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52F CONSTRUCTION AERIAL UPDATE

chrispratt

Well Known Member
For 52F users and those of us who just like to watch others work, here?s a few aerial views of de-construction day 4 at 52F (Northwest Regional Airport, Roanoke, TX). The runway already looks smoother than the rock pile we?ve been calling a runway these past years. For those not in the know, 52F was originally built some 40+ years ago and the runway has never been resurfaced in all that time. With luck and no significant rain, we should have a new runway in about 60 days give or take.

Thanks to my lovely wife ? Chatchada ? for the photos.

155ow88.jpg

Heavy destruction equipment made short work of the old, worn runway surface.

vpyfew.jpg

Looks like the new runway may be a bit wider than the old one -- that would be nice.

nd96wx.jpg

Maybe after the runway is done I?ll finally rebuild my wheelpants that have taken a beating on the old runway. No point in doing before.

Of course, there?s the mandatory and much anticipated post-photo debrief and brunch at the Beacon Caf? (T67 Hicks).
2edys2g.jpg

I really shouldn't eat all that, but I did.
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Thankfully aviation is filled with good folks like my friend at TKI (McKinney National) who offered me a refuge for my RV while construction is underway.
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When it's all done, I hope we get a lot of visitors at 52F like we used to.

Chris
 
Looking good, Chris. Any chance the municipality in charge of Airport Road could re-route the north leg before that vacant field is developed? I'm confident you guys have already discussed this, but I still have memories of that student pilot hitting that SUV. If this is a sticky subject, I can delete it.
 
Looking good, Chris. Any chance the municipality in charge of Airport Road could re-route the north leg before that vacant field is developed?...

While that is a great idea, I don't see that happening. I'm not privy to all the details but like everything else at this airport ... it's complicated. I do believe that runway 17 when reopened will have a displaced threshold to help address this very problem.

With a new POA (Property Owners Association) now in charge I am hopeful for more and better changes to come.

Chris
 
Chatchada and Chris,
Thanks for the photos!! Good to see you made it to your escape hangar.

Blake Graham N801RH
 
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We need to hire that crew here in Asheville, NC. Our guys have been working on a new runway for two flippin' years! Everyone is landing on a wide taxiway and half the crossing taxiways are unusable. The airliners can't even get to the end of the runway to take off and have to back-taxi. It's a real cluster.
 
Price Tag

Whats the price tag for all this work? And how is it being funded?
 
Congrats on the new runway. That's got to feel good. You guys need a good restaurant on the field now.

Amen to that. Wish we could lure the Beacon Cafe from T67 over to 52F. They used to be here and we miss them. Put it on the project list :rolleyes:

Chris
 
Whats the price tag for all this work? And how is it being funded?

Steve: I don't know the answer to the first question and I don't want to guess other than somewhere around $500k. Maybe the POA can answer. I think the POA website www.fly52.org has the data.

But to the second question, it's being funded through POA (Property Owners Association) member assessments over five years based on square footage owned. I own one T-Hangar and the assessment is not a burden and well worth it for the benefit received.

Chris
 
Price Tag

Chris,

The reason for the question, here at SC99 which is our airpark, we have a 35 X 3000 paved runway. Been in place for 17 plus years with lots of crack sealing and asphalt spray stuff. At some point we are going to have to resurface with at least another 1.5 inches of new asphalt and was curious in a ball park comparison of pricing. Our guesstimates are 200K for just resurfacing. That is nothing like your total rebuild of the runway.

Thanks for the info.
 
Whats the price tag for all this work? And how is it being funded?

$50K engineering/plans by http://www.hwlochner.com/services_aviation-hexagon.html
$75K for drainage improvements prior to runway constructions (200+ trailers of silt trucked off) https://dougreeves.smugmug.com/52F-Airport-Improvements/
$659K for new runway with Portland cement mixed in down to 12 inches, asphalt top and paint. Self-funded by less than 30 property owners investing $25K each for a 5% return paid back over 6 years. No banks were involved, other than to hold the money. Work did not begin until all the money was deposited (that's what was voted on by a majority of the property owners a year and a half ago). Yearly assessments based on hangar square footage services the debt. In all probability the runway will be paid off in 5 years, not 6.

