RNOFlyer Volume 2- Issue 3 October 2015

A publication for the General Aviation Community of the Reno-Tahoe International Airport

Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority Page 1

In This Issue: GAMS Workshop Pg 1RTAG Report Pg 1Upcoming Events Pg 1Upcoming Meetings Pg 2Employee/Tenant Lunch Pg 2Burning Man @ Atlantic Pg 2Taxiway C Reconstruction Pg 3Master Pilot Awards Pg 3Air Races Parking @ Atlantic Pg 3Thunderbirds at RNO Pg 4Operation Santa Claus Pg 4Winter Weather Pattern Info Pg 4

GAMS Workshop Coming in DecemberKen Moen, Property Specialist, Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority

RTAG ReportBob Meurer, PresidentReno Tahoe Aviation Group

On Sunday, August 2, 2015, the Reno Tahoe Aviation Group held its 1st Flyout.

RTAG member-owned aircraft departed Reno and flew to Hawthorne, NV for a group breakfast. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful day for flying.

Our thanks go to Betty Easley for providing 2 vans to transport our group to Maggie’s restaurant and for taking the excellent photos of the event. We had a great breakfast accompanied by lots of laughter, and of course, flying stories. Check our website renoaviation.org for more photos of the flyout.

We plan to do more flyouts and encourage you to join us. We welcome your suggestions and ideas for future flyout destinations.

from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the River Room, located across from Baggage Carousel #4 in the main ter-minal building at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Validated parking will be available for workshop attendees.

The CEO Advisory Group will present both the current language and the proposed changes to the current GA Commercial Minimum Standards in a charrette format and attendees will be asked for their input on the proposed changes. This input will allow the CEO Advisory Group to collect feedback and return for additional deliberations prior to making final recommendations to the President/CEO. For additional information, con-tact Ken Moen at 775-328-6486 or email him at kmoen@renoairport.com.

Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority (RTAA) President/CEO Marily Mora formed an Advisory Group consisting of Reno-Tahoe International Airport stakeholders to review and update the current GA Commercial Minimum Standards in an effort to align them with the RTAA Strategic Priorities of optimizing general aviation and facilitating economic development.

The CEO Advisory Group has been meeting twice a month since April 2015. Considerable time and ef-fort has been put into reviewing FAA guidelines, min-imum standards from other airports and a re-drafting of the existing document. The CEO Advisory Group surveyed over 50 regional aviation businesses solicit-ing input regarding the current minimum standards.

RTAA staff and CEO Advisory Group members will behosting a public workshop on December 2, 2015

Upcoming EventsJul 27 - Jan 2016Twy C Closed / Construction

October 16Honor Flight Arrival

November 5 Honor Flight Arrival

November 11Veterans Day

December 12Operation Santa Claus

Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority Page 2

Board of Trustees:

Andy Wirth, ChairmanRick Murdock, Vice ChairmanNat Carasali, SecretaryJerry Hall, TreasurerWilliam “Bill” EckLisa GianoliAdam R. MayberryJenifer RoseJessica Sferrazza

Trent Brownlee, General ManagerAtlantic Aviation RNO

Burning Man always brings lots of people from around the US and the world to our airport. Over the last few years, this event has changed a bit here at RNO, and it doesn’t just affect the commercial side of the airport anymore, but now the General Aviation side as well.

To accommodate the charter traffic from RNO to BRC we allowed three companies to erect tents on the ramp to process their guests. This worked out well with each of the three businesses very busy. Most of the aircraft flying between here and BRC were Cessna Caravans.

Upcoming Meetings

Nov 4 @ 5:00 pmRTAG MeetingCAP Headquarters601 S. Rock Blvd.Reno NV 89502

Nov 9 @ 4:30 pmRTIA User’s CommitteeRTIA Firehouse1805 Riley Ave.Reno NV 89502

Nov 10 @ 5:15 pmReno-Stead Airport AssociationReno-Stead Airport Manager’sOffice4895 Texas Ave.Reno NV 89506

Nov 12 @ 9:00 amBoard of Trustees, Reno-Tahoe Airport AuthorityRTAA Board Room2001 E. Plumb Ln.Reno NV 89502

Dec 2 @ 5:00 pmGA Minimum Standards Public Workshop - Airport AuthorityRTAA River Room (Bag Claim Area)2001 E. Plumb Ln.Reno NV 89502

Dec 10 @ 9:00 amBoard of Trustees, Reno-Tahoe Airport AuthorityRTAA Board Room2001 E. Plumb Ln.Reno NV 89502

Many of you came over to the RNO terminal on Thursday, October 1st for our 3rd Annual Tenant and Employee Luncheon despite the rain.

There was some great food available from one of 6 different food truck vendors, from burgers and BBQ to Italian Hoagies and fish-and-chips.

Of course, there was soft-serve ice cream to top it all off, along with some nice raffle prizes.

Not only did we see friends from all of our terminal tenants, but FAA and TSA staffs joined us, along with many of our General Aviation partners from around the airport.

Thanks to our Airport Parking, Facilities and Marketing staff for arranging a wonderful ‘airport family’ event, and THANK YOU, for coming out to join us. We will see you again next year!!

