Waiting For News....
 

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?

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.


WOW! Be careful!

News From Mount Everest
 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...t_12247737.htm

Looks like they made it safely!

Another Link
 

http://www.everest-skydive.com/

Lots of photos, but I didn't find any video other than some of the stuff from 2008.

Good Stuff. :cheers:

Skydive Laconia
 

Namaste to all,

Thank you for your interest and support with Everest Skydive 2009. Mary and I are back in Kathmandu aftert a three week trek into Sagamatha National Park in the Himalayas, healthy, happy and ready to return to the US. It will probably take three months to sort through all the pictures and journal entries, but when it's done we will be adding it to our website. To say it was the trip of a lifetime is an understatement....lol. All said, we ascended to 16,900ft MSL by foot (Gorak Shep) and I'm proud to anounce that a new world record was set today, highest parachute landing in the world, by myself and my co-ordinator Wendy Smith from New Zealand, when we landed our parachutes at Kala Pattar (17,192ft MSL) beside the Khumbu Glacier.

Don't know if the news will make it stateside, but it's making quite a buzz over here. Press conference tomorrow afternoon before our flights home.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,

Tom

So impressive Tom. Congrats to the 2 of you. Can't wait to read about the trip.

So you want to jump onto Everest.....
 

I can't imagine there are two groups in such a short time frame accomplishing this feat but here is a link to a similar (if not same) experience. No experience needed on the tandem jump.....

http://www.incredible-adventures.com...erest2009.html

Truly incredible.

I have always wanted to skydive. My better half, being a pilot, can see no good reason to jump from a perfectly sound airplane. What does he know -

Tom once you kids are up and running in Laconia I think you are the guy I want to do my jumping with! Kudos on your recent adventure and thanks for pointing out that crazy airport we had more fun watching landings on Youtube!

Keep us posted! I can only think we in a lakes region will be so fortunate to have such an experienced jumper in our Mist (midst too)!

Congrats
 

Congrats Tom.

The YouTube video is great. Hope to see some articles in the local papers soon.

Absolutely Awesome!!!!
 

Best wishes for the Noonans!!

More videos; http://www.everest-skydive.com/gallery.php

Click on link and scroll down to videos.

And, Blue Skys to you two, too.
Terry

imagine
 

How long has this non-decision making process been going on now?

Imagine if every new idea required the government/gov agency to make a decision in order to move forward

Oh, and the fact that they are taking this long makes me feel much safer about this process

I have no interest in jumping out of a plane, but feel frustrated for these people

Sman, I agree completely.

The first post was in January so we're going on 11 months, and the initial request has to date back to 2008. Basically it seems the government is waging a war of attrition.

I hope the Noonan's don't give up!

I Called The LAA This Afternoon...
 

to see if the ADO had completed an air space evaluation and submitted their findings to the FAA, and also to find out if the Noonan's were listed in The 'Topics For Discussion' for next Thursdays meeting.
Being a Friday afternoon, I guess they must have left for the weekend, as all I got was an answering machine. :(

A silver lining... If you will, over all the Noonan's have a tremendous amount of support here, and I think they have fallen in love with the area, so as bailing on their venture at this point and time is not an option! :)

Best wishes to Tom and Mary!!

Skydive Laconia
 

Hi Terry,

Thank you (and everyone else!) for your continued support. Not to worry, we aren't going anywhere. As I mentioned from the start, we have the patience and the resolve to see this process through to it's logical conclusion, even if it means taking the request to Washington DC and the FAA's federal headquarters. We have the support and the means to see it through and plan to.

But to be fair the LAA, despite the fact a handful of people there may want to vote their personal preference and not their clearly defined legal obligation, to do so on thier part would open up a Pandora's Box of compliance failures that would result in both the forfeiture of future federal funding as well as the refunding of (approximately) the last ten years of federal funding received. I can't imagine the board doesn't know this, and would be very surprised if they would be willing to subject themselves to that simply because on a personal level some of them don't want us there.

Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the meeting, I am in New Zealand at the moment skydiving. Mary will be there however and she will be there for any questions or concerns before and after the meeting.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight, Tom

Skydive Laconia
 

Greetings to all,

I wanted to post an update as it's been a few weeks since the last meeting.

