November 9, 2021 Weather Phobias

The Liberty Gazette

November 9, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: The 2022 Old Farmer’s Almanac is out. I picked up my copy at Tractor Supply. Thumbing through it, near the end, I found a list of weather phobias. I hadn’t considered such a category of things would actually have names, but now that I think about it, sure, why not? For instance, our dog Abby, and many other dogs as well, have astraphobia, a fear of lightning and thunder. It’s also known as tonitrophobia, brontophobia, and keraunophobia. Keraunos is ancient Greek for lightning or thunderbolt. Bronte is another Greek word for thunder. While I don’t harbor this fear, I certainly respect it when flying and stay far from thunderstorms in the Elyminator. Lately, we’ve had some gorgeous flying weather, with a few dud-days sprinkled in between. 

Oh, those beautiful days, when the crisp blue sky looks like it needs a little red and white airplane with black and white checkered wingtips! We cannot resist. Plus, we peek in at the progress of various construction projects, such as the railroad, completion of 99, and River Ranch, the neighborhood under construction in Dayton.

Mike: A few years back, we had some conversations with one of the developers, Eddie Gray, about building a runway as part of River Ranch. He approached us one morning after church looking for suggestions on ways to improve the planned development. He had an idea that an airport would be a worthwhile addition. That conversation led to a meeting at his offices in Baytown where he unveiled what is now under construction.

Near the development, there’s a grass strip called Gum Island. It’s still officially charted by the FAA, meaning it isn’t closed. M&M Air Service from Beaumont and other crop duster companies used it when they worked fields in the area, but much of the time the grass was overgrown. Eddie thought the runway could be extended and paved, and we thought so too. Our conversations mostly centered around what that it would look like and how it would benefit the community. 

Taking into consideration how underserved the east side of Houston is by airports, I must admit my creative juices flowed with the idea of building a new airport, something rare in today’s world. I drew up several concept pictures for Mr. Gray, and we discussed what would work and what wouldn’t. We talked about safety, noise-filtering landscaping, the optimum runway length which would not be intrusive yet adequately serve the area, and necessary infrastructure and construction investments.

Unfortunately, the other partners nixed the deal on a new runway for River Ranch. I was disappointed but not really surprised. A new airport is a hard idea to sell even if it does make economic sense. 

Surveying the progress from above, one has to wonder, with such a major project, where plans can be hindered by nature, do the workers and investors have any weather phobias? I couldn’t blame them if they were lilapsophobes (fearing hurricanes and tornadoes), or antlophobes (afraid of floods). So here’s wishing them good weather and great success.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

November 2, 2021 The Rain in Spain

The Liberty Gazette

November 2, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Prior to moving to Liberty, I was the manager and chief pilot of a corporate flight department based in Miami. The company I worked for had entities on three continents, and I spent more time flying to destinations outside our country than in it. I flew the company’s Learjet, and later a Gulfstream, to some rather exotic locations, many with challenging conditions. 

One such destination was Santiago de Compostela in the northwest corner of Spain. We didn’t stay in Santiago, rather, we used it as a technical refueling stop when we flew the Learjet across the Atlantic. A tech stop is an allowable, provisional stop and does not include clearing customs, although customs officials often met the airplane there to save time. Otherwise, Rosalia de Castro airport was where we would land for customs on our way to Madrid, which was our primary base of operations in Europe. By contrast, the Gulfstream, with its longer fuel range, could bypass Santiago and go straight to Madrid or Paris when we crossed the pond from St. Johns, Newfoundland. 

Regardless which aircraft we flew, the complexities of flying across the Atlantic required logistical planning. For instance, there are one-way “tracks” to follow depending on which direction you’re flying over the ocean. Eastbound flights start in the afternoon from the U.S. and Canada, fly all night, and land in Europe early to mid-morning. Westbound flights leave Europe in the afternoon and arrive at night in North America. However, because the Learjet lacked the range, our flight times were different from those following the tracks. We’d leave Florida in the morning, and after fueling in Canada, fly across the ocean in between the usual morning and afternoon flights, giving us the benefit of a more direct route. We would make landfall in Spain around 10:00 pm. It seemed it was always raining, with turbulence blowing in from the Atlantic. 