Burning Man Grows General Aviation Activity at RNO with Full Ramps at Atlantic Aviation

Employee/Tenant Lunch Successful Despite RainMike Scott, V.P. of Operations & Public Safety, Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority

This year the event was different in that a lot of jets came in stayed here for the entire time. Last year, we had fewer jets staying and more ins-and-outs. For us, it also seems like the character of Burning Man is changing a little, given all the higher-end at-tention the event is getting…at least as evidenced by how full our ramp was with jets!

As far as the airplane counts go, we don’t count the repeat Burning Man charters, our tenants, or RTAA tenants during the week. The good news was that we sold more fuel this year during Burning Man. Even though our aircraft count was down to 336 from 488 in 2014, we sold 111,737 gallons of JetA compared to 67,317 gallons in 2014. Low lead sales were up as well.

Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority Page 3

Bob Meurer grew up in Charles City, Iowa and by the time he was 16, he decided he wanted to learn to fly. Meurer’s dad flew B24’s over Europe during WWII, completing 24 missions. When Meurer informed his dad of his desire to take flying lessons, his dad discouraged him saying, “…you are only allowed one mistake and then they bury you.” Meurer’s dad had seen too many inexperienced pilots die behind the controls of aircraft; so Meurer enlisted his moth-er’s help to convince his dad to let him take flying lessons. At age 17 Meurer earned his private pilot’s ticket and talked his parents into taking a flight with him. Upon completion of the flight his dad asked him, “How can you be such a klutz on the ground and be so squared away in the air?”

Meurer never looked back. At 18 he earned his CFI ticket and started flying pipeline patrols and teach-ing. At 21, he was named Chief Flight Instructor for a flight school in Minnesota where the company had a contract to train new hires for Northwest Orient Airlines. He then moved on to corporate flying earn-ing his Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) ticket and flying an ERJ-145 for Executive Jet Management shuttling corporate executives around the country.

Meurer prides himself on the success of his students, stressing the fact that if he thinks a student is not safety conscious or is lackadaisical, he will turn them away. Meurer is a member of theCivil Air Patrol and has accumulated over 16,000 hours in the air. Meurer is also the current President of the Re-no-Tahoe Aviation Group (RTAG), a local group of general aviation pilots that focus on representing the needs of aviators in the community.

Master Pilot Award Recipients at RNOKen Moen, Property Specialist, Reno-Tahoe Airport AuthorityThe Reno General Aviation Community has 11 Master Pilot Award recipients and two of them are flight instructors at RNO: John Brown of “Flying Start Aero” and Bob Meurer of “Reno Flying Service”. Both Brown and Meurer have taken different paths to reach the same destination.

Brown grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas and earned his private pilot’s certificate as a high school senior. Astigmatism kept him out the U.S. Army helicopter flight training program, but not out of the cockpit. John flew primarily VFR for the pure pleasure of flight.

After retiring from corporate America in the 90’s, John went back to “school”, getting his Instrument, Commercial, Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI) and Certificated Flight Instrument Instructor (CFII) ratings after an intense 3 months of training in Hillsboro, Oregon.

In 1996, Brown started a flight school in Minden, where he provided flight training for the next 15 years. In 2011, he purchased Northern Nevada Aviation and set-up shop at RNO. Throughout his career, Brown has more than 9,000 hours of instructing and has trained over 200 pilots.

When asked about the lessons experience has taught him, Brown, replied, “Never take an intersec-tion departure because you never know when you will need that runway behind you. Aviators have two buckets; one bucket is low on experience and the other bucket is full of luck. The trick is to fill up the experience bucket before the luck bucket runs out.”

The RNO Flyer is printed and produced by:

Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority2001 E Plumb Ln. Reno, NV 89502775.328.6400www.renoairport.com

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I am convinced that human flight is both possible and practical.” ~Wilbur Wright, 1899

The Wright Brothers “Master Pilot” Award is the most prestigious award the FAA issues to pilots certified under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 61.

This award is named after the Wright Brothers, the first US pilots, and recognizes individuals who have exhibited professionalism, skill, and aviation expertise for at least 50 years while piloting aircraft as “Master Pilots”.

More information is available at: https://www.faasafety.gov/content/MasterPilot/

What is the Master Pilot Award from the FAA?

The 2015 Air Races have come and gone and were a great success for both Atlantic and the RTIA. While the overall count was down versus 2014, the interest for many was very much there.

We saw a lot of repeat customers along with many new customers this year. A family from France flew to Miami FL where they rented a Cessna 206 and flew across the nation to Reno. They had heard about the famous Reno Air Races for years and decided to put it on their bucket list. They had a wonderful experience and were excited to see the organized parking arrangements, noting they had never seen anything like it before.

Most if not all of the first time customers said they would return next year.

Air Race Parking at Atlantic AviationTrent Brownlee, General Manager, Atlantic Aviation RNO

The Taxiway C Reconstruction Project is moving along nicely at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Granite Construction is running on schedule with the concrete pours and overall project schedule for completion in late January 2016, weather permitting. Work consists of demolition of the current asphalt pavement, drainage improvements, realignment and regrading, constructing a new 35 ft. wide concrete Taxiway, and installation of lighting, signage, and striping.