Blueprints:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_8DgKzT_eudMktqVk5acUpMdDg

2560 x 1920 pixel image from today:
https://dougreeves.smugmug.com/52F-New-Runway/i-vLV8SNP/X5

The 'you won't believe it unless you read it' history of 52F going back to 1969 can be read at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_8DgKzT_eudblh2UVZwdFdkbzY5d1FXWjY0WkJTM09fV3g0/view?usp=sharing

The comment was made that the packed dirt in place now is BETTER than the old runway. Not a joke!

v/r,
dr
 
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For those that have roots at 52F do you know if there is lot space that can be purchased at the airport in which to construct a new hangar? With updates to revitalize the airport this has to be somewhat of a common question.
 
Airnav

airnav still has this as being open for business. Maybe you might want to inform airnav of the closure and new width?
 
I've seen several mentions of the airport as "Aero Valley" vs NWR. Has there been a formal name change yet?

$50K engineering/plans by http://www.hwlochner.com/services_aviation-hexagon.html
$75K for drainage improvements prior to runway constructions (200+ trailers of silt trucked off) https://dougreeves.smugmug.com/52F-Airport-Improvements/
$659K for new runway with Portland cement mixed in down to 12 inches, asphalt top and paint. Self-funded by less than 30 property owners investing $25K each for a 5% return paid back over 6 years. No banks were involved, other than to hold the money. Work did not begin until all the money was deposited (that's what was voted on by a majority of the property owners a year and a half ago). Yearly assessments based on hangar square footage services the debt. In all probability the runway will be paid off in 5 years, not 6.

Blueprints:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_8DgKzT_eudMktqVk5acUpMdDg

2560 x 1920 pixel image from today:
https://dougreeves.smugmug.com/52F-New-Runway/i-vLV8SNP/X5

The 'you won't believe it unless you read it' history of 52F going back to 1969 can be read at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_8DgKzT_eudblh2UVZwdFdkbzY5d1FXWjY0WkJTM09fV3g0/view?usp=sharing

The comment was made that the packed dirt in place now is BETTER than the old runway. Not a joke!

v/r,
dr

That's actually less than I would have thought.
 
Online petition most likely in the near future...

Hey Doug, I looked at both sites and can't find the petition; is it hidden or am I blind? I wanna sign it! Ditch the silly Hyde era NW Reg name; it's Aero Valley to me.

Thank you John! The petition is on a clipboard in my Jeep (gauging interest with the property owners and renters at 52F). So far I've asked 45 people and got 45 signatures - batting a thousand!

I've been kicking around the idea of setting up an online petition for people NOT based at 52F to sign. Lemme see if I can get that online soon - I'll keep you in the loop!

Thanks again and best,
dr


PS: A pic I took yesterday...

IMG_7661-XL.jpg
 
The petition is on a clipboard in my Jeep (gauging interest with the property owners and renters at 52F). So far I've asked 45 people and got 45 signatures - batting a thousand!

Doh! I'm an idiot, missed the part about the petition being at your hangar... but still, if you get it online, I'll sign it.

And while we're at it, as mentioned previously with other airports, let's rescind the name changes at Redbird, Denton and McKinney... harrumph!
 
I periodically view pictures of the runway construction taking place at 52F. I'm amazed at how many hangars I see on this field.
How many aircraft are based here?
 
I periodically view pictures of the runway construction taking place at 52F. I'm amazed at how many hangars I see on this field.
How many aircraft are based here?

AirNav lists 616 aircraft based. Normally airport data is updated every 3 years, but in reality, Who knows?
 
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Compacted and ready for primer. That gets sprayed down on Monday....cures for two days....then asphalt.

Is that really necessary? That runway is really never going to be near salt water, and I don't imagine you're going for resale value.
 
Rattle can primer would probably set faster. But may increase costs!

BTW; Will that be a 2-part primer?
 
AirNav lists 616 aircraft based. Normally airport data is updated every 3 years, but in reality, Who knows?

Would be interesting to take a census. 616 airplanes is a lot of airplanes and might make this one of the most populous airports in the USA. I doubt it. Sounds more like a promotion than a fact. I'd guess the number is closer to 300.

But it would be interesting to know. I'll bet Doug is working on that right now. :D

Chris
 
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