The article noted that taxes on a piece of real estate – home, airpark, etc., nationwide averaged around 1% of the property’s assessed value.

That got me to thinking and I checked my own home tax assessment and talked to several other people both locally and in distant places and discovered this was a good rule of thumb. It is always important to check out the tax load on the place you are considering purchasing, but you can probably use this bit of data for early figuring.

Of course, I will look forward to hearing from those who deal with this type of material all the time telling us whether r not this is a valid rule of thumb.

Figuring others had the same questions, we asked several door manufacturers to send us some information. The first response was received is reprinted below and as we receive additional comments we’ll add them.

Dave,

We are willing to send each door owner a complete manual that has the information they would need to service their door We need the order number —for each door with each request — we are happy to send these out at no charge.

As to publishing it to the web — each door has it’s own unique add on’s — it’s better to do each door as they were ordered. The Order number of the door is located on the inside bottom truss of the door!

Thanks,

Mike Schweiss

Schweiss Bi-Fold Doors

507-426-8273 – Phone

507-426-7408 – Fax

Each year I am surprised by the number of people I speak with at flyins who comment on the idea of living on an airport in a residential community. Frequently a male says he thinks the idea is great “but I can’t get my wife to even think about it.” And yet, the thousands of families living on the more than 600 airparks we have in our directory seem to be happy with their decision.

Until recently the biggest threat to the serenity and enjoyment a lot of people on airparks enjoy has been disagreements about who is going to mow the grass around the runway or whether the monthly assessment should be $50 or $75.

And, those type issues continue at the private airparks but now a new threat has arisen its ugly head for those living in residential communities at public-owned airports. And, the big threat isn’t coming from neighbors objecting to noise. It isn’t outrageous claims spouted by local politicians who know little, if anything, about aviation. The problem isn’t even coming from those claiming airports don’t pay their own way.

Nope, the big threat is coming from the FAA – the agency created by Congress to regulate and promote all aspects of aviation – airlines and general aviation.

In recent months, agents in the Northwest Mountain Region of the FAA have been telling sponsors of public-owned airports with thru the fence agreements for residential or business developments that such agreements are invalid. The FAA officials claim the TTF agreements at airports make them in violation of their funding agreements. The NW Region of the FAA has sent notices to airports seeking new AIP funding, and some that have received funding in the past, to eliminate those agreements or find they can’t get FAA funding.

A Thru The Fence (TTF) agreement allows development on land adjoining airport property providing access to the airport via a taxiway. TTF is simply the term used to describe it; often there is no real fence. Usually a fee is paid to the airport for the right to go from the adjoining property to the airport.

Some of these agreements have been in place for 30 or 40 years with primarily positive effect on the airport. But, all of a sudden this has become a problem. And, it seems most of the problem seems to exist only in the area affected by the FAA’s NW Mountain Region.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the issue doesn’t affect most pilots and airplane owners because the most residential airparks are on private-owned, private-use airports or private-owned, public-use airports and rarely do facilities in these categories qualify for FAA funding.

But, we all know that once the FAA starts getting into an issue they rarely make things easier and frequently try to expand their reach. Will FAA agents try to pressure local zoning people or city governments into adopting similar actions? The track record for the agency leads me to add 2 plus 2 and get 5, meaning it wouldn’t surprise me if they tried to get residential airparks eliminated everywhere.

Fortunately, there are folks battling the FAA on this issue and I’m hoping to keep the issue in front of you and encourage you to join the fight too. It is far too easy to sit back and do nothing until it is too late … when the regulations hit home!

Stay tuned …. I’ll have more to say on this topic in the next few days and I’ll look forward to your comments.

I’m an extension soils specialist working in Kansas and have received a request for help from a small airport that has many problems with their grass runways. Has anyone ever tried to change the soil texture before? In this case, they want to add sand in order to improve the soil texture and soil strength. Thanks for any help you can give me! I’m going to email Dr. Unruh at the University of Florida now. Thanks. DeAnn Presley.

I am building the Pontiac Airpark with a clubhouse, gym, sauna, pool, spa, tennis court, marina, golf holes. I would like to know if most of the airpark offer amenities like this. Thank you.

So… What type of amenities does your airpark include? Who paid for the creation of any amenities? Was it the developer, homeowners association or some other entity? How are these facilities maintained, both physically and financially? Does the airpark carry property and liability insurance on the amenities? Are there restrictions on the use, ie, can you bring non-resident family and friends on an unlimited basis?

Post your answers below. They can provide valuable background information for other airparks, as well as your own.

We have a magnificent airpark in Sweden where all 45 plots were sold in the time of six months. Now there are a few plots for sale (40 000 USD for a plot that fits hangar and house!) and that is even above the prices they were sold for initially.

Johan Hammarström
Chairman of the AirPark