[TheNoonans]

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