CAA: GA News, "Extended runway, not bigger planes at Pennsylvania airport"

["Stephen Irwin" <stepheni@xxxxxxxxx>]

Monday, August 19, 2002

Extended runway, not bigger planes
By PETER HALL
The Easton (PA) Express-Times


ALEXANDRIA TWP. -- Kent Linn is nervous about the reaction he may get to his
plan to extend the runway at Sky Manor Airport.

He said members of the non-flying public often act irrationally when they
find out that such projects are in the works near their homes. The mere
mention of an airport expansion in the media conjures images of a
Newark-sized airport in this quiet township, Linn insists.

"People see the headline and say 'Oh, we'll have 747s landing every five
minutes,' " he said.

But that's not the case. He says the 461-foot runway extension will make the
airport safer and won't allow larger planes to fly from the field.

The project will be the subject of a public New Jersey Department of
Transportation hearing scheduled for Saturday at the airport.

Since Linn bought the small airport in 1979, he's been planning to fix a
problem that has damaged numerous airplanes and nearly cost several pilots'
lives, he said.

Several hundred yards from the east end of the airport's runway, a set of
high-tension power lines slash through the rolling rural landscape.

While aircraft approaching the runway on the correct glide slope pass a safe
distance above the lines, pilots unfamiliar with the airport tend to get
nervous when they see the power lines looming in their windshield, Linn
said.

"The natural instinct is to pull back on the wheel, add power and get a
little altitude," said Linn, who got his private pilot's license when he was
16.

He compares the reflex to that of a driver who spots a police car beside the
road. Whether or not he's speeding, the driver will take his foot off the
gas pedal, Linn said.

Over the years, several pilots have been fooled by the power lines and
landed too far along the runway to stop before the end. While no one has
been killed, a number of aircraft met their demise by plowing into a fence
or trees at the runway's western end.

In 1999, Linn bought a 95-acre farm adjacent to the airport at a sheriff's
sale. The farm's owner, admitted and convicted horse abuser Harry
Richardson, lost it in bankruptcy court.

Linn said he had been trying for years to buy a small part of the farm to
build the runway extension, but had no luck.

The runway extension will bring the airstrip's length to 2,900 feet with a
1,000-foot grass strip to prevent damage to aircraft that do go off the
runway, Linn said.

A similar open space at the other end of the runway has saved many aircraft
from damage and their pilots and passengers from injury, Linn said.

"In my 20 some years, if someone went off (that) end of the runway, the only
thing that got damaged was the pilot's ego," he said.

In addition to the extension, Linn must widen the runway by eight feet to
comply with current Federal Aviation Administration standards.

Linn said he's worried because of situations such as one in Readington
Township, where residents vigorously objected to a plan to expand Solberg
Airport. Neighbors of that airport feared the expansion would erode their
quality of life by bringing bigger airplanes to the field.

Linn said people shouldn't be concerned about the expansion of Sky Manor
Airport.

The airport is home to mostly single-engine private planes, although some
twin-engine personal and business aircraft fly from the field. The airport
is barely large enough for those bigger planes, he said.

"Some of the airplanes that have been here for years are pushing their
luck," he said.

The DOT hearing is designed to give township residents a way to express
their concerns, said spokesman Micah Rasmussen.

The hearing is part of an approval process all transportation projects must
pass. While the comments DOT officials collect will neither make nor break
the extension project, residents' concerns will be considered, Rasmussen
said.

DOT officials are most concerned with preserving the state's network of
small general aviation airports, he said. General aviation includes every
type of flight except airline and military aviation.

"We've lost one small airport every year for about 50 years," Rasmussen
said. "These airports need to be in good repair. It's a balancing act. You
need to determine what the need is to maintain these airports."

While Linn said the runway extension would make Sky Manor a better airport,
he doesn't expect business there to take off in a big way when the project
is complete.

"There's going to be very little change. It'll be safer for those who use
it," he said.

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