The man in the photo is Dave Sclair. To me… he’s Dad! Well, Dad passed away on Tuesday night, July 26. Mom and I were with him, reading stories from Dad’s work-in-progress book, “A somewhat lighthearted look at the life and times of Mary Lou & Dave”. We laughed, cried and remembered. If such an event can be peaceful, this was.

We talked Dad into checking himself into the hospital on February 27. We feared a stroke as the right side of his face wore a slight droop. Doctors told us the visual symptom was the result of brain tumors, not a stroke. A whirlwind five months later, Dad took his last breath.

For the tremendous support from friends near and far, thank you. There is so much more to say, but that will have to wait for another day.

Godspeed Dad. I love you!

The following is from Dan in Nevada. Any suggestions? Post them in the comments area below:

I am a lender who received through a default an airpark in the Reno, NV area. I have been trying unsuccessfully for several months to find a local real estate agent with the expertise to market this project. Can you recommend to me a resource?

The Living With Your Plane forum at SUN ‘n FUN, hosted by Dave Sclair, on Wednesday, March 30 (Room 8 at 10:05 am) will go on as planned with Ray Sessions as forum moderator. Sessions lives on Cannon Creek Airpark in Lake City, Florida and has been a long-time forum co-presenter with Dave. Dave is unable to attend SUN ‘n FUN in 2011 due to health issues.

We received from the following note from Zeigh Ownesby regarding lenders:

I am a registered user of your web site, but need a little more information. Do you have a packet and/or links to information for bank officials who are familiar with fly-in communities? The bank that I used before on a previous airpark had to be coached extensively on what this concept was. Otherwise, they kept viewing a runway close by as a primary negative detail instead of the biggest positive amenity of the area. Now I am having to do this all over again for a land loan elsewhere. Any information to help would be appreciated.

I directed Zeigh to the Resources section of the website. However, we have just three contacts listed. I’d appreciate any additional contacts we can share with others. Comment below, or email me at ben@generalaviationnews.com.

Dave Sclair will be conducting a Residential Airpark webinar on Thursday, August 26 (from 5:00-6:15 pm Pacific Time). To join the free online program, hosted by EAA, click here.

When not fighting the FAA created fiasco on residential through-the-fence access, Dr. Brent Blue (founder of ThroughTheFence.org and AME) was building a modified Murphy Moose that he calls “Blue Bear”. After an 11-year labor, above is a photo from an April 7 flight at Driggs, Idaho. From Brent’s email, “For those who want to know: 3500# gross weight, 360 hp Russian M14P 9 cylinder radial, cruise is about 120-130 mph, and it is set up for amphibs.” With all the focus on the myriad challenges we in the aviation world face, it is nice to remember it really is about the airplanes, and the people who fly them. Congratulations Brent.

Sun ‘n Fun (April 13-18, Lakeland, Florida) is coming up soon and I’m planning my residential airparks presentation. This is something I’ve been doing for a lot of years and I want to try something different this year.

Do you have questions about residential airparks? Are there things about possibly Living With Your Plane that you are particularly concerned about? Is your spouse questioning certain aspects of moving to a residential airpark?

I want to hear your questions and concerns or thoughts that you have so I can think about them in advance and attempt to come up with solutions. In addition, over the years, I’ve discovered that when a question is shared with the group sitting in on my program, someone usually can produce a good answer so I plan on sharing your questions with the audience.

Give me your thoughts as soon as you can. Contact me at dave@generalaviationnews.com. I look forward to seeing you all in Lakeland.

Question from Dave Hamann: Been following through the fence issue. For now this does not appear to apply to privately owned, public access airports. Mid Valley Airpark (E98), NM has been open to public for 40 years. However, should we in any way shape or form accept state money, I can see we may get in a bind.

Answer from Dave Sclair: You are correct in your assumption that private-owned, public-use airports don’t seem to be affected. Accepting a state grant for improvements might not be a problem either, although before getting into such an agreement it would be highly intelligent to have the agreements checked out for attachments to the FAA.

We received the following email from a Living With Your Plane reader today. Please post your feedback in the comment area below the letter.

I am looking for experiences and suggestions pertaining to residential airparks where a developer or individual owns the underlying land of the runway(s), taxiways, roads and other common areas. In my particular instance, the primary Home Owners Association (HOA) is chartered with maintaining these areas and has collectively paid for paving the runway, adding runway lights, grading and fill of graveled areas, etc. Attorneys have told the HOA that they are responsible for safety by this action of maintaining the runway and common areas, and less-so the underlying land owner.

Our underlying land owner is a resident pilot and dues-paying HOA member. However he is reluctant to relinquish his overall control. This has already caused conflicts where residents feel his actions on his land adjacent to the runway (declared right-of-way and easement) create an unsafe aviation condition, but are powerless to change it. The HOA is never consulted beforehand either. In addition, our small airpark with about 25 owners has three separate HOA/covenant boundaries which were determined when each area was sold. The irrigation and trash users are also separate entities. Read the full story

QUESTION: There’s a fuel tank in the ground on the residential airpark property I am interested in acquiring. The seller hasn’t had fuel delivered in a number of years but he says the tank is sound and there’s no reason it can’t be filled by a local distributor of av gas or auto fuel. What are the rules on this? Can I buy fuel in bulk? I know a lot of gas stations in town have had to dig up and replace their fuel tanks and I’ve heard that’s costly. Would a property like I’m looking at require that type action? Read the full story