Caption: Wayne and Marian Owens bought a home on the marsh near the community dock at Eagle Neck Airpark.
By BILL WALKER
It’s not unusual for Bunny and Jeff Anderson to begin their Saturday mornings with a boat ride on the tidal creek a short distance from their runway home at Eagle Neck Airpark in coastal Georgia. The Andersons are a flying family but being near the water was one of the key attractions that brought them to this aviation community developed amid one of the most pristine salt marshes on the East Coast.
Eagle Neck Airpark, 1GAO, sits a few feet above the tidal flow of the Atlantic behind St. Catherines Island 45 miles south of Savannah, Ga. About 30 families live on the airpark and there are approximately 50 additional building sites within the heavily wooded development.
Planehook Aviation Services takes issue with the FAAs proposal to prohibit residential through-the-fence operations at publicly funded airports. In a white paper [download here] released October 5, David Hook, Planehook’s president outlines the impact to security the proposal would create. From the white paper, “this FAA policy proposal contradicts previously established national policy and bears no evidence of having been coordinated through the Aviation Government Coordinating Council and the Aviation Sector Coordinating Council.” The three-page document will be Planehook’s official response in the Federal Register.
The Full Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (U.S. House) will meet on Wednesday, September 22 at 10 am (EDT) to hear “Residential Through-the-Fence Agreements at Public Airports. Action to Date and Challenges”. The hearing will be available as a live webcast. Click the above link and find the graphic (left) in the upper left quarter of the website.
Dave led a EAA hosted webinar on August 27. More than 100 people attended the 75+ minute seminar with a lively question and answer session. Click here to watch.
The Oregon Statesman Journal reported on Sunday the FAA is “is proposing a rule that would be welcome in Independence Airpark.” The rule relates to residential through-the-fence operations and agreement and the apparent backing down of the FAA over existing locations.
Ray Brown, or Fredericksburg, Texas wrote with a few questions, followed by my answers:
Q1. How does an airpark protect it’s airspace? The traffic pattern from intrusions such as towers or power lines. A1. There are a few ways an airpark can protect – or at least attempt to protect – its airspace. One way is an air avigation easement. Basically, this is an agreement between the airport and the neighboring property owners stating such things as height of protrusions, ie, antennas or buildings. If this is done prior to or during the construction stage it is usually easier to obtain for minimal effort or finances. It might be more difficult after the airport is open and operating, but certainly not impossible. Another way to achieve some level of protection is by public action from the public entity (city, county, port, state) that governs the zoning for the area.
AOPA’s ePublishing staff is reporting: “The roughly 75 airports nationwide with residential through-the-fence access may continue to offer those operations and remain in compliance with FAA regulations, according to the agency’s new through-the-fence policy released Sept. 9.” Read the full story at AOPA online.
AOPA is reporting a meeting with the FAA has, “described the criteria that will be outlined in the office’s soon-to-be-released revision of its policy on residential through-the-fence access at federally funded airports.” While good news, the story tempers that “good news” with, “However, the FAA plans to eliminate future residential through-the-fence access, a move that AOPA believes should be more flexible.” Clearly, more work needs to be done.
In the Floorplans section of Living With Your Plane website we have a few dozen examples of different airpark home designs. In response to a call for floorplans years ago, I received the following image. Do you live in this home? Do you know who lives in this home? If memory serves correct, this home is located in Washington state, but I wouldn’t guarantee it. If you know, send me an email. For that matter, if you’d like to share a copy of your plans I’d love to have them.
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.
