Hello all,

I am a little pissed today. It is the first VFR day in about two weeks. It went from 10 degrees to 38 and sunny overnight. I went up to my hangar expecting a snow free runway but much to my suprise not only was the runway and taxiway burried, but the roads into the airport totally covered in about 24 inches of snow. It is not like the airport doesn't have a snow plow. They have a big dump trunk that is a dedicated plow and a chevy truck with a plow.
I called the airport manager and asked what was going on and was told it is his day off and that he would get around to plowing the airport monday afternoon if it was a nice day.

This really pisses me off even more than not having heat in the pilots lounge during IFR ground school.
What if I was flying home and found a hole in the cloud cover to get back to Chelan (S10) only to find the runway was snow covered? What if this was someones alternate and they really needed it? What about the several medivac flights that come in every week? I do not think thier Pilatus or 680 Commander would do well in the deep snow.

Isn't there some sort of FAA regulation that says an airport manager need to keep the airport open?
I don't have a snow plow, or a blower, or even a very good shovel and I managed to keep my driveway somewhat free of snow this week. It only snowed a few inches at a time.

David

Just curious - did they NOTAM the runway condition?

Hmmmmmm. If the airport is city, county, or state managed you may want to go up the chain of command to complain. And, if there's no NOTAM please make a call to the air ambulance outfits using that airport. They're the ones who are gonna be flying in there at 0300 not knowing the runway is FUBAR. If THEY and/or the local hospital bitch, that runway's gonna get plowed.

Gump

If there were no NOTAMS issued, I think I'd be a little irritated too. Do you know the condition of other airports close to your home airport? Are their runways and taxiways clear of snow? If so, I'd be even more irritated.

GumpAir wrote:Hmmmmmm. If the airport is city, county, or state managed you may want to go up the chain of command to complain. And, if there's no NOTAM please make a call to the air ambulance outfits using that airport. They're the ones who are gonna be flying in there at 0300 not knowing the runway is FUBAR. If THEY and/or the local hospital bitch, that runway's gonna get plowed.

Gump

I just checked. No NOTAMS and the airport is city owned.

Since the airport is City owned I would first see if the manager is a paid City employee. Then if it did snow a few inches at a time over several days then keeping the runway plowed is real easy to do. If it completely buried in a weeks worth of snow with no signs of an attempt to keep it clear then the manager is clearly not doing his job. If there is no NOTAM showing the airport closed because of an unplowed runway you need to do several things.

1- Take pictures to document the conditions.
2- Call FS and give a PIREP to them so they can warn others not to land.
3- Call the City manager and report to him/her that the runway is not plowed and not NOTAM'ed and the liability in on the city in case someone tries to land, crashes and fatalities result.

By what you have posted is looks like the airport manager is slacking off and if he is a paid employee then he is milking the system by cashing his paycheck without performing his duties.....

Be ready for the City to push back as there is a good chance the airport manager is good buddies with people in office......


Good luck and report back so we can find out how this turns out.......


B.

The manager must be a lazy sod as well.
If the trucks are ready to go, snowplowing is really like getting paid to sit and listen to the radio while playing with the snow. Something satisfying about moving those piles.
I loved snowplowing the airport.

Paid or not, there are responsibilities that go along with volunteer positions too. Be careful though, the baton usually gets passed to whoever is standing closest. It sounds like the city needs to have an agreement that someone covers for the airport manager when he is unable to perform his duties. We're a city airport, but the county shares the cost and sometimes the workload. The city does the snow removal, but if we need big iron the county comes.

Sounds like some one is lazy. Time to find someone that will do the work. Talk to the manager , see what can be done. Keep notes and take names when talking to people in regards to this.

Even the chickenshit agency that operates my airport managed to plow it, and we only got abut 8" over here on the wet side. Of course, they plow it like they would a road (the ramp had an east-bound lane & a west-bound lane, with a big berm in the middle, plus a big berm blocking the fuel pump & big berms blocking all the hangar taxiways) but their heart was in the right place-- at least transients could get in around & out.
We're pretty lucky over here, the snow is usually only on the ground for a couple days before it melts -- pretty much all gone now except for berms & snowplow piles.

At PDT, the ramp and at least one runway is plowed. There are berms in lots of places but can get around. The plow operator takes great pride in berm building around a ramp queen. I have to shovel out my hanger and break the berm in front of. Long taxi and interesting route to find runway. Gives time to get the oil warm. Then airport is open and operational shortly after any snow storm. This airport has financial problems and is city owed. The Seaport contract (air taxi operation) may have something to do with the keep open most of the time. Ice is the big problem but manageable.
The FBO keeps the fuel pumps open with his own plow.
I don't think you are expecting to much. The next airport director meeting might be a great place to bring this up, but you may have to have a shovel for more than just the berm in front of your hanger.
ML

I'm pretty sure all airports receive Federal funding. I would make a call to the FAA and let them know that the airport is Not being maintained! That is BS. I have never seen a day at either U77 or PVU where they didn't plow. If someone came in for fuel they would probably figure that the snow wasn't deep enough to worry about. That just might cost someone their life!

