Airport Saved
When the Fort Wayne-Allen County
(Indiana) Airport Authority board voted unanimously Monday in favor
of a resolution to keep Arthur Smith Field (SMD) open indefinitely
on Monday, about 50 people in attendance-the vast majority EAA
Chapter 2 members-stood and cheered for several minutes.
Maybe people should have stood and cheered for them; without the
Chapter's persistent grassroots effort, led by the group Smith
Airfield ForEver (SAFE), the 79-year-old airport they call home
would be but a faint memory today. SAFE was formed three years ago
(June 20002) after the same governing body voted to close SMD.
"We've been working for this result for three years," said EAA
Chapter 2 President Larry Zepp. "They (board) have now said they
will keep Smith Field open indefinitely, which is about as good as
we could have hoped for." The resolution authorizes the airport
authority to hire a manager on the field, and make about $1 million
in site improvements over the next year and a half.
Short-term (6- to 12-months) improvements include runway
resurfacing, new hangars built by the airport authority, as well as
leases for private hangars to be built by individuals; and
renovation of the historic hangar for a Chapter meeting room. One
of the longer-term goals is to extend the 3,100-foot runway to
4,000 feet to allow small jets like the Eclipse 500 to operate out
of SMD. The Chapter is also looking to obtain a building donation
for use as a Chapter hangar.
SAFE was instrumental in securing a reprieve for the airport in
March 2003 when the board voted to keep SMD open. It hired a
consultant to develop an airport layout plan (ALP), but that
stalled in the FAA due to lack of time. An official complaint filed
at FAA by another airport preservation group, the SMD Fund, further
stalled the ALP.
Chapter 2 hosts several aviation events at SMD throughout the
year, including Young Eagles rallies, airport appreciation events,
and Chapter meetings. The first scheduled Young Eagles rally of the
season is May 7. The Chapter recorded its 3,000th Young Eagle flown
last September. "Young Eagles has been the thing that has united
all the diverse groups of people interested in various aspects of
aviation, and it continues to do that. It's the best program for
Chapters I've ever seen."
Looking back on the past three years, Zepp says public awareness
was key to turning people's attitudes around about the airport. So
Chapter 2 sponsored many events during that span to help the public
realize what Smith Field was and why it was valuable. EAA figured
prominently in those events. "The thing that allowed us to do that
was when we sponsored an event it was covered by EAA's Chapter
insurance plan," Zepp said. "The EAA risk management people helped
us out a lot."
Zepp recalled the first Airport Appreciation Day about three
years ago that drew some 2,500 people. The event would not have
happened without insurance coverage. "EAA's risk management folks
did our insurance paperwork in about three and a half days," he
said, noting that they normally require for 30-60 days notice. "I
called, explained the situation, and they did it! Because we were
covered by insurance, the airport authority couldn't say no to our
event."
Having insurance has facilitated virtually every public
gathering that helped put Smith Field on the map and gain public
support. "Without that EAA program of covering Chapter activities,
we would have been sunk. There's no way we would have gotten the
approval of our airport authority to have any of those events
without the EAA insurance coverage. That continues to facilitate
everything we do at Smith Field."
Because of the Chapter's experiences with Smith Field, Zepp has
offered his help to other EAA Chapters. "I'm glad to help, because
we learned a number of things in our fight to save the airport. We
surprised the airport authority at the way we could mobilize
people, get the media's attention, the public's attention."
Short-term (6- to 12-months) improvements include runway
resurfacing, new hangars built by the airport authority, as well as
leases for private hangars to be built by individuals; and
renovation of the historic hangar for a Chapter meeting room. A
longer-term goal is to extend the 3,100-foot runway to 4,000 feet
to allow small jets like the Eclipse 500 to operate out of SMD. The
Chapter is also looking to obtain a building donation for use as a
Chapter hangar.
Monday's action also relieved the field's FBO, Smith Field Air
Service, from managing the facility so it focus on its core
business, including a flight school.