOT seemingly dragging its feet, Bult finally lost his
patience and went ahead and opened April 15.
"They (IDOT) are fully aware I'm open for business," Bult said
earlier this month. "They can tell me I am breaking the law somehow
or just go ahead and say I'm compliant. It sounds like they want to
just quietly come in, do what they need to do and get it done."
But IDOT -- which has a field office less than a mile from Bult
Field's runway - denied being aware the airport was already open,
according to the newspaper, and vowed to "talk to him" about
it.
When told this, Bult chuckled. He said IDOT inspectors stopped
by the airport a few days prior to take a look around after landing
in their own plane -- on his runway.
The paperwork declaring Bult Field safe for operations was sent
Friday, according to Claffey.
"It was a unique, unusual case," Claffey said.
After all this time, Bult remains doubtful anything has been
issued.
"I'll believe it when I see it," he said.
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.01.24): Say Altitude
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