Fly-in, Young Eagles are on schedule

It’s time to fly.

Portland Municipal Airport is offering several opportunities to get a bird’s eye view of the community in the coming weeks.

Airport manager Hal Tavzel reminded Portland Board of Aviation on Wednesday that the facility’s annual pancake breakfast and fly-in is scheduled for Saturday and it will be hosting a Young Eagles flying event next month.

The pancake breakfast will run from 6 to 10:30 a.m. at the airport in partnership with the American Legion Riders. The cost is $7.

As part of the event, pilots will also be offering plane rides for $20 per person from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Also, Tavzel noted that Goodfolk & O’Tymes Biplane Rides planned to have a 1930 New Standard open-air biplane at the airport Thursday through Saturday. (He said it is one of only seven of its kind in existence.) It will offer 15-minute flights for $80 on Thursday evening and from 9 a.m. until dark Friday and Saturday.

The airport will host a Young Eagles event from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7. Free plane rides will be offered for ages 8 through 17 to give them an introduction to aviation.

Young Eagles is an Experimental Aircraft Association program launched in 1992 that has provided more than 2.3 million free flights to youth.

Board members Faron Parr, Clyde Bray, John Ferguson and Caleb Lutes also reviewed the current version of the airport’s capital improvement plan. It will need to be updated and turned in to the Federal Aviation Administration by Dec. 1.

The current plan calls for design of a pavement rehabilitation project for the facility’s original 4,000 feet of runway — a project to extend the runway to 5,500 feet was completed in 2022 — in 2025 with construction the next year. (Construction of a new snow removal equipment building is also planned for 2025.) Design for reconstruction of the existing airport apron is slated for 2027, followed by construction in 2028. Design of a wildlife control and security fence is planned for 2029.

“This is your wish list of how you intend to use FAA funds,” Jason Clearwaters of engineering firm Butler, Fairman & Seufert reminded the board.

The plan will need to be extended to 2030, with Clearwaters suggesting construction of the wildlife fence for that year.

He also noted that the plan includes the construction of new T-hangars through a state program that has not traditionally been funded but may become available.

The board will discuss the plan again next month with final approval scheduled for November.

Clearwaters reported to the board that he expects to hear back on approval of an infrastructure bill grant request this month and a request for traditional FAA funding next month. Both would be used toward construction of the airport’s apron expansion.

In other business, the board:

•Received an Aviation Indiana updated. Portland Municipal Airport hosted the organization’s quarterly meeting for the first time Aug. 8 with 52 aviation officials from across the state in attendance. “I felt like it couldn’t have gone much better,” said Tavzel. The Aviation Indiana annual conference is scheduled for Oct. 15 through 17 in Terre Haute.

•Heard from Tavzel that the airport sold 13,700 gallons of fuel in July for $59,624.40. That’s up from 10,798 gallons in July 2023.

•Awarded a project to install concrete floors in three T-hangars at a cost of $21,600.

•Learned from Portland clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips that Carson Hartzell agreed to the crop restrictions for his bid to rent 26.28 acres of airport-owned farmland. (Certain areas of the property are limited to low-lying crops for safety reasons.) The board agreed last month to accept Hartzell’s bid of $302.50 per acre, pending his agreement to the restrictions.

•Paid claims totaling $3,224.88.