Skydive Laconia?

[flyguy]

Originally Posted by TheNoonans

"...when the FAA says LCI can safely sustain skydiving will you accept their expert opinion, or will presume to reject it and state that you know better because your a local pilot?

I trust the judgement of the FAA at least as much as I trust the judgement of the SEC, FDA, IRS, and certain other government agencies.

"...yet he makes a subsequent statement comparing circling Laconia to um.......circling LOGAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT?

Huh??? Care to quote the exact sentence where this direct comparison was made?

Once more, Tom, you missed the point. Even though you can (or have a "federally guaranteed right" to do so) doesn't mean you should.

But I'd be lying if I said the word "war" didn't pop up from people in the community when describing how the LAA feels about us and our proposal. Their stance against us has been described as their "war" against us by multiple people in the community.

I have yet to hear anyone in the aviation community use that word, but I'm sure you have a purpose for introducing it into this discussion. However it does beg the question:"Why would you go where you are not wanted?"

Oops- I forgot. The Money. The same reason you state that you cannot accept the alternative that would keep everyone happy- landing off field.

Speaking of smoke and mirrors- I find the amount of time a and effort Tom expends to raise and encourage local public support astounding. On one hand he asks people to show up at meetings, write letters, etc., while on the other hand he insists (correctly) that our opinions do not matter. It is strictly a safety issue- economics and/or public opinion are not relevant. Remember that before you waste your time.

[Happy Gourmand]

OK you guys, I think it's time to set out some plastic chairs and a table on my lawn and invite the both of you over for beer. What brands should I stock?

[sa meredith]

Yeah, I'll second that.
How could this thread possibly have turned ugly?
Seriously.

[TheNoonans]

Hi Phantom Gourmand and sa-meredith,

This hasn't turned ugly for us. We remain emotionally detached, this is just a business negotiation. We bear no ill will towards Mr. Hemmel, and we certainly don't take what he is saying or doing personally. He is doing what he believes he has to do. We still wish him well. As do we continue to wish every member of the LAA well in their efforts to understand the federal funding grant assurances that they are obligated to abide by. From the beginning we have always said that we recognized their would be some negative reactions to our proposal. Any time something new and different comes around, it is bound to create a stir as the potential for a change in the status quo comes into view. The irony is that we will have such a minimal impact on the airport that a year from now people will look back on this all and say "what was all the fuss over?".

Mary and I remain available to anyone and everyone that has a question or concern about our proposal. We continue to arrive early to the meetings and stay late, yet we haven't been approached by anyone with any concerns.

I would also be happy to have lunch with Mr. Hemmel at the Lobster Pound and listen to every one of his concerns. I've offered that before and am offering it again. Any time we are there, we will make time to meet with him. He hasn't taken us up on our offer.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,

Tom

[dpg]

I agree this thread is getting quite old. Maybe it just should be locked till there's an answer,then the final word can be posted.

[robertk]

First, I applaud anyone who has the gumption to launch a new business. Second, I think skydiving is cool, although I've never done it. Third, I wish the Noonan's all the best. Now, for my question. When I'm entering the pattern (or in it), how do I know that a skydiver has not been blown off course directly into my flight path? Since I fly a low wing, there's a chance I could see them I suppose, but I don't really know how visible they are. By the way, somewhere in this thread I saw someone mention that people fly the pattern mostly on the south side of the airport, or something to that effect. I don't know what was meant by that, but I spend plenty of time on the other side of the field while in the pattern (especially when entering the pattern from the north, or landing on runway 8). Anyway, back to my question — does it often happen that skydivers get blown off course? Are you able to make sure you stay toward the center of the field? How do I keep track of where skydivers are, since they're not communicating after jumping, right? Or, can you communicate after you're out of the plane? Do you have the ability to see me from above and steer clear? As I said, I'm all for your business, although I'll admit it does make me just a tad nervous. Given the fact that this is done all over the country I'm guessing there are reasonable answers to my questions. Good luck with your business.

[trfour]

I don't think that it will be closed before fruition, no'r should it be!

[twoplustwo]

I would just like to say that Tom Noonan has been nothing but a class act in this thread. You won't see my arse jumping out of any airplanes, but I'll meet you and Mary at The Pound and buy you a beer, Tom.

