29 September Ribbon-Cutting Scheduled

DeKalb County, Indiana Airport (GWB) Fixed Base Operator (FBO) Sweet Aviation will celebrate the reopening of the airport’s runway with a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled to get underway at 11:00 CDT on Friday, 29 September 2023.

Subject runway was closed in July 2023 for purpose of undergoing an extension and upgrade. The newly-improved runway measures 7,105-feet—2,105 feet longer than its previous incarnation. The extra length will allow the airport to accommodate the vast majority of general aviation aircraft—from the most gossamer Light-Sport machines to lightly-loaded Gulfstream, Global Express, and Falcon jets. The refurbished runway features, also, new lighting, paint, signage, and a new Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) for arriving aircraft.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will comprise, in part, remarks set forth by BF&S Civil Engineers executive vice-president Paul Shaffer and Airport Authority board president Jess Myers, as well as a Civil Air Patrol flyover culminating in landings on the new runway.

Regrettably, the ribbon-cutting will be closed to the public; only media representatives will be invited to attend.

DeKalb County Airport manager and treasurer Russ Couchman stated: “Whenever we can put more runway in front of an aircraft, we give the crew more time to think and react, and this will always lead to better outcomes. At 7,105-feet, the DeKalb County Airport is now in an elite-class of regional corporate-class airports.”

In addition to marking the opening of the newly-improved GWB runway, the upcoming ribbon-cutting ceremony occasions, more or less, the one-year anniversary of Sweet Aviation’s assumption of the role of principal DeKalb County Airport FBO. Over the last 12-months, Sweet Aviation’s team of qualified and motivated personnel has broadened the airport’s services and bettered its facilities and amenities. Transient and GWB-based pilots may avail themselves of the FBO’s comfortable pilot lounge, concierge service, flight simulators, and even a full laundry service.

Sweet Aviation manager Scotty Hepler remarked: “As the FBO, we also provide first-class maintenance service, flight training, and ground school training. Even with the runway shut down, Sweet Aviation has found ways to support DeKalb County’s aviation community and meet the needs of our customers.”

During the year-long runway closure, Sweet Aviation—by dint of the FBO’s partnership with ubiquitous aviation industry fuel-supplier Avfuel—persisted in offering pilots and flight-crews fuel-sales. Helicopter pilots, in particular, those in the employ of air-ambulance operator Parkview Samaritan, made frequent use of Sweet Aviation’s competitive fuel-rates. All told, the FBO completed nearly 1,200 fueling operations during the period of runway closure.

To accommodate projected increases in air traffic and fuel-demand, Sweet Aviation will presently add two new refueling trucks to its extant fleet: a five-thousand-gallon Jet-A refueler, and a one-thousand-gallon 100LL AVGAS truck. Additionally the airport’s management is about the business of completing a new 100LL self-service fuel station, which is slated to open by mid-October 2023.

DeKalb County Airport functions as an economic gateway to and from Northeast Indiana. The facility annually contributes some $16-million to Indiana’s state budget—which currently enjoys a $3-billion surplus attributable to the state’s historic conservative leanings and long-standing Republican supermajority.

Mr. Couchman added: “We look forward to supporting both our general aviation and business-class customers as we become an even greater economic engine in the region. Thank you to all of our customers for hanging in there with us through this construction process.”

FMI: https://dekalbcountyairport.com