Website: http://co-opa.com/ April 2011, Vol. 11, Issue 3 President's Message: This month we have Nan Garnick as our guest speaker. As most of you know Nan in on the 2011 Oregon State Aviation Board and is General Manager of Butler Aircraft Co. Lots of things are happening with both of those and I'm sure we will learn a lot. You can brush up on both at the following web sites: www.butleraircraft.com www.oregon.gov/Aviation/board.shtml CO-OPA will meet downstairs for the usual unusually good mingling at 6pm, our world renowned potluck at 6:30pm and on to the meeting at 7pm. Calendar: 21 April – Monthly Meeting 23 April – Monthly Flyout 19 May – Monthly Meeting 21 May – Monthly Flyout 16 June – Monthly Meeting 18 June – Monthly FlyIN, KBDN OpenHouse 21 July – Monthly Meeting 23 July – Monthly Flyout My Inbox: It is certainly not news that the FAA and the City of Bend are caught up in budget battles. The rumor is that unless things get settkled very quickly the KBDN East Side Taxiway replacement will be pushed into 2012. On the other hand a summer without airport construction might be a welcome change. The Airshow of the Cascades planning is off to a great start. Already booked for this summer are the B-17G Sentimental Journey and the B-25 Mitchell Maid in the Shade. Both are owned by the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force in Mesa, AZ. As a special treat both are scheduled to fly in the airshow. The best part is both will be raffling off rides. Those big round engines sound great, and I bet they sound even better from the inside. You can find lots of information on their website: www.azcaf.org Also returning this year will be Mark Peterson in his Alpha Jet. More acts will be added as the fundraising proceeds. Information on sponsorships and the event are online: www.cascadeairshow.com Web doings: Check out current and past CO-OPA newsletters, view our membership list and view hot aviation links on our website at: co-opa.com To access the members only areas the username is "BDN" and the password is "123.0". Web doings (continued): Stuck in the office and wish you were at the airport? Check out the web cam view from Gary Judd's office: http://icons.wunderground.com/webcamramdisk/k/b/kbdn/1/current.jpg March Fly-Not: Continuing our bad streak, the weather was spotty in March. So those with big appetites headed to Jakes for breakfast instead of flying. The long range weather for this Saturday does not look good either. New Aircraft: Getting tired of sharing the air with the same old aircraft types? Check out this NASA passenger jet concept for the year 2025. Random Thoughts: The Bend Airport Master Plan is starting to get interesting. The first phase, to gather airport usage data is complete. Our little airport is now running 90,000 operations a year. That is more than Aurora Airport (KUAO) and almost enough that the FAA would pay 100% to staff a control tower. While many would not like to see the airport become Class D airspace it is becoming clear that safe operations will require it sooner rather than later. Especially if the FAA picks up the cost (with our avgas taxes). After counting large aircraft operations it was determined that KDBN would be a class B-2 airport for the next 20 years. If the airport was determined to be a C-2 then the obstacle free area adjacent the runway would have had to expand from 500 feet to 1,000 feet which would have required some existing structures to be removed. An alternative to expand the to obstacle free zone to allow the reduction of the current landing limits of 1 mile visibility to ¾ was rejected. To be able to handle a B-2 aircraft loaded to 60% gross at least 75% of the time the runway should eventually be lengthened another 1,000 feet, or more. Now that the expected airport needs have been established the fun port begins, trying to figure how best to layout the future KBDN to meet them. – Gary E. Miller Newsletter Inputs: Send your newletter tidbits to: gem@rellim.com