[TheNoonans]

Greetings to all,

I just wanted to check in with everyone and let you know that I will be attending the September LAA meeting tomorrow night at the Main Terminal Building at 5:30pm.

As always, if anyone is interested in asking questions or presenting any concerns, I will be there a half an hour early and will stay after the meeting as well if anyone has any questions after the meeting. Followed shortly there after by having dinner at the Lobster Pound. Please feel free to stop by there if you can't make the meeting.

Regarding the status of things: the Portland FSDO finished their assessment and found no reason that skydiving could not occur at the airport. Typically, in this scenario, when the FSDO declares the airport suitable for skydiving, skydiving is approved and commences. In this case however, the airport sponsor has subsequently requested that the ADO send in specialists to review, among other things, the IFR electronics. While delaying things further, this is simply one final item to wait for. This analysis is in process and we have been told that the FAA wants to get this done as soon as possible. That's where things stand at the moment.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,

Tom

[Pineedles]

You sir, are a class act! I know it's good marketing to keep your message in front of potential customers, but I have never seen such an "open kimono" approach to one's business by inviting everyone to all meetings that you have no control over, and anything could happen.

BTW, my compliments to your wife. I didn't mean to leave her out of my compliments.

[Resident 2B]

Tom,

Although I was opposed to your sky diving proposal in the past, with all the studies that have been completed with results supporting your application, I have completely changed my opinion.

I now fully support this proposal. Although I will never jump out of a perfectly good airplane, I respect the rights of those that want to do this, as long as it is safe. Based on the studies and opinions of the experts, this is safe. Therefore, I am now a supporter of your proposal.

As others have pointed out, you are a class act and I believe you and your operation will bring value to our area.

Good luck and best wishes for success!

R2B

[Happy Gourmand]

Did he just invite all of us to the LP for dinner? What a guy!! What time?
Seriously, best of luck to you with your new venture. Though I don't plan to be a customer, I'm sure you will thrive at this location especially in the summer months. Kudos to you for your openness and willingness to keep us all informed and respond to even some of your more hardened opponents. I hope that they too will someday realize that the airspace is open for all to enjoy.
Best of Luck to you!

[SIKSUKR]

Thanks Tom,I'll have the twin lobster.

[TheNoonans]

Greetings to all,

As the October 2009 LAA meeting approaches, I wanted to provide an update.

As I mentioned in the last update, the Portland FSDO found no reason to deny or limit skydiving at LCI, and the airport subsequently asked the ADO to do an Obstruction Evaluation analysis (OE) on our 2 primary landing areas and 4 alternate landing areas that we submitted back in November 2008.

I spoke with the FAA office that is conducting that analysis and it will be done by the end of this week, in plenty of time for next week's LAA meeting on the 15th. As has been our position all along, we don't expect any surprises from this analysis and expect the report to reconfirm the Portland FSDOs findings, that there does not exist any hazards unique to LCI that would preclude it from accomidating a skydiving operation, to include landing parachutes on the airfield.

Once this report is issued, and assuming I am accurate in my prediction, there will be nothing left for the LAA to consider in it's decision making process, and we would like to think that they will render a favorable decision at the meeting, granting us permission to operate.

Unfortunately, Mary and I will not be in attendance at the meeting, as we are on a plane to Kathmandu in three hours. We have been asked to return to Nepal for the second Everest Skydive Expedition. We will be gone through the 25th of October. For anyone interested, this year we will be landing at Gorakshep, a landing area at 16,500ft MSL, the highest "dropzone" in the world. We will be exiting at 30,000ftMSL, opening our parachutes at 21,500ft MSL and landing at 16,500ft. We will have a friend at the meeting representing us, so if anyone wants to contact us with any questions, he will be there to take the questions and forward them to us.

We look forward to returning from Mount Everest to a favorable decision so that we may begin to make preparations to open in May 2010.

Namaste!

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,

Tom

P.S. - Speaking of "good flights", we are about to make a 14.5 hour flight to Qatar, followed by a 6 hour flight to Nepal. Long night ahead for sure...lol.