Basically, the local FSDO went out to the airport and was told that they have a concern about landing parachutes affecting the IFR glideslope and a concern about parachutists crossing the taxiway after landing.

Neither issue is problem, as is evidenced by most of the other 270 airports in the country that have IFR glideslopes and parachutists crossing taxiways, none the less, the due diligence required by the FSDO is to bring in specialists to evaluate the concerns.

Mary and I are not concerned at all. Skydiving only occurs in VFR conditions, so we will never be dropping jumpers in IFR conditions, so to say that we could disrupt the glideslope operation during IFR conditions isn't grounded in reality. It could be argued (is being argued?) that our presence in VFR conditions could affect the IFR glideslope for pilots practicing IFR approaches in VFR conditions. To that all I can say is that in my 11 years, 3000 skydives, 15 countries skydiving in, I have never once heard of a landing parachute affecting an IFR glideslope array. But if there is even a remote chance of that being possible (and being factually proved to even be possible), I'm all ears, I would love to read the facts and findings on such an event actually occuring. Needless to say though, given the fact that someone practicing IFR landings in VFR conditions is in a plane with the necessary avionics to fly IFR, the same plane will most certainly be equipped with a radio tuned to the local frequency, and it would be in the spirit of "sharing the sky" that the FAA embraces, for both the jump pilot and practicing IFR pilot to communicate with each other prior to dropping skydivers and prior to making IFR practice approaches. It's a simple plan that works around the country, around the world really.

But in the end, if by some remote chance the LAA decides that we can interupt the glideslope in VFR conditions and prevent pilots from practicing IFR approaches in VFR conditions, and use that as a reason to deny us access to landing on the airport, they will be giving a "right of way" to one legal aeronautical activity over another, and that will be a sure fire discrimination victory for us, so either way, Mary and I are not very concerned about it.

The other issue, crossing active taxiways, is really a no brainer. I would love to see anyone actually argue (the easy part) and show evidence (the hard part) that parachutists pose any safety concern in crossing taxiways. If, as I have seen, parachutists can safely cross the taxiway with a Citation X on it and a Blue Angels F-18 taxiing by at a busier municipal airport in Florida, without any incident, along with all the other federally funded municipal airports in the US that can safely accomidate crossing active taxiways, I would be geniunely surprised if any factual information could be produced at all to show that LCI cannot safely accomidate crossing the active taxiway.

Anyways, that's the status of things.

We aren't worried about either issue, at worst, they are simply yet another delay.

Although, I do find it kind of odd that it took close to sixteen months for these "safety concerns" to finally be brought to the FAA........

Oh well, they are on the table now and being dealt with.

I'm skydiving in New Zealand at the moment avoiding the snow and working with one of the busiest dropzones in the world. They average 15,000 tandem skydives a year (that's 45,000 people a year in the sky, 2 per tandem plus videographer). They employ 65 people (all locals) and are thoroughly embraced by the community. And even the commecial pilots flying through our patterns in Boeing 737s work with the jump pilots to ensure the airspace is available to everyone. No incidents, everyone working together.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight.

Just curious about why the first part of this post is blocked out (at least on my pc).
Isn't it nice that a lot of people have "agendas" be it for or against skydiving, speed limits, WOW Trail, snowmobiling, ATVs, GFBL boats, McMansions, bartenders with blue hair, $175,000 fire trucks, every restaurant I can think of, and a couple dozen other things.
We are very fortunate to live in a society that allows us to voice our opinions as we do.
JMHO

The first part isn't blocked anymore. Must be my pc.

Hi Tom,

Thank you for the update. Most of us are 100% behind you, and are looking forward to blue skies to you and joining in a very celebratory visit at your Grand Opening, Laconia Airport 2010!! Through you're brilliant struggle in dealing with government agencies, it is very clear whom needs an update!

Just waiting for the green light, to send you some paying Customers!
Terry

Skydive Laconia
 

Greetings to all,

While we await the conclusion of this latest (and presumably final) evaluation, I thought I would pass on some information to the online community here, in case anyone is interested in followiing along.