Once landed, we’d have less than an hour to refuel and take off for Madrid before they closed the airport for the night. Often, I could be seen standing next to the jet on the dark, wet ramp in Santiago, holding a flashlight for the fueler while trying to keep the umbrella in my other hand from collapsing as I held it over him and the open tank while wind and rain whipped and pummeled us.

Sometimes that job was demanding, but the significant memory of flying into Santiago that remains with me today is their approach lighting system, and how they built it to adapt to the conditions that were common there. Most major airports have very bright approach light systems that can be seen from 25 miles away. But Santiago far exceeds that. Their approach lights are visible a hundred miles out over the sea, even through all that rain. This is a huge help for pilots. Like the new weather reporting system at the Liberty Municipal Airport here, it’s like a kind of welcome mat, helping us find our way.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 26, 2021 Amarillo by Midday

The Liberty Gazette

October 26, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: We’ve been teased by the recent cooler weather, just a taste of lovely autumn (without the unparalleled leaf-peeping in the country’s northeast). We did that once, about a decade ago, made up our own “Fall Foliage Flying Tour” through New England states. In Maine, there’s an ice cream store on nearly every corner, and they all tout the best blueberry frozen treats. The folks in New Hampshire compete ferociously in the maple arena, claiming “those folks across the Connecticut River paint their leaves,” as they hand over a bottle of their best syrup. I would love to take another fall trip like that, but this time, Amarillo offered a divergent stand-in. Not for a whole week, thankfully, but a one-day jaunt. Just up and back in the Elyminator. 

When we plan a full day, we pack a lunch and plenty of water, in case we have unexpected delays. That happened once when we were flying out to visit some of Mike’s siblings in Arizona and Nevada. The vacuum pump began to fail somewhere between here and Midland, which was our planned fuel stop. Fortunately, there was a mechanic on the field there. Unfortunately, there was a storm coming. Fortunately, the mechanic worked fast. He must have replaced it in record time. But still unfortunately, the black sky was bearing down on Midland. Fortunately, we flew out just in time. 

But this day was sunny, with lower temps and less humidity. A check of the weather along our route showed we could snag a tailwind at a lower altitude on the way up and higher for the trip back. Before we could climb to 4,500 feet, we had to get past the arrivals into Intercontinental. An airliner descending from the east crossed above and ahead of us a few miles. The air was smooth until we went through their falling wake turbulence a few minutes later. The disrupted, swirling air gave us a nudge, but not too bad, as the wake was dissipating. 

Once past Houston’s airspace and back in smooth air, we climbed to our cruise altitude and pointed the nose toward “the yellow rose of Texas,” sometimes called, “Rotor City, USA” for its V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft assembly plant. In-flight dining service started at some point during the 475-nautical-mile trip. We unpacked cold spaghetti left-overs, careful to hold the containers close to the chin to avoid sprinkling the airplane with Rao’s spaghetti sauce. It was a good thing we finished before reaching Palo Duro Canyon, because the wind picked up about that point, and the ride turned bumpy. 

Mike: As the canyon seemingly slid beneath the wings of the Elyminator, my imagination took flight. Those wind-carved spires and water-worn washes had cut side canyons down from the caprock, meandering into the Red River. This is kind of place where the western novel would grow to epic proportions. And we, like an eagle or hawk, buzzed above the storied land as Terry Stafford’s famous song played in my head.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 19, 2021 Landing with an Audience

The Liberty Gazette

October 19, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Last week I storied on about the new James Bond movie, “No Time to Die,” and the fun we found in my sister going to the show with a former U2 spy plane pilot. I happened to share that story with a Canadian pilot friend, who got a kick out of the fact that I had never heard of the actor who played Bond, Daniel Craig. My friend had once had the pleasure of having Mr. Craig as a passenger on his commercial flight. He said, “I remember looking back through the flight deck door and seeing him in the front row with his golfer hat on. He looked like he literally just walked off a movie set. I was all worried I was going to crunch the landing with James Bond on my flight. Luckily, I did not.” 

That’s kind of similar to what I’m thinking when we arrive at a fly-in, like we did last weekend for the annual fall Critters Lodge event in Centerville. It’s a 3,100-foot turf runway surrounded by trees. Nestled among those trees are coves cleared out for parking spots. People set up their tents and camp out next to their airplanes. It stands to reason then that unless you’re the first one there, you’ll have an audience. 

