Aviation View July 2023

51 AVIATION VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2 “I also want to say that this does not mean a change in focus. We’re not building the runway so that we can start bringing in commercial aviation. Our goal is to support the aircraft we already have flying in and out. So, you have a company that has a Gulfstream, and it is just a little bit more appealing that you have 7000 feet,” he maintains. “The other thing,” he continues, “is that it makes it possible for our clientele to fly to more places.” “With a longer runway they can take on more fuel and pilots can then fly further –Anywhere in the world really. And then the biggest thing for us is that there is a better safety margin. When you are taking off and the runway is just long enough, and then combine that with snow or ice, it gets dicey for those larger aircraft. So, the longer runway will allow for a greater safety margin and especially in adverse weather conditions, but, on a day-to-day basis, I think having greater fuel load capacity for some of these large business class aircraft will be our greatest impact.” The team has been hyper-focused on the runway project for so long that other projects have INDIANAPOL IS E XECUT IVE AI RPORT been left to the side while the overall direction was worked out. As the runway project moves into concrete action, the planning moves to modernization. The next top priority will be to install an Approach Lighting System. There is currently no lighting system and moving forward means purchasing land as well as the lights – but the impact would be huge, increasing both nighttime and adverse weather visibility. After that is in place there will be ramp expansions and the plan includes increasing the physical footprint of the airport itself. “A common theme across the country is that there is no hangar space,” Sachs points out, “and we are no exception. We always make it work, we typically do, but it’s not an ideal situation. So, we’re partnering with our FBO to build more hangers. Back in 21, they began building twelve commercial hangars, 60x65 – so a good size for Citations, or King Airs. We built twelve of those to give us more space in hangars. But they filled up and we are back to square one. So, along with the FBO, we will be building what could be slightly bigger hangars that can hold a Challenger or Falcon 2000. Our demographic is