September 2014 Newsletter Wisconsin Aviation Wisconsin Mainte- Third Class Medical Attracting Business Conference nance Tax Incentive The Third Class medical rule Planes To Your Airport Planning will begin soon on the Tax incentive went into effect... making is under review… Some recommendations… 2015 conference… ! ! ! Page 2 Page 3 Page 3 Page 3-4 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT ! The Wisconsin Airport Management Association prides itself on promoting pro- fessionalism in the airport management field by providing a medium for exchange of information among it's members; promoting legislation for the good of Wisconsin's ! airports and aviation; encouraging the public's understanding of the value of avia- tion and the airport to the community; and cooperating with all levels of government www.voteyesfortransportation.com and industry which have the betterment of aviation as their goal. ! ! The proposed constitutional amend- As we move into another year we are shifting our focus towards providing addi- ment on the November 2014 ballot tional value to our membership base. Enhancing the State's ability to finance does nothing more than require that projects, pursuing legislative agendas which allow airport businesses to operate more gas tax and registration fee dollars efficiently, enhancing the voice of Airport's in the State, and providing a newsletter remain in the transportation fund to be of current topics and important industry information to our membership are just used to pay for the transportation sys- tem we rely on every day. some! of the goals which I have set for my year in office. ! Only through a unified voice provided by our valued membership can we ac- Vote YES on November 4, 2014 to get complish these goals. Your Board of Directors and I will work hard to provide the what we expected: Our gas tax and most member benefit for your small membership fees, which starts as low as $75.00 a vehicle registration fee dollars for year. If you are not yet a member, I would ask for the opportunity to discuss the transportation. benefits of membership with you and I look forward to serving you throughout the coming! year! !Sincerely, Clinton Torp, C.M. WAMA President WAMA Newsletter September 2014 September 2014 ! Wisconsin Aviation Conference "Over the last several years the Conference has been grow- ing in popularity as evidenced by incrementally stronger regis- trations and industry exhibitor participation", said Clint Torp, President of the Wisconsin Airport Management Association (WAMA) and Airport Manager of the LaCrosse Regional Air- port. "Last year over 200 people from the aviation industry, in- cluding national, state and local aviation officials, airport man- agers, fixed base operators, corporate pilots, industry consul- tants and vendors attended a combination of three (3) general sessions and eight concurrent professional sessions. In addition to these sessions, the Conference represents a great opportunity to meet one-on-one with FAA and Wisconsin Bureau of Aero- nautics officials, plus over forty (40) exhibitors regarding engi- neering services, wildlife management, t-hangar development, Presidents of WAMA aircraft and facility management "apps", and much more", Kurt Incoming president Clint Torp (left), congratulates outgoing presi- Stanich, Airport Manager of Waukesha's County Airport not- ed. dent Jeremy Sickler on his year as president of WAMA. Clint is Open registration will begin January 1st, 2015 for the 2015 the airport manager from La Crosse Regional Airport in La Wisconsin Aviation Conference which will be held in La Crosse, Crosse, WI. Jeremy is the airport manager from the Burnett WI, May 11-13, 2015. Details will be available via http://wia- County Airport in Siren, WI. ma.org/conference-welcome.html! The Conference is co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Airport Management Association (WAMA), Wisconsin Aviation Trades Lifetime Service Award Association (WATA), Wisconsin Business Aviation Association (WBAA) and Wisconsin Aviation Exhibitors and Consultant Asso- ciation.! Anyone interested in participating on this year's Conference Planning Committee is encouraged to contact Bob O'Brien ASAP as planning! efforts will begin in early September. Robert W. O'Brien, Jr., AAE Executive Director Wisconsin Airport Management Association (WAMA) 15575 Richwood Estates Lane, Blue River, WI 53518 815-757-2869 [email protected] Joe Brauer, pictured with his wife Mary, was honored at the 2014 Aviation conference for his Lifetime service to aviation in Wisconsin. Joe has managed the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport for 24 years. WAMA Newsletter September 2014 September 2014 Wisconsin Maintenance Tax Incentive On July 1st of this year, a sales tax exemption on maintenance parts and labor on aircraft was put into effect in Wisconsin. The states surrounding Wisconsin have similar sales tax exemptions. The tax exemption will allow Wisconsin to