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!

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I have heard some stories that had non-HOA owned underlying land, but the underlying owner had either defaulted on loan or taxes, or sold to another who was less “aviation friendly” and major legal battles have then ensued. Personal tragedy happens every day with unexpected results, so our current owner’s level of cooperation may not always be there.

Although we receive no federal funds, the recent FAA policy change for federally obligated airports and treating any airpark homeowners as “through-the-fence” (TTF) operations is also worrisome. It does not take much imagination to get TSA similarly involved and then worried about those non-vetted pilots living at an airport yet possibly being a potential national security risk. If the HOA owned the underlying land, then residents are no longer TTF.

Since our HOA owns no land and does not pay taxes, it has a limited voice when dealing with county and other government levels too. New taxes and insurance may be small price to pay for increased control with overall airpark land ownership.

So please reply if you have some thoughts or help on the subject of underlying land ownership.

ANSWER: For a long time I understood oil companies wouldn’t even consider delivering fuel to an individual with only a 1,000-gallon tank in the ground. Further, it was also my understanding that they couldn’t service such a location unless the EPA or some similar agency had certified the tank.

Recently I did some additional checking into the situation and here’s what I found:

Oil companies can sell fuel to an individual and deliver it to your underground tank in any quantity that works out for both parties. However, before the oil company can legally deliver the fuel and pump it into your underground storage tank they must see your Underground Storage Tank permit. In order to obtain such a permit, you must register your tank with the EPA (or whatever the appropriate agency is in the state). That agency will come out and check your tank to make sure there are no leaks or other problems that can contaminate the surrounding ground.

Assuming all checks out properly, they will issue you a permit which can then be forwarded to the oil company and they can then legally sell fuel to you and deliver it to your tank.

What is required to allow a complete check of the tank and what is required to maintain its integrity wasn’t clear to me in the online search that I made.

So, it appears it is possible to obtain fuel in bulk for your underground storage tank but you are the responsible party for making sure it doesn’t leak and meets all the requirements of the EPA, both state and federal requirements.

My concern about older tanks in the ground has always been the cost of removing them and performing the required remediation of the soil if the EPA requires such actions because of leakage. It appears that if there are tanks in the ground that aren’t being used and you don’t plan to try and get them approved for fuel, there is little risk of the EPA or other similar agencies finding out about the tanks and requiring removal of them.