AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 61

Why we need to save SMO

Santa Monica Airport represents all of America’s airports
In 1981, longtime aviation columnist Barry Schiff wrote a story for AOPA Pilot that he titled, “Death of An Airport.” Santa Monica Airport was under siege by the City of Santa Monica government, those hoping to develop the 215-acre property, and residents who resented the airport noise and pollution—even though they’d bought their property next to the airport, which had been in existence since 1917. SMO was once the world’s busiest singlerunway airport and is the oldest in Los Angeles County. “Small businesses at SMO are being harassed and evicted out of existence,” Schiff wrote then. Fast-forward 30 years and SMO continues to face detractors. The storied airport—once home of the Douglas Aircraft Corporation and notable for many historic flights—occupies five percent of the usable land in Santa Monica, one of the most valuthe airspace that SMO now protects— the reason air traffic arriving at LAX from the west crosses Santa Monica as high as it does is because SMO’s air space keeps traffic that high. The airport’s economic impact has been valued at $275.2 million annually. It provides nearly 1,500 jobs. Its value as a reliever airport in the event of a natural disaster is unique. The FAA has offered to buy the homes the city has said are in “harm’s way” but the city refused the offer. The EPA’s studies report there are no unsafe levels of lead in the air or soil found on the airport environment. All of these arguments have been cited at so many of the GA airports across the country, yet we lose airports every day. SMO stands as symbol for all general aviation airports in the United States. Its value is obvious to those who understand and a battleground for those who don’t.

able chunks of real estate in the world. Those who want to close the airport claim they want open space and parks and other shared land use. Ironically, the airport is considered open space and there is a park—soccer fields and a playground. It is home to Angel Flight West, the oldest charitable flying organization in the United States. It serves as a reliever for LAX, that behemoth international airport that keeps GA out and would probably love to use

DUNN GETS A QUICK TASTE of the

California sunshine and fresh air before entering Santa Monica City Hall at 7 p.m. It’s going to be a long night.

rail project, prompting him to realize he’s spent nearly two hours talking with Dunn. As he leaves, Dunn is on his phone checking messages. Several meetings have been rescheduled, and so Dunn places a call to one of the organizers and gets his assistant. Several back-and-forth calls ensue while she changes the meeting time. Dunn is then up like a shot and hustling to his rental car (the upgraded car is a source of embarrassment to him—he rarely has such a new model, he says, and that’s evident by his struggles to start it and get it into gear). Dunn once lived in Torrance, California, and knows the roads well. But there’s no escaping the L.A. traffic. He guns the Chrysler 300 and makes the next meeting at the FAA’s regional headquarters with enough time to go through the screening and badging required at the facility. In a colorless room in a lifeless federal office, the Los Angeles airport

district office manager comments that it’s a good assignment to be in Los Angeles— but it’s hard to realize that in this office or sitting in traffic or in the hotel room. After an affable meeting with the FAA, during which Dunn explains his recent letter to the Santa Monica city council, it’s back on the freeway to Van Nuys. VNY is another case Dunn has been working on for several years, and he’s stopping here today to check in with local airport supporters who are concerned with an airport move to shove piston aircraft off the airport. He offers some advice, provides some cheerleading, and listens to their concerns. Sandwiches from Costco are served in a basement office.
THE EVENING’S ENTERTAINMENT. At Santa Monica, a meeting with Bob Trimborn, the airport manager, is cut short because he’s been summoned to the city council for a “rehearsal” for the night’s meeting.
www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 61


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AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012

AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012
Contents
President’s Position
Letters
Waypoints
Proficient Pilot
Safety Pilot
License to Learn
Pilot Counsel
Fly Well
Proudly South African
First Look
Aircraft Report
Industry News
AOPA Action
Test Pilot
Events
Historic Aircraft
You Say You Want an Evolution
Road Warrior
Tragedy in Mexico
Flying in the Land of Elephants
Technique
Survival
Avionics
Wx Watch
Never Again
AOPA Membership
State & Local Action
Member Products
AOPA Foundation
AOPA Insurance Services
Fly by Wire
Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - President’s Position
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 10
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Letters
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Waypoints
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Proficient Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Safety Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - License to Learn
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Pilot Counsel
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Fly Well
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Proudly South African
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - First Look
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Aircraft Report
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Industry News
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - AOPA Action
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Test Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Events
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Historic Aircraft
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 44
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - I1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - I2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - You Say You Want an Evolution
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 51
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Road Warrior
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 58
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 62
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Tragedy in Mexico
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 66
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 70
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Flying in the Land of Elephants
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 74
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Technique
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 81
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - IAOPA1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - IAOPA2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 82
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Survival
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 86
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 87
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Avionics
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Wx Watch
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 92
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Never Again
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 95
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 96
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Summit1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Summit2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Summit3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Summit4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - AOPA Membership
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 99
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - State & Local Action
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Member Products
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - AOPA Foundation
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - AOPA Insurance Services
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Fly by Wire
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 108
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - Cover4
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