Christofferson/Kalispell City AirportDear City Council Members,
I am writing today in support of the proposed upgrade of the
Kalispell City airport. I am the President of Flathead Flyers LLC, a
small flying club with one Cessna 172 based at Kalispell City, and I
have been a FAA licensed Commercial pilot since 1970. I am also a
Kalispell native, in fact a 5th generation Flathead resident.
The Kalispell City airport is a very valuable asset to the city of
Kalispell and the community in general in many ways. Historically, it
has produced a number of great benefits to everyone in the community,
the best example being the Alert air ambulance service we have at
Kalispell regional hospital. Although the air ambulance service now
has a hanger at the hospital, it was begun at Kalispell City airport.
There are a number of businesses that use the city airport and of course
some of them have a small staff of personnel providing services,
therefore jobs for people in Kalispell Also, quite a number of
general aviation aircraft utilize Kalispell City throughout the year,
mostly in the summer months, because of its great convenience to the
city itself, including hotels/motels, food services, etc., Did you
know that last year approx. 35 Doctors (MD) visited Kalispell during
various times to attend conferences in medicine at KRMC? Also, I must
mention the opportunities for young and old alike to participate and
learn about aviation at Kalispell City...the airport is so accessible.
The USA needs young people to become pilots, and it starts with a lesson
at your local airport. Did you know that Bill Boeing learned to fly
from an instructor who was from Polson? Just think what Boeing does
for this country today!!
I have attended the first "scoping" meeting on the airport upgrade
and was surprised to hear some of the complaints, especially by the
"Quiet Skies" people. I say surprised because I was amazed that many
of them had many mythical ideas about the airport and aviation in
general. Some of them thought that everyone on the airport board is a
pilot....which is not true. Some of them believe that just "rich
guys" have airplanes.....we have 10 members in the Flathead
Flyers....none of them are "rich", most of us have average incomes and
typical homes, and believe it or not, have to work for a living!!
Also, the subject of "quiet" was aired.....just exactly what are the
decibel levels when a small aircraft is taking off....no one seemed to
know or understand any of that. I heard an interesting true story
about a person complaining about the noisy airplanes, and when a pilot
came by this persons house to observe first hand how much noise the
aircraft were making, he found the complainant had to shut off his lawn
mower do he could "show" how much noise the aircraft were making.
Although this sounds like a funny story, the fact is that the level of
sounds from an aircraft passing overhead is quite low, probably a lot
less than a lawn mower or the neighbor kids boom box in his car, not to
even mention that Harley cruising main in the summer.
With respect to safety.....pilots are some of the most
conscientious people I know. They do a complete inspection of
the aircraft everytime they get ready to go flying and the aircraft
itself must pass rigorous FAA inspections a minimum of yearly and for
aircraft used for training, a 100 hour inspection is also required in
addition to the annual. In spite of a focus on safety, I would be
remiss to say that accidents never happen.....but the rate at which they
happen is extremely low...one can count on one hand the number of
accidents in the last 10 years near the city airport.. The accident
rate for cars and motorcycles in and around the airport is many times
higher.
Finally, I must say that to close the airport would be totally the
wrong thing to do. Quite a number of people would lose their jobs, a
dozen or so businesses would have to just close, and the loss of revenue
to the community would have quite a negative impact. At a time when
our overall economy is not very good, it would be a big loss to the
community to close the airport. Furthermore, I believe the FAA is
willing to fund an upgrade (or at least help with one).....this is just
what we need in our community at this time....jobs. People could be
put to work on building a new, longer, re-oriented runway, and other
improvements that have been proposed. These upgrades would enhance
safety, make our airport more attractive to visitors, move the noise
envelope away from the city center. I have read a study by the
Montana Department of Transportation that Kalispell City airport
probably brings in several million dollars in revenue to the area, we
would be foolish to close the airport at this time, especially because
of a small group of citizens who really don't have the facts to support
their complaints. And I have to add, if you move to Kalispell and buy
property near the airport, you might just hear an occasional aircraft
fly over. The upgrade would not entice jet traffic either....a 4000
foot runway is too short and really unsafe for jets of almost all
categories, but a longer runway would make small aircraft operation
better in many ways.
I urge the Council to move ahead with the airport upgrade, its best
for the community and our city.
Darrell J. Christofferson
President, Flathead Flyers, LLC