Mike: The first challenge is always finding the airstrip. The GPS gets us to the area, but the runway surrounded by piney woods isn’t easy to pick out. We can be deceived by the many small open patches in the furry green landscape until we are directly above it. This time, a glint of sunlight reflected from another airplane’s wing got our eyes focused on the right spot. Then we knew right where to join in the pattern.

The opening for the strip is not wide – about twice the wingspan of our airplane, so landing there can seem a bit daunting for some. Bright red balls mark the powerlines at the east end of the runway. Once we’re clear of those lines, we can reduce engine power and drop right down. Linda made a smooth landing for the spectators to envy.

Linda: Mike recorded it, too, so I inserted a few seconds of it at the beginning of my new Instagram video. I have experience with desktop video and audio editors, but this was my first experience using the app, InShot, recommended by my niece. It’s easy to use and offers a fairly nice variety of tools for moving, cutting, speeding and slowing, fading, and even reverse video. Free background music options only require that the artist be properly credited with embedded text on the video for a couple of seconds, and they make that easy, too. The music selection within InShot isn’t great, but their library is growing, and of course, if I had original music, I could use that instead. 

If you’re on Instagram, follow me at either @lindastreetely or @paperairplanepublishing, and boogie to the scenes from Critters Lodge.

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 12, 2021 Bond. James Bond.

The Liberty Gazette

October 12, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Last week the new James Bond movie premiered, “No Time to Die.” I’m no movie-goer and have never seen a James Bond flick and don’t plan to. Poking around the internet, I learned this was Daniel Craig’s last stint as Bond. I’d never even heard of Daniel Craig. But I was curious how many aircraft have made an appearance in these films. 

There have been 6 lead actors in 27 Bond movies, but it’s hard to tell exactly how many aircraft. It kind of depends on how you count them. Air & Space Magazine ventured a guess in 2015, but they were counting ‘flying machines’ and added them up to 160. They included parachutes, missiles, and apparently there was an ejection seat in an Aston-Martin, which is an English-built sports car. Me, I would only count airplanes, helicopters, blimps, and hot air balloons. 

Speaking of Aston-Martin, my father was the man who introduced the British automobile to the United States, which he did before I was born, when he owned a foreign car dealership in Evanston, Illinois. But back to the counting of ‘flying machines.’ They also counted them more than once. For instance, every time a parachute was in a movie, they counted it. Therefore, I won’t agree with there having been over 160 aircraft in Bond films, but there have been many. 

One with which I have a distant but fun personal connection was the small, single-seat BD-5J. If you’re a fan, you might remember the scene where Bond escapes the bad guys, and flying this ‘world’s smallest jet,’ guides a heat-seeking missile into their hangar to blow up their research facilities. Then, seeing he’s low on fuel, he lands on a road and coasts to a gas station. That idea came from the stunt pilot, Corkey Fornof. Years ago, when I was introduced to him, he bowed and kissed my hand.

True story: Corkey had once found himself in a pickle when the overcast layer was pushing him lower and lower, just above a pine forest. He decided it would be smartest to land on the interstate. The speed limit was 70. He slowed to about 103 as he approached a semi. He thought about landing atop the truck, but the upcoming overpass nixed that plan. The driver saw him, blew his horn to slow others down, and let Corkey land in front of him. At the next exit, the stunt man coasted his microjet into the Sunoco station and over the “ding-ding” hose. After a half-minute stare-down, it took some work to convince the attendant he wasn’t on “Candid Camera.”

So, there it was, last week, the latest Bond premiering in IMAX theaters around the country. Family friend and US Air Force veteran, Zach, asked my sister if she wanted to go. Decked out in tux and sleek black pantsuit, the pair arrived early for martinis at the pre-show shindig, to which my observant mother quipped, “Perfect! She’s going to a James Bond party with a former U2 spy plane pilot.”

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

October 5, 2021 The Great (Flying) Pumpkin

The Liberty Gazette

October 5, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: Welcome back, Autumn! You’re my favorite season. Great weather means loads of fly-ins, many with extra fun activities. A favorite flying game is to drop something from overhead, and the closest drop to the bullseye wins. One the best games is a ‘punkin-chunkin’ contest. I thought our Canadian friend Tom Martin was creative when he impaled a pumpkin on a knife and rigged it up to one wing of his airplane, with a trigger to let it go just above the port-a-potty target. Ingenious, but he didn’t win. Vietnam veteran Army paratrooper Bobby Bennet won. Go figure. 

