Lex Anteinternet: Subsidiarity Economics. The times more or less locally

Lex Anteinternet: Subsidiarity Economics. The times more or less lo...:   

Subsidiarity Economics. The times more or less locally.

 

Recent scene in Laramie Wyoming during the Mullen Fire.

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January 17, 2021

Flights from the Natrona County International Airport are down 50% compared to a year ago.

Practice Fire Suppression Airplane Mock Up, Casper Wyoming

These are all photographs of a very realistic looking mock up of a mid sized passenger jet being built out of steel at Pepper Tank in Casper, Wyoming.

Upon completion, it will be located at a fire practice facility at the Natrona County International Aiport.

 

Due to a large drop in flights the FAA has announced that it's cutting Tower hours by 50% at the Natrona County International Airport . . .

which means that the tower will now be manned for 8  hours rather than 16.

P51 in foreground, NIA Tower in background.

The airport is open 24 hours a day, but it only has tower personnel now for 16 of those hours.  While this is due to the drop in flights caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic, there's concern that the 8 hour subtraction will become permanent as that's the history of such things.

The Natrona County International Airport is the largest airport in Wyoming and has major infrastructure.  Indeed its so large that, sadly, some of its original runways are closed.  They unnecessary but they've also fallen into disrepair.  Something like this doesn't help keep the airport be what it is, let alone help it obtain what it should be.

Additionally, while the news article I read didn't go into it, this seems odd as the only major cost savings associated with reducing hours by 50% would be to reduce tower personnel by 50% as well.  But didn't the government want employers to keep everyone on the payroll that they could?

Shifting to GPS Guided Landings In Wyoming.

A recent headline in the Tribune read:

Local pilots decry federal changes to flight routes

The article went on to note:

A cost-saving shift by the Federal Aeronautics Commission to GPS-guided landings at airports around the Mountain West has elicited the concern of a number of airplane pilots based in Casper, who fear the proposed elimination of more than a dozen analog routes could cause significant problems for air transportation around the state.

Eh, what's that mean?  Well, I wasn't too sure either.  The paper then went on to state:

Long guided by a network of extremely high-frequency, short-range ground-based systems known as VORs, pilots in the Rocky Mountains will soon go the way of the rest of the country and come to rely heavily on the same GPS-guided navigation systems promoted by the FAA since the technology’s introduction in the early ‘90s. 

It’s a significant step for pilots in the region, who have long relied on the older, more inexpensive systems already in place for navigating the mountainous terrain, and one long pursued by a bureaucracy seeking ways to make air travel as streamlined, efficient and responsive as possible. 

“It’s been a quantum leap forward,” said Joe MacGuire, a local airline pilot and a Republican member of the Wyoming House of Representatives.

Well, I'm still not really following, but I sort of grasp it.  But why wouldn't this be a good change?

Well, I'm not really sure, but apparently it has to do with weather and costs.  Having said that, I think that aircraft have all been shifting over to GPS by Federal mandate for some time.

The paper went on to include this comment:

This change, Casper-based corporate pilot and 45-year flight veteran Dallas Chopping said, could also be a potentially dangerous one: though the number of VOR approaches proposed for elimination by the FAA – at just over two dozen statewide – seems small, they could present a significant liability for pilots in a rare event when the GPS systems fail or are disrupted, potentially creating risks for commercial pilots, emergency responders and even the National Guard, who often provide a critical role in search-and-rescue operations around the state.

Hmmm. . . . I'm not a pilot, but I'm skeptical. That's the argument anyway.

And its mobilized, apparently at least one community group.

Already, the Casper Chamber of Commerce is mobilizing its membership to respond out of concerns the changes could impact commercial air traffic. In a message to its membership on Wednesday, the Chamber urged its members to weigh in on the potential decommissioning prior to the Jan. 15 deadline set by the FAA, highlighting a number of examples where the decommissioning of the route could impact the local economy.
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“The FAA will argue that it is a cost savings,” she added. “However, for Casper, there is no advantage to losing the approach!”

Well, the 15th is today.  We'll see if the FAA was convinced.

Fueling up.

Cirrus SR22T, Natrona County International Airport

Ultralite, Natrona County International Airport

Ford Tri Motor, Natrona County International Airport

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Lex Anteinternet: Scenes from the past. . .Ford Tri Motor Flying over town.

Lex Anteinternet: Scenes from the past. . .Ford Tri Motor Flying ove...

Scenes from the past. . .Ford Tri Motor Flying over town.

Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182T, Natrona County International Airport

This is a Cessna 182T that belongs to the Civil Air Patrol at the Natrona County International Airport.