stay competitive with neighboring! states. The sales tax exemption will help encourage businesses and individuals to bring their aircraft to Wisconsin for maintenance. It is still early to see if the tax incentive has any significant impact, but customers are certainly enjoying lower maintenance bills because of it. ! The tax exemption is expected to slightly lower the state’s tax revenue. However the increased revenue by keeping aviation main- tenance business in the State of Wisconsin is expected to exceed that loss. Third Class Medical A proposal to change the third class medical requirement for private pilots is making it’s way through the FAA. This stems from having! over ten years of information from the Sport Pilot program in which pilots are able to fly with only a driver’s license. The Experimental Aircraft Association, (EAA) and Aircraft Owners and Pilot Association, (AOPA) are pushing the cause. AOPA / EAA received more then 16,000 comments on a petition to change the third class medical requirement. The change if it goes through would! have an impact on over 39,000 pilots. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, during AirVenture 2014, signed off on a much anticipated third class medical certificate rule making.! This begins the review process from the Department of Transporation and Office of Management and Budget. The FAA is facing increased pressure from the House and Senate to ensure that a rule making change occurs. The General Avia- tion Pilot Protection Act that has been introduced in both the House and Senate would require the FAA to expand the driver’s license medical! option to a large number of piston airplanes if enacted. Changing the policy on the third class medical will be a long lasting rule change. There is no estimated time when the notice of proposed rule making will be released by the FAA at this time. " ! ! ! ! WAMA Newsletter September 2014 September 2014 Attracting A Business Aircraft To Your Airfield For airport sustainability, it is vital that we have based aircraft that are operational and continue to fly to help count towards the operations / use of the airport. Attracting a corporate aircraft onto the airport is always a huge challenge. Here are some tips to attract these aircraft to your airfield. 1. Runway care and maintenance - The runway(s) is your number one asset at the airport. Making sure you have a well maintained runway(s) that is actively maintained is certainly the initial start. A smooth runway that has been crack sealed, seal coated, or newly reconstructed feels great to any pilot who is taking off and landing. Runways that feel like they have speed bumps, or are in need! of other repairs can certainly be a mark against the airport. 2. Instrument Approaches - If the runway is your number one asset(s), instrument approaches are your number two asset. Every pilot wants to at least have an opportunity to get home if they can after a long day of flying. Having approaches that are well main- tained! without height obstructions impairing the approach is very important. 3. Height Limitation Zoning - You need a means to protect the instrument approaches into the airport. This means you need a height limitation zone for your airport. Airport officials and airport management need to actively and aggressively oppose any perma- nent obstruction into the zone. If a permanent obstruction does need to penetrate the zone, it is best if it is not in a location that will affect! the approaches / departures / instrument procedures into your airport. 4. Fuel - Having fuel available 24/7 is always very important at an airport. You never know when a trip will pop up and you need fuel before or after the FBO is open. ! 5. Hangar Space - At the very least, develop an airport plan and designate areas for potential hangar growth. Plan out that growth to include both private and corporate hangars. You may have to develop separate areas for both, but it will help for future air- port development. You may also have pilots calling to ask if you have hangar space available for a particular size of aircraft. If you can afford it, having a hangar available for an aircraft is always a plus. If you don’t have a hangar, have plans or financial assistance to help a corporation build a hangar. Keep in mind that a hangar does not mean you give up the property of the airport. The corporation leases! the land from the airport to build their hangar upon. WAMA Newsletter September 2014 September 2014 6. Cleanliness is always a benefit - The Air- port is often the first impression that some- one gets of the community. Making sure you have nice looking, clean, usable facili- !ties certainly helps make a good impression. ! ! La Crosse Airport recently took the initiative to be more adaptive to the needs of the community by installing an electrical vehicle charging station by -ChargePoint+®. ChargePoint is one of the fastest growing community charging points in the nation with over 18,500 locations.