Then just the other day I came across a video not to be missed. This time last year, the FliteTest team of Josh, Stefan, and Rob, had the wild idea to see if they could make a pumpkin fly. Stefan was tasked with finding a small pumpkin, under five pounds, around which airplane designer-builders Josh and Rob would build a drone. Unfortunately, Stefan returned with three large pumpkins because he couldn’t find any small ones. They weighed each one to the background of Stefan’s contagious, wide-mouthed laugh. The final pumpkin registered 20.4 pounds, which presented the ultimate challenge. 

Josh tasked Rob, the team’s “solution architect,” with reducing the weight by half and carving a jack-o-lantern face with a smile as big as Stefan’s. The idea nearly brought Stefan to his knees with laughter. 

Rob used a Snapchat pumpkin filter, took a picture of Stefan’s wildly smiling face, which brought the facial model to his knees in laughter again. 

Josh figured it would take four heavy-lift drone motors, each which can carry up to four pounds, for twenty pounds of thrust. The airframe, he estimated, would be five pounds. Rob would have to carve out as much of the guts as possible, yet not too much, to make the pumpkin strong, yet light. 

Meanwhile, Josh and Rob chose the perfect aircraft design: a B-24 Liberator. The laughing Stefan-faced pumpkin would replace the cockpit on their model. They built wing spars with foam, boxed in by strips of plywood and Poplar for strength, which joined a larger spar that went through the middle of the orange cockpit such that it would support the entire structure. Since every main component had to fasten to the structure inside the pumpkin, it was the fruit that became the airplane. They couldn’t take more than two days to complete this, as the carved cockpit was already getting squishy. Explaining the build, Josh was quick to say that viewers can take what they learned and apply it to building model aircraft. 

The seasonal black and orange paint job and the flashing LED lights inside the jack-o-lantern added pizzazz without much weight. Equipped with the latest Insta360 camera, FliteTest’s flying pumpkin took off, flew and landed successfully. The flight view was beautifully complemented by Ohio’s autumn trees at their Edgewater Airpark home. It’s a must-see on YouTube. Click, watch, and laugh along.

Flite Test's Flying Pumpkin

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 28, 2021 Advantage: SFA

The Liberty Gazette

September 28, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: Great news! Stephen F. Austin State University is jumping in to help supply the next generation of airline pilots. Universities and smaller aviation companies across the United States and around the world are gearing back up to fill the void that has been developing for years. The disruption from biological warfare over the past couple years hasn’t changed the need. Airlines are expanding again after a pause, and many of their pilots are reaching mandatory retirement age, 65. 

Starting from scratch, there are a number of routes to the airline cockpit, and SFA’s Flight Initiative, starting this fall, helps make that process more direct and less time consuming. The university has partnered with HCH Aviation at A. L. Mangham Jr. Regional Airport, in Nacogdoches, to provide the professional flight training portion of the curriculum. The FAA has granted the company a provisional certificate to operate under the more stringent regulations. 

Students will train in state-of-the-art Redbird simulators that are interchangeable between single and twin-engine aircraft, and they will fly new Piper 100i airplanes.   

The Piper 100i Aircraft is an updated version of the Cherokee 180. It now has an advanced electronic flight information display with a GPS moving map and an autopilot, qualifying it as a Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA). The instruments are computer screens, termed “glass cockpit,” rather than the old-style round instruments that pilots refer to as “steam gauges.” Most light plane manufacturers are no longer making complex airplanes with retractable landing gear, yet one of the requirements a commercial pilot certificate is 10 hours of training in these airplanes. With a shortage of this type, in 2018, the FAA added the TAA class of airplane as an alternative to meet the commercial requirements.

  

HCH’s program is geared toward putting pilots in the cockpit of airliners as soon as possible after graduation. The students not only train in technically advanced aircraft but also learn the standard operating practices which airlines use. By introducing the students to these practices early, their progress toward a pilot seat in an airliner is greatly enhanced. 

They will still need to meet the minimum experience requirements for an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate to be hired by an airline. But those required hours will be reduced once HCH is established beyond the provisional, or probationary status, and the students earn a degree from SFA in Aviation Science.   

