Airport Saved

When the Fort Wayne-Allen County (Indiana) Airport Authority board voted unanimously Monday in favor of a resolution to keep Arthur Smith Field (SMD) open indefinitely on Monday, about 50 people in attendance-the vast majority EAA Chapter 2 members-stood and cheered for several minutes.

Maybe people should have stood and cheered for them; without the Chapter's persistent grassroots effort, led by the group Smith Airfield ForEver (SAFE), the 79-year-old airport they call home would be but a faint memory today. SAFE was formed three years ago (June 20002) after the same governing body voted to close SMD.

"We've been working for this result for three years," said EAA Chapter 2 President Larry Zepp. "They (board) have now said they will keep Smith Field open indefinitely, which is about as good as we could have hoped for." The resolution authorizes the airport authority to hire a manager on the field, and make about $1 million in site improvements over the next year and a half.

Short-term (6- to 12-months) improvements include runway resurfacing, new hangars built by the airport authority, as well as leases for private hangars to be built by individuals; and renovation of the historic hangar for a Chapter meeting room. One of the longer-term goals is to extend the 3,100-foot runway to 4,000 feet to allow small jets like the Eclipse 500 to operate out of SMD. The Chapter is also looking to obtain a building donation for use as a Chapter hangar.

SAFE was instrumental in securing a reprieve for the airport in March 2003 when the board voted to keep SMD open. It hired a consultant to develop an airport layout plan (ALP), but that stalled in the FAA due to lack of time. An official complaint filed at FAA by another airport preservation group, the SMD Fund, further stalled the ALP.

Chapter 2 hosts several aviation events at SMD throughout the year, including Young Eagles rallies, airport appreciation events, and Chapter meetings. The first scheduled Young Eagles rally of the season is May 7. The Chapter recorded its 3,000th Young Eagle flown last September. "Young Eagles has been the thing that has united all the diverse groups of people interested in various aspects of aviation, and it continues to do that. It's the best program for Chapters I've ever seen."

Looking back on the past three years, Zepp says public awareness was key to turning people's attitudes around about the airport. So Chapter 2 sponsored many events during that span to help the public realize what Smith Field was and why it was valuable. EAA figured prominently in those events. "The thing that allowed us to do that was when we sponsored an event it was covered by EAA's Chapter insurance plan," Zepp said. "The EAA risk management people helped us out a lot."

Zepp recalled the first Airport Appreciation Day about three years ago that drew some 2,500 people. The event would not have happened without insurance coverage. "EAA's risk management folks did our insurance paperwork in about three and a half days," he said, noting that they normally require for 30-60 days notice. "I called, explained the situation, and they did it! Because we were covered by insurance, the airport authority couldn't say no to our event."

Having insurance has facilitated virtually every public gathering that helped put Smith Field on the map and gain public support. "Without that EAA program of covering Chapter activities, we would have been sunk. There's no way we would have gotten the approval of our airport authority to have any of those events without the EAA insurance coverage. That continues to facilitate everything we do at Smith Field."

Because of the Chapter's experiences with Smith Field, Zepp has offered his help to other EAA Chapters. "I'm glad to help, because we learned a number of things in our fight to save the airport. We surprised the airport authority at the way we could mobilize people, get the media's attention, the public's attention."

Short-term (6- to 12-months) improvements include runway resurfacing, new hangars built by the airport authority, as well as leases for private hangars to be built by individuals; and renovation of the historic hangar for a Chapter meeting room. A longer-term goal is to extend the 3,100-foot runway to 4,000 feet to allow small jets like the Eclipse 500 to operate out of SMD. The Chapter is also looking to obtain a building donation for use as a Chapter hangar.

Monday's action also relieved the field's FBO, Smith Field Air Service, from managing the facility so it focus on its core business, including a flight school.

FMI: www.eaa.org