From day one, Mary and I have always stated that the facts of this airport access issue have always sided 100% with our proposal, (with zero ambiguity and zero room for "interpretation"). To that end, I wanted to offer:

FAA Advisory Circular 105-2D. PARACHUTE OPERATIONS ONTO AIRPORTS

Most parachute operations fully take place on airports, including having the parachute landing area located on the airport property. 14 CFR 105.23 requires approval from airport management prior to skydiving onto any airport. However, 105.23c allows a parachutist to drift over an airport with an open parachute, without airport management approval as long as the parachutist remains at least 2,000 feet above that airport's traffic pattern..

A large number of airports that accommodate parachute operations also have different kinds of aviation activities taking place simultaneously, including flight training, glider and helicopter operations, helicopter emergency medical services, sight-seeing operations, and aerobatic practice over or in the immediate vicinity of the airport. Many airports also accommodate a large volume of transient traffic while skydiving occurs. The FAA recommends that shared-facility airports have operating procedures so that each activity can operate safely by knowing the procedure for each of the other activities. Meetings should be held with the airport management, FAA Flight Standards, and representatives of each type of airport user should be held to develop procedures and then hold regularly scheduled meetings to ensure airport policies and procedures are kept current.

Traffic Patterns. With a minimum parachute opening altitude of 2,000 feet above the ground (and most parachutists open much higher), parachutes are nearly always open 800 feet or more above the traffic pattern altitude for any airport. Descending slowly and easy to visually acquire, parachutists and pilots have a shared responsibility to see and avoid each other. Often, procedures can be employed that reduce the potential for parachutists and pilots in a traffic pattern to be in proximity.

Parachute landings on airports. Airports may designate parachute landing areas that are suitable. While skydivers prefer to land on grass areas, there is no prohibition against landing on runways, taxiways and other hard-surfaced areas when a parachutist finds it necessary to do so. Areas such as runways, taxiways, clear ways and obstacle free zones should not be used as a primary landing area but are not prohibited areas and should be vacated as soon as practical.

Federally Obligated Airports. Airports that have received federal grants for airport improvements have signed grant assurances including the assurance that the airport will not arbitrarily discriminate among "types, kinds, and classes of aeronautical activity." The FAA defines skydiving as an aeronautical activity, deserving fair consideration for accommodation. In any instance where the airport sponsor believes that skydiving is incompatible with the existing volume of operations, the FAA will assess whether safe airport operations would be jeopardized. . Airports that insist on denying skydiving activities in an arbitrary manner risk being the subject of a Part 13 Informal Complaint or a Part 16 Formal Complaint that could result in the FAA finding the airport to be in non-compliance with its grant assurance agreements, which could potentially jeopardize future airport funding. See AC 150/ 5190-7 for more information.


16. PARACHUTE LANDING AREAS.

A. Prohibited Landing Areas. For most airports, there are no areas that prohibit a parachutist from landing in/on including runways and taxiways. Areas such as runways, taxiways, clear ways and obstacle free zones should not be used as a primary landing area but are not prohibited areas and should be vacated as soon as practical.

B. Normal Parachuting Operations Landing Areas. The USPA has recommended that areas used for skydiving should be unobstructed, with the following minimum radial distances to the nearest hazard as defined in USPA's BSRs:

1. Solo students and A-license holders - 100meters

2. B- and C-license holders - 50 meters

3. D-license holders - unlimited


Blue skies to all and to all (including parachutists) a good flight,

Tom

Happy New Year To The Noonans...
 

Hi Tom,

Seems that the Holidays have hampered progress anew in this matter.
Any more news? Would be greatly appreciated.
Terry

Skydive Laconia
 

Hi Terry!

Happy holidays to you and everyone on the board. I'm still enjoying my second summer in New Zealand, averaging about 10-12 tandems a day, there is some amazing scenery down here over Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown.

As for updates, I wish I had one. Still status quo, FSDO called in FAA experts to assess the LAAs concerns about crossing the runway and (I believe) the radar array as well. I'm guessing the holidays have slowed the process down as you mentioned.

