Eastern Sierra Regional Airport Quarterly News Letter

EASTERN SIERRA REGIONAL AIRPORT QUARTERLY NEWS LETTER January, 2009

Eastern Sierra Regional Airport - Bishop, CA (KBIH) Airport Advisory Committee Area Map replacement of incandescent Reconstituted Ground Transportation hangar light bulbs. In the last year or so it has been Airport News Letter difficult to muster sufficient Photo Gallery members of the Advisory The Photo gallery showcases not Committee to produce a quorum only the airport, but also the at the quarterly meetings. At the Eastern Sierra and its many request of Rex Allen and with recreational opportunities. concurrence of the Board of Supervisors the Advisory In addition there are also links to Committee was disbanded and the the Bishop and Mammoth number of members required for a Chambers of Commerce, Inyo quorum was reduced. A request County Parks and Recreation, for new prospective members was Lone Pine Airport and the City of advertised and to date four Bishop. A history of the airport members have been appointed. authored by local resident Kirt They are Rex Allen, Monica Nance will be featured on the web Allen (No Relation), John site soon. The site is about 98% Rosenthal, and Brad Wyatt. A functional and we will continue to second request for members went make updates and additions as out in December in an attempt to needed. If you have suggestions fill the two remaining positions. for improvements to this web site Modifications to airport beacon please email them to the address expected to improve reliability. Eastern Sierra Regional Airport listed on page two of this Bishop’s 1939 vintage Web Page now ONLINE newsletter. Westinghouse beacon has endured Our new web page made its debut numerous repairs and in December and can be accessed Cold weather and responsible modifications since it was first by going to Inyo County’s web use of engine heaters installed around 1940. The site, selecting Departments and Once again, our weather has Fresnel lens and housing are then Airport. Or use the turned cold and pilots will be original, but the drive mechanism following URL plugging in the engine heaters. A has been modified and replaced a http://www.countyofinyo.org/Airp standard 300-watt heater can number of times. The beacon ort/index.html consume over $30 in electricity chain drive is similar to that found The following information is each month. Please help us on a bicycle and the large sprocket available on line: conserve power by energizing is slightly out of alignment. Due Aviation Weather your engine heater no earlier than to the configuration of the drive AirNav for KBIH one day prior to your flight. sprocket and the manner in which Pilot Information Compact fluorescent lamps CFLs it is installed, it was not feasible Fuel prices at KBIH are available in the terminal for to realign it in place. Airport by airport personnel. personnel recently fabricated and installed an idler assembly on the drive chain to take up the slack and prevent it from falling off the sprockets. It appears that this repair has been successful, as the beacon has operated satisfactorily Steve Ivey adjusting VASI lights since the idler was installed in early November. We are VASI - Visual Approach Slope cautiously optimistic that it will Indicator A recent www.bayareapilot.com continue to operate without CDF Fire Captain Denney posting explained the function of problems. The Airport Beacon is Conley keeps a watchful eye on VASIs. The VASI is a system of a Bishop landmark so the idea of burning debris. lights so arranged to provide replacing it with a more modern On December 17th and 18th CDF visual descent guidance beacon has never been seriously crews from the Owens Valley information during the approach considered. Conservation Camp assisted to a runway. These lights are airport personnel during the visible from 3-5 miles during the Vintage Bob Symons photos to burning of dead trees and brush day and up to 20 miles or more at go on display at KBIH that had been cut down on the night. The visual glide path of the Patricia (Symons) Rowbottom has south west side of the airport. offered to loan the airport a VASI provides safe obstruction clearance within plus or minus 10 number of photographs taken by This is the first part of a three- degrees of the extended runway her late father, Bob Symons. The phase plan to clean up this area. centerline and to 4 NM from the photographs will be on display in The remnants of a mobile home runway threshold. Descent, using the pilot’s lounge. Pat has also have not been disposed of yet, but the VASI, should not be initiated loaned 9 aviation and soaring we expect to dispose of this debris until the aircraft is visually related books to Eastern Sierra within the next few months. The aligned with the runway. Lateral Regional Airport. This material third part of the cleanup will course guidance is provided by will be available for research require the removal of concrete the runway or runway lights. purposes and can be viewed at the walkways and a brick fireplace airport, but will not be allowed to chimney that has fallen down. The basic principle of the VASI is leave the terminal building. The goal is to complete the entire that of color differentiation project within the coming year. Taxiway repairs will resume in between red and white. Each light unit projects a beam of light first quarter of 2009 BIH listed on AirNav.com having a white segment in the Taxiway crack repairs are best For the most up to date fuel upper part of the beam and red accomplished in cold weather as pricing, check our fuel prices on segment in the lower part of the the cracks are at their widest. We AirNav.com beam. The light units are arranged will make repairs to taxiway http://www.airnav.com/airport/K so that the pilot using the VASI's Alpha during the next phase of BIH during an approach will see the asphalt patching. We will also KBIH Web page URL combination of lights listed look at the repairs made in the http://www.countyofinyo.org/Airp below. spring and put additional cold mix ort/index.html in any cracks that have Red over Red = below glide path. Eastern Sierra Regional Airport compressed or shrunk. Our goal Red over White = on glide path. 703 Airport Road is to make repairs twice yearly as White over White = above glide Bishop CA. 93514 weather and funding permit. path. Instructors sometimes tell 760-872-2971 Terminal their students, “Red over White is 760-937-4017 After Hours right” Proper alignment of the Airport Staff VASIs is periodically flight Ken Babione, Lead Airport Technician Email [email protected] checked by the FAA and Steve Ivey, Airport Technician II adjustments, if required are made Richard Olson, Airport Technician II