Aviation View | Volume 2, Issue 2

83 AVIATION VIEW VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2 ANDERSON MUNI C I PAL A I RPORT of schools means engaging the client from different avenues. Other flight schools such as Lift Academy out of Bowling Green Ohio and Tom Woods Aviation, out of Fishers, Indiana, also use AID to gain experience working with an air traffic control tower in a less busy environment than Indianapolis International. McMillen adds, “Henderson Preparatory Academy in town is an Air Force run school, and because of that we have the civil air patrol fly in here, and they offer some flight training for their students, as well. So, there is quite a bit of training that happens here.” Like any regional airport, Anderson Municipal must contend with constant infrastructure repair and improvement. “At one point we were approached by a freight carrier who was flying 727s,” McMillen recalls. “We were hoping to line up FAA funding for an extension to 6000 feet, but as we did not need it for our current service, it was not necessary, and that funding fell through. We are currently looking at extending the length to 7000 to allow for heavier freight planes, which means at least $4 million in construction costs – we just need to get some interested stakeholders for the funding.” Having more hangars available is always on the airport agenda. McMillen notes, “One of our newer clients is Tom Wood Avionics. Tom is internationally renowned for his avionics work and his company has set up satellite certification here at the airport. They have approached us needing hangar space and we are trying to get a new corporate hangar built because we are out of room. It is one of those things that is not a bad problem to have, but you wish you did not have it.” In 2011, the Board of Aviation Commissioners purchased land with the hopes of growing the airport complex with an industrial park. The infrastructure of gas, fiber, water, and electricity is already in place, and it is all set up within the airport property to accommodate hangars, manufacturing, and other interests. Expansion is certainly possible with the right clientele. As for significant project, McMillen says, “We have an apron rehabilitation this year and next will be runway 18/36, then we will move on to taxiway Alpha. The FAA gives us infrastructure grants and we follow a ten-year plan. In the next five years, we also hope to repave the area around the T-hangars as it is showing wear. There is always a lot to do. In the last six years, we have done some $12 million in repair and upgrades. We just finished a three-year main runway rehab, which was a mill and fill with new pavement to change the elevation on one