Milestones I (Twy C - between Twy Lima and the north-west Atlantic taxilane) and Milestone III (Twy C – between GA East south taxilane and Taxiway Delta) are scheduled

be completed in late October 2015. Once those work areas are completed and opened to traffic, the closure for Milestone II will occupy Twy C – between the northwest Atlantic taxilane and the GA East north taxilane. The final stage is currently scheduled to complete in late January 2016, weather permitting.

Once completed, Twy C will be the final portion of asphalt pavement replaced with concrete on the airfield – making it both safer (in terms of pilot recognition) and more durable, improving both capacity and safety for General Aviation at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

Taxiway C Reconstruction Project UpdateTony Curatolo, Project Manager, Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority

Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority Page 4

Winter Weather Pattern InformationChris Smallcomb, National Weather Service, Reno

Chris is a meteorologist and liaison with emergency managers, public safety partners, the media, and the Reno-Tahoe International Airport operations team.

So what’s the deal with El Niño!? Everyone is talking about it! El Niño is a phenomenon where the tropical Pacific Ocean is unusually warm. This year is very warm! What this does is alter the winter storm track into the west coast, focusing the storm track further south into Southern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, and into Texas. In our region, the relationship between storms and El Niño is more nebulous. We’ve had dry El Niño winters, and wet ones. Now given the unusual intensity of this El Niño, that does tip the scales slightly toward us seeing a wetter than normal winter; a 50-60% chance as of this time.

Temperatures, which will affect snow levels, are uncertain so it’s tough to say if we’ll see a big snow winter. If this winter is anything like recent ones, we will see more rain than

snow, even in the mountains. Bottom line - plan for anything (wet, dry, cold, warm) but lean toward seeing more storms than normal this coming winter.

Will this affect the frequency of big wind storms that definitely impact aviation here? Unsure. There’s been no research done on the El Niño versus windstorm relationships.

One extra tidbit to keep in mind, many of the past strong El Niño winters have started off slow with most of the storm impacts in mid to late winter. So don’t despair if October and November end up being relatively dry.

A footnote from my friends in Airport Ops: Remember that when it snows, Operations initially fo-cuses efforts on the main air carrier surfaces so we can keep the scheduled airlines on time. Atlantic currently has the responsibility for GA area snow removal.

Keep up with airport snow ops by following @RNOAv8r on Twitter where you will see airfield condition reports and keep the phone number for RNO and RTS AWOS handy.

AWOS: 775.324.6659

Have a safe flying winter, and THINK SNOW!

On Thursday, August 20 the US Air Force Thunderbirds arrived at RNO to prepare for an airshow at the Minden-Tahoe Airport. There was a nice tour from Major Curt Dougherty, the #4 Slot pilot. Curt graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 2002 and came to the Thunderbirds from F-15 Strike Eagles. He told us that pilots are recruited by position, and they keep that position for the two show seasons they fly with the Thunderbirds. The one exception is that the solo pilots progress from solo to opposing solo because it’s a bit of a building block process with them.

The performance aircraft, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, is one of the few fighter aircraft that can accelerate in the vertical position because the engine produces more than

29,000 pounds of thrust which is great-er than the weight of the aircraft.

Major Dougherty said aside from the paint job, and the removal of the cannon so they can carry smoke oil, the aircraft is “go-to-war” ready.

Thunderbirds Land at RNOMike Scott, V.P. of Operations & Public Safety, Reno-Tahoe Airport Authorty

Turn your pilot wings into angel wings and help the children and families of the Children’s Cabinet charity at a truly special aviation event at:

Reno-Tahoe International AirportSaturday, December 12, 20151:00 pm - 2:30 pm

The Reno-Tahoe Aviation Group invites pilots from throughout the region to join their fly-in (or taxi-over) toy drive at RNO. Pilots will be invited to adopt a family experiencing financial hardship by buying gifts from their Children’s Cabinet Christmas list. Participating pilots will be invited to muster their aircraft on a ramp at RNO where they will put on Santa hats and t-shirts for the event. At a special signal from the control tower, Santa Claus and all the participating aircraft will taxi over to Atlantic Aviation. The families will be eagerly waiting outside a holiday decorated hangar to greet the pilots and planes.

Once Santa exits a large aircraft, the party begins as the hangar doors open to reveal a winter wonderland of holiday decorations, music, food and more.

Operation Santa Claus is an opportunity to show the heart of general aviation to our community. It is a chance to use aviation to deliver the holiday spirit to those in need.

Don’t have an airplane? Don’t worry. You can still adopt a family and join the hangar party. Operation Santa Claus invites the entire aviation community in the Reno-Tahoe region to join together for a great cause.

For more information on how to adopt a family through the Children’s Cabinet, please contact:

Brian Kulpin775.328.6401bkulpin@renoairport.com

Cindy Riddell775.328.6402criddell@renoairport.com

Operation Santa Claus to Fly in Dec. 2015Brian Kulpin, V.P. of Marketing & Public Affairs, Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority

Photos courtesy of Gary Schenauer