AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2011 - 48

Fly-in attendance sends a signal that “Maine is open for flying business.”

airport. Kestrel Aircraft Chairman Alan Klapmeier has said he expects the company will manufacture and sell up to 75 turboprops a year (see “Compelling Kestrel,” February 2011 AOPA Pilot). “Brunswick Executive is already a success story,” AOPA President Craig Fuller said at the event. “It’s entirely too rare that we see new general aviation airports open—although this is the first of two new airports I will be visiting this month,” he added, referring to Austin Executive, a new reliever airport in Texas. Brunswick’s reopening has reenergized the community, said Melissa LaCasse, sponsorship and special events coordinator for the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA), the organization that is overseeing civilian redevelopment of the base. MRRA Executive Director Steve Levesque said the healthy attendance of aircraft both large and small exceeded his expectations, and said it sends a signal that “Maine is open for flying business.” Not only will the airport become a new port of call for pilots who fly across the Atlantic from Europe, it will also continue to host the Great State of Maine Air Show and Business Aviation Expo, to be held August 26 through 28 (www.great stateofmaineairshow.us/). The massive airshow draws 150,000 people each year.

Aviation on a roll The rebirth of the airport may be a harbinger of more good things to come. The legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee agreed on a budget in June that would repeal a use tax on out-of-state owners of new aircraft, and would add a sales tax exemption on aircraft sales and parts for all owners (see “AOPA Action: GA-Friendly Budget Repeals Notorious Maine Tax,” page 16). The agreement is a dramatic shift for Maine, which in 2007 slapped the Massachusetts owner of a Cirrus SR22 with a nearly $26,000 tax bill because he had flown into the state 21 times in a 12-month period. In April 2011 the State Supreme Court of Maine subsequently vacated the ruling of a lower court and ordered the state tax assessor to reverse the assessment. “Maine’s use tax had long deterred pilots from visiting the state and put it at a competitive disadvantage with neighboring states in attracting new business and investment,” said Mark Kimberling, AOPA director of state government affairs. “Now, with passage of the budget, it could swiftly become one of the most GA business-friendly states in the nation.” Email the author at jill.tallman@aopa. org.

Visit Maine; earn a lobster (or two)
With the launch of the Maine Aviation Trail Passport Program, the state joins several others offering pilots opportunities to explore local airports and earn prizes. Of course, this being Maine, you don’t earn a ball cap for visiting airports—you score lobster. Fly to five or more participating airports by October 31, obtain a sticker from the FBO at each airport, and you could bring home two lobsters from Long Reach Shellfish Company in Brunswick. See the website (http://mrra.us/bxmairport. html) to download a passport and for more information.
AOPA PILOT •

48 • AUGUST 2011

http://www.airfleetcapital.com http://www.airfleetcapital.com http://www.greatstateofmaineairshow.us/ http://www.greatstateofmaineairshow.us/ http://www.cubcrafters.com http://www.mrra.us/bxmairport.html http://www.mrra.us/bxmairport.html

AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2011

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