Automated weather station fully operational by 2011
Free Press/ David Rauzi
By the start of 2011, pilots will have AWOS to rely on for weather conditions at the Idaho County Airport.
GRANGEVILLE — If you build it, they will fly in.
Plans for developing the Idaho County Airport into a regional economic development engine moved forward last week with approval of an approximate $150,000 bid for purchase and installation of an Automatic Weather Observing Station (AWOS).
Tentative plans are for the AWOS to be fully operational by Jan. 1, 2011. Construction is set to begin this summer by Quality Electric of Boise, whose bid for system acquisition and installation was approved by the Idaho County Commission at its April 20 meeting. Once the project receives the go-ahead from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the station licensing process can begin with the Federal Communications Commission.
Currently, pilots have no way to gather necessary real-time meteorological data for the Idaho County Airport in determining whether they can make flights in or out the facility, other than by contacting someone at Grangeville or by flying over to observe the weather situation themselves.
Through a multi-sensor system, AWOS provides real-time weather data which can be pulled up by phone, computer or onboard an aircraft. Several AWOS configurations are available depending on facility needs. Idaho County was approved by the FAA and will be installing an AWOS III, which provides the following information: wind speed/gust, wind and variable wind direction, temperature, dew point, altimeter, density altitude, visibility/variable visibility, cloud height and sky condition.
Simply put, an AWOS “will greatly enhance the ability of planes to land here,” said Mike Cook, liaison between the Idaho County Commission and Airport Development Authority (ADA).
AWOS installation completes the second of two main goals put forth in a county-sponsored task force last year, charged with determining the potential for development and long-term growth at the county owned and operated facility at Grangeville. Goal one was the formation last November of the Airport Development Authority (ADA), a nonpolitical entity tasked to develop private and public sector opportunities and to advise airport operations.
ADA is funded through 2012 by the county using extra revenue from federal appropriations, specifically PILT (payment in lieu of taxes) and the Secure Rural Schools Act. Of the total AWOS purchase, the county will be reimbursed 95 percent of the costs by the FAA and another 2.5 percent from the Idaho Department of Transportation Division of Aeronautics.
As a commission, rather than spending these extra funds in areas such as operations, “instead we decided to invest this to provide a return to the citizens of the county in perpetuity,” said Idaho County Commissioner James Rockwell. “This fires it up.”
Right now the airport is a story in missed economic opportunities due to lack of immediate availability of this weather information, according to Rockwell. This includes aviation fuel sales, but it also extends to potential expenditures by both pilots and passengers in the community on services such as food and lodging. Flights not made into Grangeville but diverted elsewhere also divert the associated economic benefits.
In fact, while discussing the issue at the airport last Thursday, Cook noted the facility that day missed out on receiving UPS flights, which had to be diverted.
The ADA, Rockwell said, was created to develop the airport’s potential and tap into this aviation market that in turn generates income and hopefully creates new jobs locally.
An AWOS has also been something desired by the airport’s biggest client, the U.S. Forest Service. From May through October, the Grangeville Air Center (GAC) is in full operation, primarily for fire season during which it runs aircraft and smokejumpers to hotspots across the Nez Perce and Clearwater national forests.
“This is certainly something we’ve discussed,” said GAC aviation officer Willy Acton. “It enhances our operations on the two forests.”
Specifically it helps in pre-mission planning, as well as directing and routing under way operations in the backcountry. Medical flights also benefit, not only theirs but those of LifeFlight and Medstar that service regional hospitals.
“This is a service for everyone in the community,” he said.
While AWOS plans are being finalized, the county, through the ADA, is continuing to work on additional airport facility enhancements. One involves facilitating funds for hangar construction to allow for business expansion and job creation at Anderson Aeromotive of Grangeville. Also in the program is a major runway reconstruction project that would allow for larger aircraft to utilize the airport.
All this is a commitment by the county to move forward to develop economic activity at the airport, according to Rockwell.
“This is the first phase in what we hope will be a successful program,” he said.
Article provided by Idaho County Free Press