Thanks for the great replies and advice.

Lake Chelan Airport (S10) is owned jointly by the city of Chelan and Chelan County. I think it is an airport with a lot of potential that is completly missmanaged. It is really too bad and I am always tetering back and forth between getting involved or just minding my own business.

The airport "Manager" is a paid City employee. He doesn't really manage much, he has an airport board comprised of non-aviators that he answers (lies) to.

For the most part we have had low ceilings and visibility here for the past two weeks. There have been periods of 2 or 3 hours where someone could get if they flew IFR to KEAT and then flew under the ceiling in class G airspace up the canyon to S10 or get out with a void time clearance.

If it were up to me, I would run the plow up and down the runway whenever there was 2 inches or so acumulated or, whenever it stopped snowing for a bit. I think it makes a statement about the pride that is taken in the airport if it is kept in a ready to use condition. like "hey, if you can make it, were are ready for you, and the coffee is hot, and the fuel is cheap"

My wifes boss just won city council seat postion one. I think I'll have a beer with him next week.

D.

Just thinking too. I know budgets are super tight with a lot of city's and county's across the U.S.. So before getting into a firestorm with somebody, it would be good to look into the facts first and ask some reasonable questions about why the runway and taxiways were not plowed in a reasonable time.

There's also a main highway that runs by the airport. Any reason why the plow rigs couldn't come in and plow the field too? (assuming the plow rigs had plowed the highway)

The county/city government probably don't want their "road" guys anywhere near aircraft!

58Skylane wrote:There's also a main highway that runs by the airport. Any reason why the plow rigs couldn't come in and plow the field too? (assuming the plow rigs had plowed the highway)

Well I don't work on my day off either. However, if you asked me nicely I would have plowed it for you so you could get out....

DavidB. wrote:I called the airport manager and asked what was going on and was told it is his day off and that he would get around to plowing the airport monday afternoon if it was a nice day.

This really pisses me off....

David

Please be sure you find out all the facts before you accuse the manager of not doing his job right, from what you say he is not but there may be other issues. If he can't get funding for fuel for the plow or can't get money for relief help or whatever it MAY not be his fault.

If he is at fault jump him with both feet, just be sure.

His unwillingness to plow is the tip of the issues at the airport right now. The airport has it's own large dumptruck with a plow, and a 4x4 Chevy with a plow.
The airport "manager" lives rent free, plus salary, plus benifits and a maid that cleans his house and the pilots lounge. He also drives a city vehicle using city fuel as his everyday transportation.

I will complain. Yesterday was the first day in several weeks I was able to fly. Today we have another 4 inches still snowing, plus zero visability. I am now not even legally current to carry a passenger until I do three touch and goes. Hopefully I will be able to do some pattern work this week and take care of that.

The city has big plans to "improve" the airport. The are under the delusion that if they extend the runway to 4500 feet and put up a 10 foot fence, plus tear down all the 1950's hangars made from steel and old growth beams, that they will be able to attract more corporate jet and maybe a commercial operator. This seems unlikely because there is no way we could ever have an ILS. If you look at S10 on Google Earth, or fly into it sometime you will understand why an ILS wont ever happen there.
So with all these big plans, why not start with taking care of what we already have?

Another cut back the manager decided to make is not heating the pilots lounge. Our county has the cheapest power in the USA. I heat a 40X60 hanger with crap for insulation and a door you can see light through to 65 degrees in 10 degree weather for about $80 a month using two ceiling mounted 220 volt heaters. I really can't believe the pilots lounge could cost more than $25 bucks a month to keep at 65. We have an IFR ground school twice a week from 6 to 9. Last time it was 38 in there and we all had to wear our parkas. I would be ok with paying a little more for my lease (owned hangar, leased land) if I was gauranteed a few simple convieniences. I am sure the other pilots would too.

I really do not like to tattle on someone, but this is BS and I feel I have to speak up. I also think others may be affraid to speak up due to a personal trajedy the guy suffered last year when his 20 something kid borrowed his .45 and shot his roommate to death over playing an Ipod while he was watching TV. Maybe I am just a bitter hard ass, but I don't cut slack to people for stupid.

D.

Gov employees only doing the minimum, I am shocked. Good luck trying to get them to care.

Tim

LT4247 wrote:Well I don't work on my day off either. However, if you asked me nicely I would have plowed it for you so you could get out....

LT... you don't happen to be Mr. Plow, do you?