Stimulus Watch

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[edit] General Description

Newton City/County Airport (ICAO desination EWK)is one of two "Reliever" airports designated to take traffic pressure off of Wichita Mid-Continent Airport and is one of the largest General Aviation airports in Kansas. EWK serves an estimated 60,000 operations per year for not only the 114 based aircraft, but a large percentage of that traffic is either Transient aircraft stopping at EWK for refueling due to its advantageous center of the U.S. geographic location, and training flights/manufacturing test flights originating from throughout central Kansas to take advantage of the numerous instrument approaches that can be practiced, the long and wide runway which can be used, and the expedited time between approaches, landings and takeoffs due to this airports large size but with no Air Traffic Control Tower to slow down operations. Pilots safely navigate the traffic pattern and the instrument approaches using the first rule of aviation "see and avoid". Practicing self determination in the traffic flow of aviation is an extremely important talent to be developed and retained in pilots as there are ten times more airports in the U.S. without control towers as there are with control towers.

The current taxiway system at EWK provides an operational capability for a great mix of aircraft types from basic two place sport aircraft to privately operated aircraft as large as the Continental Regional Jet, Saab 2000 commuter and corporate jets as large as the Citation X and Falcon 50. Even privately operated MD-80 and Lockheed C-130 aircraft have found this location to be an advantageous fuel or test flight location.

However, the current forty foot width of the taxiway is minimum standards for such large aircraft. At that the airport had to fight FAA during the last taxiway rehabilitation to keep its forty foot capacity. FAA standards allowed a base standard of only thirty five feet. EWK was able to show that current aircraft usage more than supported the request for a forty foot or wider pavement width. FAA agreed to allow spacing on new taxiway lighting system to ultimately increase the width of the pavement to fifty feet, but would not allocate funding to pay for or maintain a fifty foot pavement width at this time.

Many FAA guidance goals look at past traffic instead of future capacity. By referring to what type of aircraft has used an airport in the past they do not consider what type of aircraft would have used the airport if it had more capacity. Thus communities are faced with a "chicken and the egg" question. Pilots of aircraft do not land on airports that do not have the capacity to safely hold that aircraft. Therefore an community will never be able to show the "need" for a capacity issue by looking just at previous traffic. It is like a county saying there is no need to have a county road bridge capable of carrying heavy farm trucks because there is no farm truck traffic on that road bridge and yet the road bridge is already posted that farm truck traffic weight is illegal and dangerous.

Although this project is eligible for FAA AIP grant funding its priority is so low that the FAA predicts most other projects on their waiting list for Kansas airports will be funded before this project is funded. Stimulus funding would assist this airport serving not only the county seat and largest city in the county, but also many operations in South Central Kansas to move forward with this valuable long term investment in increasing the capacity of the airport and airways system. EWK is listed as an asset in the National Plan of Integrated Airspace and thus is considered by of the nations airports and airways traffic plan. Offered by T.W. Anderson, Airport Manager, Newton City/County Airport

[edit] Points in Favor

Permanent long term utilization. Increased capacity to handle traffic. Can be accomplished within 120 days of authorization. Increases contractor and sub-contractor work and employment. Does not use any private land not already owned and controlled by the airport. Relieves local governing body of an infrastructure investment cost that it would not otherwise have the funds to make.

[edit] Points Against

None known.