Airport Master Plan Designed To Improve Valuable Winslow Asset

By Sam Conner
   The Winslow-Lindbergh Regional Airport has been a valuable asset for the City of Winslow for well over half a century. It has been visited by such noted flyers as Charles Lindbergh himself, the famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart and many Hollywood movie stars, among others. The airport is one of the few in northern Arizona which has good flying weather conditions most of the year.
   The City of Winslow, with its planning staff, Airport Commission and others, has developed a master plan for maintaining, upgrading and improving the airport facility. A good airport fits well with Winslow’s other transportation related assets. Winslow has the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway running through town and providing a switch yard capable of making it a rail transportation center. The city has a major east-west interstate highway running through its north side in Interstate 40. This is a major route for both freight and passenger traffic. The city also has a major state north-south highway running through in State Route 87. This highway has been improved and increased greatly in volume in recent years. The airport should fit well into the plans of industries which rely upon more than one means of transportation.
   The planning for airport development includes projection of potential aviation demands, establishing both airside and landside facility needs and evaluation of options for improving those areas of need.
   The airfield plan focuses on meeting Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) design and safety standards. The plans include improving Runway 4-22 and Taxiway B to accommodate the long range design aircraft, such as the Lockheed P-3 Orion, maintaining existing design standards on Runway 11-29 and Taxiway 1A, and establishing one-mile visibility guidance (LPV) instrument approaches to each runway end. It preserves the ability to lengthen primary Runway 4-22 3,301 feet to the southwest to achieve an ultimate length of 9,000 feet.
   The airport is used by a wide variety of general aviation aircraft. These range from general aviation turboprop to occasional business jet aircraft. Aircraft such as the Beechcraft King Air 100 are the most demanding, conducting more than 500 annual operations. There is a potential for the U.S. Forest Service to increase its fleet operations at the Winslow Airport, which would result in total operations by aerial firefighting aircraft exceeding 500 annually. The most demanding aircraft used for aerial firefighting operations is the Lockheed P-3 Orion, an ARC C-III aircraft. To safely accommodate the P-3 Orion, the primary runway (Runway 4-22) and its associated parallel taxiway (Taxiway B) will be planned to meet ARC C-III design standards. These design standards will also accommodate the growing corporate aircraft fleet in the U.S., including the Cessna Citation X and Gulfstream IV. These corporate aircraft are not anticipated to exceed 500 annual operations.
   Crosswind Runway 11-29 should be designed to safely accommodate the primary users of the airport. The primary users are expected to remain within the ARC A-II and ARC B-I design standards on Runway 11-29 and its associated parallel taxiway.
   The airport presently meets or exceeds many of the ARC B-I design standards; however, the runway protection zones and object free areas for both runways extend, in some cases greatly, beyond airport property. The runway visibility zone, which is intended to maintain a clear line-of-sight between the intersecting runways, encompasses most of the landside facilities, including the terminal building and the TAT conventional hanger. These safety issues were a primary concern when establishing the recommended development concept.
   Plans for airfield development include acquiring lands for runway approach protection and future airport expansion, maintaining airport reference code (ARC) C-III design standards on Runway 4-22, extension of Runway 4-22 to 9,000 feet, establishing localizer performance with vertical guidance (LPV) one mile visibility non-precision instrument approaches to each runway end, upgrading visual approach lighting to PPI-4s, and holding apron construction and distance remaining signage.
   Landside facilities include aircraft storage hangers, terminal buildings, hangar and apron access taxi lanes, and vehicle parking lots. The landside planning for the airport will be mostly based upon demand. For example, T-hangars will only be constructed if an adequate number of aircraft owners desire that enclosed aircraft storage space.
   There is a possibility of apron expansion for the Forest Service firefighting aircraft if the expected fleet expansion occurs. There are plans to expand the south general aviation apron by 38,733 square yards to provide additional itinerant and local aircraft parking possibilities. An aircraft wash rack facility is also planned. The city may decide to construct additional aircraft storage hangars and lease them to the public or private aircraft owners. This is a development that will likely depend upon demand to be met.
   There are also plans to possibly lease property to those wishing to establish a business or revenue producing facility on airport property. There may also be terminal parking lot expansion and airport access road realignment.
   The plan also includes an environmental evaluation. Many aspects of possible effects include air quality, effects on fish, wildlife and plants and such considerations. Little or no harmful effects are seen in these areas.
   Part of the airport property is within the new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood plain map. This could affect some of the plans, but the hope is that recertification and improvement of the levees will answer these concerns.
   Other issues were taken into consideration by the Airport Commission and other planners, but the fact remains that that commission and most of Winslow regard the airport as a valuable asset and one which should be maintained, improved and used to bring business and prosperity to the community. It remains one of the key transportation gems of the city, which has a greater variety of transportation related assets than most communities possess.