Since the airline industry has made something of a comeback, the pilot shortage has returned, meaning flights will continue to be canceled until there are enough qualified pilots allowed to fly. To meet the demand, several smaller aviation companies now partner with the major air carriers as part of the career pipeline, and they will be looking to hire pilots graduating from the program at SFA to keep the supply of pilots flowing. 

Visit their Facebook page, HCH Aviation, and their website, https://hchaviation.com where you’ll note a professional pilot median career earning potential as compared to other careers, as well as training cost comparisons. HCH comes out “Best in Class.” 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 21, 2021 Career Choices

The Liberty Gazette

September 21, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Mike: When I was in high school, I thought I wanted to be a test pilot, likely an influence of the Steve Canyon persona, sun glinting from mirrored glasses, fast jets, and standing out from the ordinary. Test pilots are no longer super stick-n-rudder, seat-of-the-pants flyers of the Golden Era of Aviation. Today’s test pilots are flight test engineers who spend a lot of time behind a desk. That sounded boring to me, so I changed paths for a flying career. Hours gained in my logbook gave me stories to write, rather than reports, which made the desk a friendlier place, and on my terms.

Due to a high, thin overcast, the stars were not visible. Billowing steam reflected in dim ramp lights as John blew into cupped hands, then alternately made fists and spread his fingers to stretch. He heard only his own breathing in the still air. Nothing but blackness existed past the white, blue, and red lights along the runway, but he knew the snowcapped peaks were there. As he moved along the slick surface, he steadied himself against the fuselage, occasionally ice and snow crunched under his feet. A quick hop onto the wing, in one smooth motion he slid into the cockpit, closed, and latched the door.

As a writer, I build scenes and encourage readers to interact with characters, meet interesting people, and explore exotic and wild places. Storytellers create worlds that are expressive and along the way, teach the reader about something maybe they didn’t already know. Building a picture and tension in the reader’s mind isn’t easy, and often goes through many revisions in descriptive prose. 

The rain wasn’t reaching the ground—virga. Sue anticipated some bumps and downdrafts, but nothing she could not handle; the showers were pretty spread out. Afternoon sun reflected from the sparsely spaced downbursts which turned dark gray as the droplets fell into the shadows of broken cumulus buildups. Tonight’s weather was unlike the storms she faced the previous evening, necessitating a stop in Dodge City. She could easily wiggle around these.

Someone without flying experience could attempt creating scenes like these, but they would need to conduct significant research for technical accuracy, yet would still miss the feel, the reality. Books, magazines, documentaries, and the internet are all great tools, but nothing will ever replace being there and experiencing similar moments first-hand. 

While some writers start early to develop observation and descriptive skills, several well-known writers didn’t start until later in life. One author commented in an interview that he waited until he was over 40 to start writing so he had enough experience to draw upon. The way I view and write about things now is different than thirty years ago, with all my flying and life experiences. And like a pilot, a writer should always be learning, trying new techniques, and developing their craft. 

I didn’t become a flight test engineer, but I’ve followed my dreams. Flying, and writing about these experiences, I consider myself fortunate. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 14, 2021 Autumn Aerial Adventures

The Liberty Gazette

September 14, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

Linda: As it was time for a much-needed vacation, we slipped away to my hometown, Indy, to visit family and friends. We’d have clear skies for the two-thirds of the flight up but would contend with unstable air as we approached our destination. A low-pressure system stretched for miles from Indianapolis to Dodge City, Kansas and was at least 75 miles wide. Our onboard weather displayed an elongated mosaic in green, yellow, red, and purple, severity in varying degrees. The red and purple areas are the ones to avoid. Embedded thunderstorms, strong downdrafts, and the potential for ice do not make for a pleasant environment for small planes. 

Nearing Bloomington in southern Indiana, we checked the radar more carefully. We would land there to wait out the weather ahead if we had to. But the red blotches over Indy were dissipating, and it looked like we could pass Bloomington and keep going. (Not that there’s anything wrong with landing in Bloomington. It’s a beautiful spot, it just isn’t where Mom lives.) Continuing northbound, we soon spied our final destination, the Hendricks County airport, about five miles away. 

