A new organization, ThoughTheFence.org (TTF), used the AOPA Aviation Summit to announce its’ formation on Thursday. The organization has been formed by pilots to fight the FAA’s prohibition of hangar homes at publicly funded airports.
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From a University of Nebraska-Omaha press release:

“Omaha – Catherine (Kate) M. Lang, acting associate administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Airports, will be honored by the Aviation Institute of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Monday, Nov. 9. Lang will receive the William F. Shea Award for her contributions to aviation and will present the 2009 Charles W. Durham Distinguished Guest Lecture.”

Read the complete release at the above included link.

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) commissioned a survey to “gather data on the significance and predominance of inconsistent FAA regulatory interpretations”. Not surprisingly, NATA found a large number of respondents experienced inconsistent application of the FARs from “Regional, Aircraft Certification (ACOs) and Flight Standards District Offices (FSDOs)”.

I wonder how this balances with AOPAs drive to push FAA to look at thru-the-fence (TTF) operations on a case-by-case basis. To inconsistently apply a non-regulation, if you will. For example, from Heidi Williams (AOPAs Senior Director of Airports) July 1 letter to Catherine Lang (Acting Associate Administrator, Airports for the FAA), Ms. Williams writes, “It appears that the flexibility the agency once adopted in looking at though the fence operations on a case by case basis has been eliminated.”

So… the Airports division in the FAA is in the lead when it comes to removing flexibility. Wonderful! (Note heavy sarcasm!) While there is no FAR regulating TTF operations, we all know that FAA does have the funding lever, and is starting to use it. For example: no more federal money unless you get rid of (or provide a plan for getting rid of) existing TTF agreements.

No doubt we’d like the FAA to change its position on residential TTF at best (not likely), or to exhibit “inconsistent application” or flexibility across all FAA regions at least. I worry this NATA survey could make our desire to achieve FAA flexibility on residential TTF harder to achieve. Read the NATA press release below.

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The following is list of airports that are having conflicts with the FAA over Thru-the-Fence issues. If you are aware of another airport in such a controversy, please send us the information about the conflict as well as any communications that are available.

We’ll maintain this list in an effort to bring the issue to the flying public. Here are the airports we currently have on our list:

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I hope you read the letter we published (yesterday) from Catherine Lang, FAA acting administrator for airports. It was addressed to Brent Blue of Jackson Hole, WY and was in response to his questions to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt relating to thru the fence (TTF) problems.

The letter from Lang spelled out the FAA’s positions more clearly than we’ve ever seen and they provide valuable insight. The FAA’s viewpoint, as explained by the acting associate administrator, also clearly shows us the errors of the FAA thinking.

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We received a copy of a letter sent to Living With Your Plane subscriber Brent Blue from Catherine Lang, Acting Associate Administrator for Airports at the FAA. The letter is in response to Mr. Blue’s August 4 letter to Administrator Babbitt. In my opinion, this letter presents a clear look at the rationale (however flawed it may be) of the FAA’s stance on thru-the-fence (ttf) agreements. Click here to download the letter. We’ll have more on this in the coming days and weeks. As always, please post your comments and experiences below.

The City of Driggs signed a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) with the FAA in order to receive $7 million for widening and resurfacing all the runways and taxiways at the Driggs Airport (KIDJ). Prior to the agreement, eight hangar and hangar home owners received an injunction against the City to enjoin them from “affecting the interest in real property.”

We had a hearing on August 4th and the ruling from the bench was that the CAP did not “affect” the interest in real property. The defense the City took was that there were no changes with the CAP, they just were now going to enforce what they never enforce before. I do not feel our attorneys did a good job of showing that this was a definite change from the status quo which was the sole defense. Basically, we were out lawyered.
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The Scappoose (Oregon) City Council received good news to start the year.

The Port of St. Helens, which operates the Scappoose Airport, filed an appeal with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) to a city council vote that would allow a mixed-use airport zone.

From a story in The South County Spotlight:

Concerned that a residential airpark would disturb its contract with the FAA, which frowns on such developments near airports the size of Scappoose’s, the Port of St. Helens fought the city’s decision, appealing it to LUBA last July.

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The (Boulder, Colo.) Daily Camera is reporting that a 50-year-old agreement that allows, “direct and perpetual access to the (Boulder) airport” from an adjoining residential property is creating problems. The FAA states the “through-the-fence agreement” is in violation of federal rules and is threatening to withhold federal AIP funds.

Barry Barnow, owner of both the property in question and Boulder Valley Aviation, see it differently. He wants to build a home and 2,000-square-foot hangar that will make for quick access to the airport. Nothing more, nothing less.

The story cites a similar situation happening in Scappoose, Oregon (click here for story). Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this can be found in the comment area of the Boulder story (scroll to the bottom). The perception of aviation is bad.