To date, there's one other post on this blog about the Civil Air Patrol, featuring its aircraft from the 1940s, and noting:

The Civil Air Patrol is the official auxiliary of the United States Air Force.  Created during World War Two, it's original purpose was to harness the nations large fleet of small private aircraft for use in near shore anti submarine patrols.  The light aircraft, repainted in bright colors to allow for them to be easily spotted by other American aircraft, basically flew the Atlantic in patterns to look for surfaced submarines.  As submarines of that era operated on the surface routinely, this proved to be fairly effective and was greatly disruptive to the German naval effort off of the American coast. 

The CAP also flew some patrols along the Mexican border during the same period, although I've forgotten what the exact purpose of them was. Early in the war, there was quite a bit of concern about Mexico, given its problematic history during World War One, and given that the Mexican government was both radical and occasionally hostile to the United States. These fears abated fairly rapidly. 

The CAP still exists, with its post war mission having changed to search and rescue.  It also has a cadet branch that somewhat mirrors JrROTC.  Like JrROTC it has become considerably less martial over time, reflecting the views of boomer parents, who have generally wished, over time, to convert youthful organizations that were organized on military or quasi military lines into ones focusing on "citizenship" and "leadership"..

I didn't note in that earlier entry that eons ago, at the dawn of flight, I was a Civil Air Patrol cadet.  I did post a bit more about that here, on our companion blog:

I was in the Civil Air Patrol in the 1970s and at that time it was in fact very much like Air Force JrROTC.  Drill and Ceremony was a big deal with it, for example.  We wore Air Force uniforms and normally the fatigue version of that.  We focused on aircraft, of course, and on the CAP's mission of search and rescue.  Looking back it seems like I was in it for a long time, but in reality that simply reflects the concept of time possessed by youth.  I was in it while I was in junior high, three years. 

Looking back, and I can recall it only dimly, I probably thought when I joined it in 7th Grade, after learning about it at the junior high, of staying in it until I was in high school and could join JrROTC.  However, I enjoyed it in its own right.  For reasons I can't really recall, once I was of high school age I dropped my membership entirely.  Once I walked in the door of NCHS, I didn't walk back in the door of the CAP Wing's building here.  I couldn't tell you why, I just didn't. 

CAP still has a youth wing but I don't know anything about it.  It appears to be focused on aircraft still, of course, but also on "leadership", something a lot of youth organizations focus on.  If it resembles the old organization much, I wouldn't know.  It's still around, but how popular it is I don't know.  I don't know of any kids that I know being in it, but here the opposite is true as compared to the Scouts.  I'm often quite surprised by how many people I'll run into that were in the CAP as teens.  I know that two of my best friends were in it when was first in it, although they dropped out (just getting there was an ordeal for one who lived out in the country) and I know adults here and there that were.  Just the other day the Byzantine Catholic priest from the Catholic Stuff You Should Know podcast mentioned having been a CAP cadet.

One thing I'd note is, at least appearance wise, the CAP Cessna here is a much nicer looking aircraft that anything the CAP had locally when I was in it as a kid.  Indeed, for the most part the CAP simply relied upon the private aircraft the adult members had. 

Rutan Long EZ. Natrona County International Airport

This is a Rutan Long EZ homebuilt.  The distinctive looking homebuilt has been on the market since 1979. This one was spotted at the Natrona County International Airport.

Rans S-6ES Coyote II

Today we have another kit built aircraft, the Rans Coyote II.

Kitfox II, Natrona County International Airport

This is a Kitfox II at the Natrona County International Airport.

The Kitfox is just that, a kit.  An extremely small tail dragger with, at least in this case, a fabric skin, it's powered by a 64 hp Rotex reciprocating engine.

The Kitfox II was superceded by later models, which seem to have come pretty fast. The company itself went through a bankruptcy and emerged with new owners, so the kits are still available in the newer models.

Arrival and Departures.

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Painted Bricks: Natrona County Mural, Natrona County International Airport.

Painted Bricks: Natrona County Mural, Natrona County International...:

Natrona County Mural, Natrona County International Airport

A very nice mural, obviously put up before terrorist attacks made extra security necessary.

At one time the observation deck, from which the top photographs were taken, was a jet bridge for boarding large jets.  We don't have large jets at our airport anymore, so presumably that capability isn't needed at the present time.

Tarmac and Air Bridge, Natrona County International Airport

Fire Bombing Air Tractor AT-802s at the Natrona County International Airport

A common summer site in the Rocky Mountain states.

Piper Seneca. Natrona County International Airport

Boeing 737 Max, Natrona County International Airport.

 

 This is the new Boeing 737 Max, Boeing's new narrow-body airliner which is the fourth generation of the venerable Boeing 737.  This example was at the Natrona County International Airport undergoing some testing at this famously windy airport featuring very long runways.