Headline:
Mulino airport still waits for promised upgradingThe article included comments by pilots and users of Mulino airport who were critical of the Port of Portland.
Excerpts from the article……..
In the body of the article a paragraph states, "Port officials have talked with State aeronautics officials about the State taking over the Mulino Airport or possibly exchanging it, for the state-owned Aurora Airport". However, Ann Crook said in the article that she wasn’t involved in those discussions and said she doesn’t categorize those talks as serious.
(I certainly hope not!)The article states that before 1988, 15 homes were removed from the area to make way for the 3,600 foot asphalt runway that replaced a perfectly nice grass strip
(italic comment mine). A development plan for the Mulino airport was published in June 1993 to outline projects time lines and costs for improvements. Five years later, local pilots are complaining that the Port has not followed the plan to improve the facility.Dr. Joseph Intile who was involved in building 17 hangers on Port of Portland land at Mulino said, "People would be at Mulino if there was fuel. If there was fuel, there would be businesses, but people don’t want to invest in the hangers without the fuel". Fuel trucks can no longer be used due to fire marshal regulations and a tank based fuel system would cost $50,000 to install. The Port of Portland officials said they have no plans to install fuel or build hangers. Larry Stevens, Mulino pilot and OPA Mulino president said, "to have no fuel for an airport is just the pits".
Brian Resch, Mulino pilot stated" The Port went out and spent millions of dollars and rooted people out of their homes and bungled the whole thing all the way along." David Gambell said that Port officials have "neglected the airport and reneged on promises to improve the facility."
Jim Matsies was quoted, "The Port of Portland makes a lot of promises and keeps none of them". Matsies moved his aircraft from Mulino to Aurora due to his frustration, the article reported.
John Brockley, aviation director at the Port of Portland, said, "significant improvements have been made at Mulino", claming that in the past 10 years about $10 million was spent to purchase the airport and adjacent property, improve the runway and taxiway and clear obstructions. 80% of that funding was supplied by the FAA. Brockley claims that the Port’s planned growth hasn’t happened.
John Newell, general aviation manager, Port of Portland stated, "There have probably been times that we haven’t given enough attention to those customers. When you’re running in red ink, you can’t afford to throw a bunch of staff at it." Newell also stated that it is "questionable whether the airport is needed."
Brockley said, "It’s a nice facility, but it is not particularly easy to get to"
The article says that 43 aircraft are based a Mulino, with 30,000 operations in 1996, a growth of more than 12,000 operations in 4 years.
(I’m not sure I trust all the article’s numbers, check some quoted in out the following…) The article stated that Independence State airport, located in a heavy residential area, recorded 33,000 operations in 1996. The article went on to say that the Bend airport had 36,660 flights with 107 based aircraft and that Independence airport has 12 to 25 based aircraft depending on the season. (Must be a typo, I’ve seen more than that in the Independence pattern on a sunny day!).Anyway, that’s the latest aviation news from The Oregonian.
Gale Jacobs