Comments on: Tiny Airports Get Big Cut of Stimulus Cash

Small, Rural Airports Get Big Payouts While Safety Violations at Major National Airports Get Little Attention

[jreekree]

The above posts just about cover all the facts. NO ONE can deny that general aviation contributes greatly to the economic engine of the world.
Also I believe that NO ONE can deny the CBS news never lets the facts of a story get in the way of reporting.
This is about as one sided as it gets, but what do you expect from a News organization that is so blatantly one sided politically.

[mlwinnig]

And oh, but the way... the whole idea behind stimulus money was to "pull the trigger" on viable projects, well under way, which could be built quickly, so as to get the money flowing into the economy.

Generally this is the exact opposite of "pork barrel" spending. Most of these projects are part of an extensive multi-year Master Plan, which have been extensively "vetted" along the way. To blindly assume these are a waste of taxpayer money doesn't even make sense on the surface... much less once you actually look into the facts!

Can you say RETRACTION???

[mlwinnig]

EXTREMELY BIASED REPORT!!!

You people really need to get a clue! Let's see now... do your people ALWAYS fly on scheduled commercial airliners? Where are your news choppers (and those of your affiliates primarily based)??? Guess you own and maintain your own airports, helipads, etc., right?

EVEN YOU GET TO USE THESE FACILITIES, while you continue to drive nails into the collective General Aviation coffin!

What you SHOULD be doing is telling Americans all that General Aviation does for America. How about showing "GA Serves America" info spots for free? Seems like the least you can do after such a blatant and one-sided attack on one of the few viable industries in the country in which we still hold a prominent position in the world economy.

[AReiheld]

Would some CBS fact checker-- or don't they have any?-- like to tell the viewers about all the federal transportation systems connecting that Alaskan town the reporterette sneered at, with the wider world? How about all the taxpayer-funded highways, railways, and seaports serving the town?

It took me all of three minutes on Google Earth to learn that, like most of Alaska's population centers, including some of its major cities, Ouzinke has only a few local roads, one of which extends a short distance out of town- all the way to the airport. There IS a tiny harbor on the large island, frozen in for much of the year, no doubt. Ouzinke's isolated residents depend on that little airport to get mail, groceries, medical services, and most other supplies. Of course, it's better propaganda to imply that Ouzinke's airport is a ridiculous waste of money, without pointing out that it's the only way to and from the island. Maybe our earnest little ditz would prefer to sentence the people of Ouzinke to starvation for not having the good sense to live in Manhattan.

CBS could, it it wanted a real eye-opener of a story, find out what General Aviation means to the people of Alaska. But that wouldn't fit the format, would it?

[AReiheld]

What an appallingly poorly-done story. I wish I could say I'm shocked, but this foolishness is totally predictable: consider the source. It is typical left-wing class-warfare, ignoring facts and making up statistics in order to incite the downtrodden masses against 'rich' private pilots. Accurate reporting, competent investigation, and above all, fairness aren't what we've come to expect of Dan Rather's employer.

Let me help you with my rich fat-cat picture: My husband and I are retired, and have owned our 30-year-old single-engine airplane for many years. We live in a remote town of 5000 in the smallest county in North Carolina. When I fill all four seats of my little bird, the trip costs me half what a regular coach air fare each would cost for all of us, and we don't have to drive nearly two hours to a commercial terminal. From my little airport here in town, the entire eastern half of the United States is a one-tank half-day trip for us.

In purchasing fuel and services here, I support several dozen people who work at the little airport- the mechanics, the line personnel, the housekeeper and grass mower, the manager, the softdrink guy, the fuel wholesaler, and others. The direct profits from the fuel and services I purchase go to my town's meager coffers to help support municipal needs that have nothing to do with the airport. When I purchase fuel and services at the other end of my journey, I support all the people who work at that airport, plus the car rental people, the hotelier and restaurateurs, the shops, businesses and the like at my destination. And for every gallon of aviation fuel, I pay taxes to repave airports, even ones I'll never land at, and for many non-aviation uses as well.

Furthermore, I'm a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight, and spend my own time and money to fly people who need to reach medical care far from their own homes. My reward is two-fold. I get satisfaction from helping those who desperately need a lift, and even better, I'm able to share this privilege unique in all the world, the freedom of our American skies, with them. I wish CBS could do a story on Angel Flight, the pilots who give so much, the patients who need so much... shall I hold my breath?

How about a CBS story on the roles we fat-cat rural pilots, some of us mere hobbyists, and some of us, worse yet, corporate business aircraft owners, play- again, at our own expense-, not only in medical transport, but in crucial ecological research, in search and rescue, in transport during times of national emergency? How about a story on the community outreach that happens at most little airports, when schoolchildren come to visit us, where they learn (from us 'rich' volunteers) that they need to study science and math, so that they, too, might someday reach for their own bit of sky? Where do you think our next generation of commercial pilots are going to come from, anyway? Get a clue-- they all have to learn to fly somewhere, and it isn't going to be at O'Hare or JFK!

Right. Waiting for the FAIR stories.....(cue crickets...)

Our little rural regional runway was recently repaved with tax money (mostly paid by GA fuel taxes, actually.) It's there not only for me and my 'rich' family, but for package delivery aircraft several times a day, for the ER doctor who commutes from another state, for the agricultural spray operations, for the historic aircraft that are restored here, for the many military aircraft that practice approaches here so as not to get in the way of scheduled carriers at big airports, as a base for fire control operations, and much more. The runway, the instrument approaches, the little terminal building, and other facilities are there for the visitors who fly in to spend money in our beautiful historic town, and for the businessmen who fly in to check on their many developments and investments in our area. Sure, they could fly commercial and drive two hours here, but for many people, time is money. To fly commercial would waste a day they could spend better doing what they do for a living. But never let truth get in the way of political grandstanding propaganda, eh?


Oh, one more thing: Did it ever occur to you that those repaving jobs at 'small' airports that your reporter was so worked up over were to SAVE existing runways from deteriorating, becoming dangerous stretches of crumbled, weed-choked asphalt of no use to anybody? Conservation! That's a good thing.

CBS, once again, you've proved you can't be trusted to tell even an approximation of the truth. You tell a story that fits your preconceived political agenda, and expect your gullible viewers to believe it, no matter how ludicrous. Shame on every CBS employee involved. How do y'all sleep at night, putting this sort of nonsense on the air? Going to redeem your sorry reputation with 'the rest of the story?' You betcha.

[brcase]

Just a bit about the facts. The 5 airplane club at my local airport represents nearly 100 pilots. The article does not say how may pilots the club they are talking about actually represents. The article also makes it sound like there are only 5 airplanes at this airport. In fact a little bit of checking on the Web shows that there are at least 74 airplanes based at this public airport. This does not account for all the aircraft that travel though this airport, which of course is the whole point of having an airport.

[nwolfie5]

Excuse me darling, but uhm, these airports are what sustain this country. Without these, YOU wouldn't be getting your food and other very important things, because these airports take them to you. They are the ones located by farms, which in turn allows them to be flown to plants near larger airports. To think that these would be taken away, you would be taking away an every day activity for thousands of people.

[brcase]

Welcome to "We are from the Government and we are here to help" Pilots probably don't want the fence any more than you do. This is courtesy of the Transportation Security Administration where they will keep the Terrists out of your public local airport, not to mention pilots and the public as well. At least it will be safe.

[GripeResponder]

Or, BushLeague.

[GripeResponder]

Excellent.