As soon as I heard anything either way, I will post what I know here.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,

Tom

Sorry it did not work out
 

The FAA said no to the jump school at Laconia Airport.
http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll...924/-1/CITIZEN

Come on up to Moultonborough! We could use new commerce in the area.

...FAA - bad decision!!
 

...that totally stinks...what a loser decision by the FAA....booo on the Federal Aviation Administration administrator(s) who made that decision....does this area ever need a boost from people visiting off-season to go skydiving! ...not a happy decision for Laconia-Gilford-Lake Winnipesaukee and area....talk about a genuine stimulus with some lasting revenue stream that would have powered up existing restaurants-hotels-stores & employee residents...not going to happen...

Did you know that Laconia, the county seat for Belknap County, and as of December 31, 2009, Belknap County has an unemployment rate of 7.5% which makes it the second most unemployed of all eleven counties in the state. Only Coos County, way up north, which is totally dead at 9.4%, is worse off.

"I think it will remain in the mid-7 percent range, maybe even approach 8 percent, as we go through 2010"

Dennis Delay, economist NH Ctr Public Policy Studies, Union Leader 1/29/09, p B4

Skydiving nixed at airport
 

In spite of the smoke & mirrors PR blitz by the Noonans (accompanied by thinly veiled threats concerning funding) wiser heads have prevailed.
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."
The solution is simple. Land off airport, and be welcomed.

Noonans -
So sorry to hear of your lost battle. :(

Something Fishy...
 

I'm taking a big risk here.... I think maybe.....just maybe.. The Noonans were not big O'Bama supporters. After all......O'Bama owns the FAA now....... :look: ......Nah; It couldn't be political..no way. NB

As a stupid American Citizen, as I am sure the FAA thinks of me, I think this decision is an indication of how the government intends to "help" small business.

Folks, it doesn't matter whether George or Barack is in power, the government employees are your enemy. They are political appointees and they will protect their turf to the detriment of any entrepeneur who tries to create a business. Of course there are exceptions,,,,,,,,,,,,Green businesses are OK. Screw that!

The Noonans have proven their persistence. I would like to predict this isn't the end of the story.

The Bell Has Rung On Round # 1...
 

Much more to come folks. :)

Terry
_______________________

Skydive Laconia
 

Greetings to all,

Well, like many of you, we recently received news of the ADO's report. We were pretty surprised at it's content. I honestly don't think it will stand up down the road.

I'm a little disappointed in Mr. Hemmel's continued insistence on bringing negativity to this thread, as we were the only ones bringing facts to the table throughout this discussion and the "threat of funding loss" has nothing to do with us, it's in the FAA regs.

Mary and I knew from around November 2008 that the LAA was looking for any possible means to reject our proposal, so when we finally got this report, admittedly we didn't bother expending the time or resources to travel to this last meeting, as we knew with 100% certainty the LAA would be issuing a denial.

To be honest, as disappointed as we are in the process as a whole, the fact that any answer has finally been generated is a step in the right direction. This issue is far from being concluded.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,

Tom

Business has always been a war of words and power which I'm sure Mr. Noonan is well aware of. I'm also in hopes that the Noonans are rethinking there game plan,appeal the FAA's decision and take the gloves off when it comes to dealing with your opponent and drop the Mr. nice guy behind closed doors and get the job done. Mr. Noonan,You can't fix stupid so just go around. Business as usual.

I wish you both and hope for success in your venture. In these economically challenged times it is always good to see people trying to bring economic stimulus to the area. Don't give up I think you have alot of supporters in the area.

What's good for the goose...
 

Apparently, they do. One hopes you have the grace and good sense to accept it as well.

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

The 'racetrack' traffic
 

Those jets that the NASCAR racers come in, seems to take over the airport and fly in one by one. Maybe they are concerned about 'that' traffic. It is just a matter of curtailing sky dive activities on those weekends.

Hi BroadHopper...
 

