it's been way too long..the craziness I've gotten into!

sbe

Well-Known Member
Oh my goodness, I have not posted here in probably years. I was a longtime poster as I went through flight training all the way to CFI - what an invaluable resource this was. I decided not to pursue an airline or pro flying career, but I DID attempt to make a run at a grassroots airport management gig (read below)! I guess you can say I still am.

I've been a part time flight instructor since 2005, mostly teaching out of KMKC (downtown Kansas City). I mostly just take a student here and there because I enjoy it and it keeps my own knowledge and skills on the increase. My husband and I are both business owners nowadays, I own a full-time (crazy busy) photography business and my husband manages a small business consulting firm, oh, and owns a dinner theater. We co-own a 1947 Cessna 120.

Last summer we tried to lease the facilities at 3EX (Excelsior Springs Memorial Airport, which is in my hometown and also the town where Jim owns the dinner theater) to renovate them, open an airport restaurant, offer maintenance and flight instruction (likely specializing in tailwheel instruction) and create a premier destination airport with a golf course adjacent to the field and many attractions in the historic town of Excelsior. We had a slate of events planned including several fly-ins (one being a multi-day, camp-under-the-wing fly in), a hangar dance, an antique airplane/car show, and movie nights during the summer with you guessed it, classic aviation movies. We wanted to make this a place where the townspeople were welcome, where they could dream and watch airplanes and not worry about big chain link fences and secure entrances - you know, the way it "used to be". On a personal note, this is my hometown. My father learned to fly at 3EX, and my grandfather kept his planes hangared at the airport. I grew up right across the street from the water tower you'll see in the news video clip (below); I could watch airplanes off my back deck growing up and BOY was that airport busy when I was a kid!

We appeared to be on a roll, until things weren't quite on the up and up. I'm going to keep this short because I could write a book about our experiences. Let's just say that after our lease proposal, after the creation of an AAA chapter at the field (Antique Airplane Association), after numerous successful fly-ins in late 2012 including one that drew 70 airplanes and nearly 1,000 attendees, the city suddenly wants to vote to close it. There is SOMETHING going on and it looks like the City Attorney is at the center of it.

We have contacted media and it's all over local news. We have been in contact with AOPA and EAA. We have a petition going and we will flood City Hall when they vote on this (right now appears to be 2/4 but that is already coming into question); we have volunteers distributing flyers throughout town. There are attorneys investigating Sunshine Law violations on part of the city. It's a mess but we are fighting hard and we have received nothing but "it's about time someone stood up" and "we are so thankful you are doing this" from the city's residents. We get stopped everywhere we go.

Why am I posting this? Our plans to make this airport exceptional, a one-of-its-kind attraction for pilots and townspeople aside, we just don't want another airport gone. We need pilot support; mostly with our online petition. We have already received it in mass amounts, and we have momentum on our side right now, but we need to keep it going. We will be hitting the town later this week for resident petition signatures, but we want pilots to sign the online version.

To give you background, here's our letter to the editor of the local paper that was published uncut:

(other letters in today's edition can be read at

)

Here's the news feature that ran on the Kansas City NBC affiliate Friday night and Saturday AM, guess this was my 15 minutes:

And finally, here's the online petition, which we would greatly appreciate any and all signatures:

Thanks for lending an ear! I'd be happy to provide City Hall contact information for anyone so inclined to write or call. We're working hard to preserve a little piece of GA and not only save it, but make it wonderful again.

Sarah
 
That... and posting in white on a forum where the default background is white. Well it looks like you have a large blank post.
 
My forum is dark, I can read it! Good luck guys! You have taken on one heck of a venture and I hope it succeeds. It really sucks to see GA airports close.
 
Yeah the format is a little messed up. (White on White). I read it though. That is so horrible the city wants to close the airport. What is their reasoning?? I hope you guys win this. That would be amazing if your airport became a safe haven for general aviation culture of the past and present.
 
Why lease the airport from what may be a hostile and ill-informed land lord? If you and others think the airport is both a valuable and profitable venture, then get partners, form a LLC, and make the city an offer to buy it up. If it fails, you can then just subdivide it out like every other closed airport.
 
Wow, I have no idea what happened. Yes, when I posted the forum was a different color. It has been ages since I've posted here.. :ooh:

A lot has happened since I posted the above (which I'm trying to edit, so far unsuccessfully, to get the text to show). The Council, after a LOT of pressure from residents, the media, the local paper (which I realize is the media, but I separate them out because they were pursuing Sunshine Law violations against the city), did a 180 and shortly after I posted this had Parks and Rec out at the airport with a bulldozer clearing brush and piles of sand/gravel that had been cited as discrepancies on the most recent FAA inspection of the field. They had MoDOT inspectors up to discuss trees (again listed on the report) that needed topping and removal. They applied for a state grant for a runway overlay, which is to be awarded (and if awarded), completed this year. And most importantly, they voted 5-0 to adopt a resolution to get the discrepancies that could be addressed addressed, leave the field open and do the runway work.

It was a huge turn of events and now we've got people from all over asking "exactly how did you do that?" (it wasn't pretty)

hook, I think you are probably the person who emailed me (and I'll shoot you a reply) - that has been mentioned in more than just passing. This came on very suddenly and we literally had two weeks to keep the place open when we first got word. It STILL is a possibility; however, the City Attorney's storied history with other cities in the area (he's a contract CA, not a full-timer) has caused us to shy away from doing so until he is gone. To try to purchase the field with him doing the work? First he'd put some freakishly high price tag on it, and more importantly, he'd drag the process out literally for years while he racked up billable hours. It's his MO, and has been his MO in the past. We unfortunately know him all too well!

Thanks everyone for the replies despite my white post, I'm surprised ANYONE responded, what a PITA. Sorry about that. I'll keep you all posted as things go forward. I don't know which way things will proceed, there are a LOT of rumblings in town as this airport debacle opened up a monster can of worms and let's just say the CA is not a popular person right now. But the airport is safe and will see improvement, for now.

Sarah
 
Back
Top