[Pineedles]

Thanks Tom, for the update.

I believe your salutation of "Namaste"!, is illustrated by my google search of the term.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...mast%C3%A9.jpg

Too bad Al Gore is the illustrator.

A question though comes to mind. As you have obviously been exposed to the "world" as far as sky diving, is the Laconia approval process a 10, it's in the bag. A 5, really tough but possible with a 50/50 chance. Or anything less than 5 where the prospects are zero to none?

[granitebox]

The Lakes Region would be fortunate to get such professional folks to set up an operation here. The delays in the approval process are embarrassing.

[TheNoonans]

Hi Pineedles and Granitebox,

Thank you for your support/responses.

Regarding Pineedles question, while nothing is truly certain in aviation, thus far every pilot, skydiving professional and FAA rep that has experience in both industries (that's the key, being an expert/authority in both areas), that has conducted any informal or formal analysis on LCI has come back and said every time, that there does not exist any unique hazard, airport size issue, or traffic frequency issue, that would preclude skydiving at Laconia Municipal Airport.

As for the delay mentioned by Granitebox, all I can offer is that Mary and I requested that the LAA contact the Portland FSDO for a site evaluation back in November 2008, and cited where in the FAA regs that it stated that was the appropriate course of action for the airport board. Had that been done, as it was requested, then all FAA evals would have been completed well prior to May 2009, or intended start date. For whatever reason (draw your own conclusions), our request was rejected at that time, and instead, the LAA elected to create a "Safety Committee" to evaluate our request. By May of 2009, the Safety Committee conceded that it was unable to reach a safety based decision, and it was only then that the LAA contacted the FAA to request the site evaluation.

We continue to remain focused and optimistic that this process will finally reach it's logical conclusion at the October 2009 LAA meeting.

As a side note, after a 35 hour commute, Mary and I are in Kathmandu prepping our gear for our journey into the Himalayas on Tuesday. For any adventurous pilots out there, google and Youtube search "Lukla Airport". It's an amazing landing to experience.

Namaste.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,

Tom

[trfour]

I had to call LAA today. (603) 524-5003 to see what the holdup is about the Noonan's application to further their skydiving venture at Laconia Airport.
I was told that the FAA study was not completed, so as, they were not on the 'Topics To Be Discussed At The Oct 15th Meeting'.

Seems to me that there is a huge wrestling match going on with trying to go forward to improve the economy here in Laconia, but then again, standing in it's very way!

With the economy being what it is, I guess that since the LAA only notified the FAA last month to do the studdy, that we can only hope that the FAA can get the study done in time to give the Noonan's an approval and a window to operate in the coming year! "2010"!

PS. PLEASE LAA & FAA, Are You With Us?

[flyguy]

In spite of the smoke & mirrors PR blitz by the Noonans (accompanied by thinly veiled threats concerning funding) wiser heads have prevailed.

Originally Posted by TheNoonans

...every pilot, skydiving professional and FAA rep that has experience in both industries that has conducted any informal or formal analysis on LCI has come back and said every time, that there does not exist any unique hazard, airport size issue, or traffic frequency issue, that would preclude skydiving at Laconia Municipal Airport.

From the Jan 29 Laconia Citizen:

"Tracey McInnis of the FAA's Burlington, Mass. office wrote that her agency had determined that "this proposed landing area would adversely affect the safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace by aircraft and the safety of persons and property on the ground.

"FAA must protect for the potential corruption of the glideslope, the Runway Safety Areas (RSA), as well as preclude the possibility of debris being inadvertently dropped on the operating surfaces. The potential for these occurrences are the basis for the objection to the parachute landing areas."

In summary, McInnis wrote, "to have a designated landing area located within an area where aircraft are taxiing, running up and departing/arriving increases the exposure to risk. Given the information provided thus far, it would appear that the proposed skydiving operations would, at best, be a difficult fit into the operations at the Laconia Airport."

"Pedestrian traffic on active taxiways and runways has (also) been considered to be a safety risk."

Originally Posted by TheNoonans

When we walked in the terminal door August 2008, we had already "point/counter pointed" every possible scenario that could arise and had a solution.

The solution is simple. Land off airport, and be welcomed.