In the traffic pattern, we turned downwind, base, to final and flew over a “sign” on the ground. In the corn was carved a Pokeman themed design with, “Gotta catch ‘em all. Beasley’s Orchard, 2021.” Last year’s corn maze gave tribute to healthcare workers, with symbols from the medical industry: a stethoscope, a heart with a beat, and the Caduceus, and the words, “Thank you for your relentless dedication. Beasley’s Orchard, 2020.” 

Now in the third generation of owners, the Beasley family has been growing and selling fruits and vegetables since 1946. From their humble beginning, selling tomatoes packed in little Johnny’s red wagon, their business has grown to today’s 165-acre farm focused on agritourism. 

The Civil War-era Old Barn Retail Market invites visitors to roam the stalls filled with fresh produce and products such as soaps, candles, and kitchen utensils. After sipping fruit-flavored honey sticks, we meandered outside, down between the rows of Jonathan and Gala apple trees. Mike, being the tallest in our group, reached high to pick the choicest fruit to fill a bag. Families also enjoy other popular pickings this time of year when they hop aboard for a hayride to the pumpkin patch or pick sunflowers for their fall gardens. 

Meanwhile, on the porch, near the antique farm plow, surrounded by beautifully potted mums, we perched upon rocking chairs and sipped apple cider smoothies. Haybales and picnic tables accented the scene, while children bounced atop a 75-foot long “air pillow,” like a colossal bubble covered in rubber. Others navigated the 8-acre corn maze, equipped with 10 multiple choice agricultural questions, which, answered correctly, led them in the right direction.

We didn’t have a specific plan in mind for the apples, until back in the barn, I happened upon a crumb cake mix, which gave me a good idea. That first evening, a delicious aroma filled the house as we celebrated being together. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com

September 7, 20021 The Latest News on the Liberty Municipal Airport

The Liberty Gazette

September 7, 2021

Ely Air Lines

By Mike Ely and Linda Street-Ely

In the Spring last year, the City of Liberty put out a notice asking for bids for a weather reporting system for the airport. The particular type they sought is referred to as an AWOS-3PT. That stands for Automatic Weather Observation System. This type of weather station collects and broadcasts weather on a minute-by-minute basis, so pilots have the most current automated weather report possible. Continuous, and in real time. 

Liberty's AWOS-3PT

Interested parties were given just under a month submit their bids, and the result was a year’s worth of work made possible in part by the Texas Department of Transportation’s Aviation Division. They provided 75% of the funding for the entire project. Since the AWOS also needed electrical service and
an access road in order to meet state and federal requirements, all those costs were included in the grant. The total came to $203,343.40. Hermann Memorial Life Flight contributed $50,000. That’s how important this weather station is. 

Responsibility for the welfare of the Liberty Municipal Airport comes under Assistant City Manager, Chris Jarmon. I can’t say enough of what a joy it is to hear Chris say, “We have an interest in the airport doing well, growing, and being a bigger contributor to our local economy.” His words are like long-awaited honey.

It took about a year to complete all the work. The Liberty Municipal Airport started the summer ready to give pilots valuable information.

Automatic weather reporting systems are required to meet FAA and National Weather Service accuracy and reliability standards before they can be used to support instrument flight rule operations. Liberty’s AWOS provides pilots with the current altimeter setting, density altitude, temperature, dew point, wind speed and direction with gust indication, visibility, cloud height and sky conditions, precipitation identification and intensity, and thunderstorm reporting with local-area lightning tracking. Plus, the city added a present weather sensor, thunderstrike alert, and an upgrade for an ultra-sonic wind sensor.

Pilots make critical decisions based on the weather, and the AWOS is a reliable guide through the ever-changing Texas weather conditions. When traveling to or from, or just over the area, knowing the weather helps us make decisions with confidence. It’s not just a huge benefit for anyone flying into the airport here, but for the region. We all know that the weather can change between Beaumont and Cleveland. There were previously no weather reports to be obtained on the east side of Houston between those cities. Even the Baytown airport does not have weather reporting.

What’s up next for our local airport? Twenty new T-hangars and resurfacing the runway and taxiway, also funded by grants, with the runway project at an even better rate of 90% of the $2.8 million cost being covered. Engineers are at work now developing the full scope, with a target date for construction to begin next summer. 

If scheduling works out well, about this time next year, TXDOT Aviation will rightfully boast another success story contributing to a local Texas economy. This time, it’s Liberty’s turn. 

ElyAirLines.blogspot.com