An earlier quote from Tom Noonan...
"As for NASCAR weekends, we mentioned in an earlier post that we have no intention of operating the first NASCAR weekend so that we can sit back and monitor the traffic. We want to do our own research on the NASCAR traffic before making any decisions on jump operation during such a reportedly busy weekend. Worst case scenario, we voluntarily shut our doors that weekend and go to the races ourselves. As a side note, our intended parachute landings over the course of a season expect to be between 1000 and 3000. The Deland Municipal Airport in Florida receives all of the overflow jet traffic and small aircraft traffic for Daytona NASCAR weekends, and the dropzone there does 80,000 annual parachute jumps by comparison. They do not shut down during NASCAR weekends and have never had an issue with NASCAR related air traffic. With that said, it certainly is an issue that deserves detailed analysis, and we plan to do such analysis before we make any decisions on whether we choose to operate, even if at a reduced rate, during the NASCAR events."

I could see maybe, that the LAA might want to add a clause in any permit issued, but to turn the Noonan's down altogether is ludicrous.

Round # 2 coming right up!

Terry
____________________________

I am a skydiver. I went through AFF and got my A-License and B-License at Skydive New England in Lebanon, Maine.

A couple points after reading through the thread:

1) Skydivers are generally fairly laid back people and they would bring good attitudes and revenue to the area.

2) I have jumped at a few different locations. Skydive Deland is at a small airport down in Florida. They have been operating for many years. There weren't any issues in regards to air traffic or incidents when I was there.

3) I think Laconia would be a cool place to have a dropzone. Seeing the lake when you are up in the air would be awesome. You would get some great views of the White Mts. too.

4) Skydivers are very aware of air traffic. No one wants to have a skydiver/plane encounter. That's not good for either party.

That's about all I have to say. Just wanted to put my 2 cents in.

Two cents? I would say that you contributed 1,000,000 times that amount to the discussion. For those of us who were very dissapointed with the latest ruling, thank you for your support. Viewing Winnipesaukee at 1,000 feet up, is a site I would like to see some day from a tandem jump.

Some Views of DZ landing areas. These are all from Google earth at about the same altitude.

As you can see, you have to cross taxiways and runways at both of the other places I mentioned before. It's like crossing the road. You look both ways, and make sure there isn't traffic. The light blue is the student landing area. Lime green is the advanced landing area.

Laconia:
http://www.crisdow.com/images/laconia.jpg

Skydive New England:
http://www.crisdow.com/images/SNE.jpg

Skydive Deland:
http://www.crisdow.com/images/deland.jpg

Moultonborough landing strip
 

Tom,
I am not sure if this was mentioned prior...have you looked into the landing strip in Moiuntonborough on RT 25. I for one would love to have that type of daytime businesses in town??

Skydive Laconia
 

Greetings to all,

Thank you all for your continued support. In the beginning, Mary and I approached the LAA to bring a legal and viable business to the airport. It was our expectation that the board would work with us, not against us in coming to a mutually beneficial agreement. Obviously, for anyone following this thread and our proposal, that did not happen.

We never set out to become the poster children for airport access rights, but that is where this has gone. The wheels are already set in motion on a Federal level regarding the composition of the regional report issued and the decision made by the LAA. Suffice to say, there was certainly surprise on that federal level that the report was issued the way it was.........

As a side note, you may be interested to know that when the LAA finally requested that the FAA evaluate our proposal, the form they used was an application for a new runway.......and the evaluation was then made based on that form's criteria......(I don't ever recall asking the LAA to build us a new runway.)

The silver lining in the debacle that has become this flawed proposal process is that when this is shortly concluded on a federal level, it will ensure that never again will a federally funded airport be allowed to ignore the rules and regulations set forth by the FAA. It will become a precedent setting case that will be used across the country to ensure equal access to all aeronautical activities on federally funded airports.

That is a bigger victory that we ever set out for, we just wanted to skydive, but in the end if our struggle keeps the next prospective dropzone owner from going through what we went through, then it will be worth it.

We asked the LAA to work with us, and they chose not to. Now the issue is out of our hands and in Washington.

We remain vigilant in our committment to open Skydive Laconia and aren't going anywhere.

I am on a flight to LAX, gotta run. Namaste.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,

Tom