Bachamp: Get back to reality with Aspen airport
We need to stop with all this craziness and get back to reality. The lie that the current runway movement plan, as recommended by the FAA, will allow commercial 737s to land here is bogus.
Currently, a 737-800 needs a minimum allowance of 7,600 feet of our 8,000-foot runway to execute a successful takeoff.
However, as it seems that suddenly every resident of this county is a pilot now, apparently, I guess it goes without saying that we also fully understand the rule of thumb that for every 2,000 feet of runway elevation over sea level, you need to increase the safe minimum runway takeoff length by 1,000 ft.
We live at 8,000 feet. So, you do the math.
OK, I’ll do the math …
That’s 4,000 extra feet of runway to safely take off from Aspen in a commercial 737-800. Which by my calculations would extend the runway out over the Roaring Fork River or all the way to the Tiehack Lift.
Stop it.
Stop the dumb lies and misinformation.
A modern airport and a slightly wider runway rotated a couple of degrees and shifted 80 feet is not going to ruin our lives. There is still only one commercial aircraft that would be approved for such a change — the Embraer E-175 — and it’s only a few feet bigger than our current CRJs. But its current engines still aren’t powerful enough to carry its own weight given our airport’s strict takeoff requirements in our thinner atmosphere. So, it will still be years before that aircraft is approved for our airport operations.
As a residentof Aspen, I really don’t want to have to foot the bill to be able to use my local airport to fly commercially for work or vacation just because we told the FAA to take a hike.
Privatizing the airport means more private planes — not fewer — and we locals will have to commute to Eagle, Grand Junction, or Denver just to get anywhere on a plane. As a local, what’s fair about that for me?
I prefer to let the FAA help fund our airport, with improvements based on their legal, tested recommendations. It’s far better than being forced to face the future with our hands tied behind our backs by assumption and hearsay.
Nathan Bachamp
Aspen
