Dear Centennial Airport
Business/Operator-
We are pleased to bring you the
second edition of the Centennial Airport Business
Association's Quarterly Newsletter. As we
have stated before CABA is committed to
communicating to its current and prospective
membership through alerts and newsletters like
this one. This type of crucial communication
is central to the mission of CABA and we hope that
you find the information within to be useful.
Since our last newsletter the Board
Trustees have voted to expand CABA's committee
structure to include two new committees. The Rocky
Mountain Metro Airport committee and the
Schedulers and Dispatchers committee are new
standing committees that will report to the
Board. Further detail about these new
committees, their functions, goals, and
chairpersons, can be found in further detail below
in subsequent articles by Brittany Davies and
Tiffany Steckel.
Additional communication efforts by CABA have
taken place over the last several months. We
continue to improve the website and the membership
only portion of the website is now active.
This new exclusive section will give CABA members
access to committee forums, a membership
directory, meeting minutes and other helpful
tools. Current members can access their
username and password by contacting CABA directly
for that information.
In January 2009,
CABA held its first official membership meeting
and networking event. This event with
keynote speaker Greg Feith was a tremendous
success with over seventy guests in
attendance. Due to this and other networking
efforts, CABA has grown its membership roster to
over fifty members with a majority of the new
membership represented at the corporate level.
This week CABA will host its second
Membership Meeting and more importantly its first
Annual Meeting required by our bylaws. At
this important meeting the CABA Board of Trustees
will call on its voting membership to approve a
slate of four new incoming board members. We
will also welcome Charlie Priester of Priester
Aviation as our main speaker for this event.
Charlie is an industry icon with a wealth of
industry knowledge and insight. He will be
touching on a variety of operational control,
legislative and perception issues facing our
industry. Additionally, Steve Hadley, our
Regional NBAA Representative, will also be joining
us and will spend a few minutes discussing some
important industry issues. The event will
end with a networking/wine and cheese tasting
event sponsored by Balestreri Vineyards.
This year's Annual Meeting and Membership Event
will be held in the Wright Brothers Room located
at the Control Tower, Wednesday, April 29th at 4
pm.
As you
can see, we've come a long way since CABA's
re-establishment in April of 2008. CABA is
once again an important resource for its
membership, a platform for discussing and
advocating local and national industry issues, and
a place for all of us to communicate and network
with each other. We've got a long way to go,
but we've taken the first important steps of
establishing a strong foundation. We're
excited for the upcoming year, with new board
members comes new ideas and fresh blood to
continue to expand and grow this
association. We are faced with an
unprecedented time in our industries history in
which we need to be consistently vigilant in
protecting business aviation and our livelihood as
we know it. What we ask of you is to stay
involved, communicate to us on what you think
needs to be discussed, and continue to be
proactive in promoting our industry.
Sincerely, Iver
Retrum President/Chairman Centennial Airport
Business
Association |
CABA Adds
Schedulers & Dispatchers
Committee
By Brittany
Davies |
In recent weeks CABA
successfully created a Schedulers and Dispatchers
Committee. The committee's goals are to provide a
supportive and educational resource for area
schedulers and dispatchers along with a venue for
networking amongst industry peers.
The committee elected a chairperson
and committee members, comprised of individuals
from charter and business flight departments,
and Centennial and Rocky Mountain Metro
Airports. Committee Chair, David Purvis,
says of the recent committee formation "To know
what local resources you have and to develop
friendships with fellow schedulers and dispatchers
is priceless. We want to create a venue for
S&D's where they can discuss current issues,
learn from peers, and have a voice in the region
and in the industry. This is a great opportunity
for all of us and I am privileged to be a part of
this group." While the
committee is still in its infancy, there are a lot
of exciting ideas on the table. With the
support of CABA and its members, we are sure to
see great things from this committee, so stay
tuned for updates on upcoming S&D meetings and
events.
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Rocky Mountain Metro Group Joins CABA as
a Sub-Committee
By
Tiffany Steckel
The Rocky
Mountain Metropolitan Airport is proud to
announce that it has a representative committee
within the Centennial Aviation Business
Association (CABA). We would like to
extend a big "Thank You" to CABA for this
important opportunity. By participating in
this
valuable association, our business
affiliates will have leverage in our local
aviation community, giving voice to many issues
and concerns related to safety and operations or
upcoming events in the aviation
community.
We have elected
three volunteers to participate with the new
CABA committee. The chairman elect is Mike
Turner with Clay Lacy Aviation. The other
two representatives are Malachi O'Neill with
Mountain Aviation and Tiffany Steckel with
Stevens Aviation. All three of these Rocky
Mountain Metro Airport representatives are very
excited about their new role and will focus on
encouraging more individuals and businesses to
join CABA. Currently, the
Rocky Mountain Metro Airport is in the first
stages of the Airport Master Plan. The
long awaited anticipation of the tower
relocation started in March 2009. This
project repositions the tower on the south side
of the airport, just east of the water
tanks. Additionally, we have built an
operations road that bends around to the south
side of the airport. Finally, beginning
early this summer, our 6th and final phase of
relocating taxiway A will be underway.
The Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-in
and Airshow on August 22nd-23rd is our next
exciting 2009 event. We would love to have
our fellow aviation friends and family join us.
Please contact us for more information by
calling
303-271-4850.
| |
Sharing the Centennial Flight Training Skies
A Detailed
Commentary By Donovan
DeVasher Centennial Airport ("APA") is one of the
busiest General Aviation airports in the United
States. The Arapahoe County Airport Authority
web-site states APA is 3rd busiest non-airline
airport in the U.S., and the 25th busiest over-all
(http://www.centennialairport.com/Airport-FAQ#Anchor2).
A good percentage of the airport's traffic is
generated from flight training activities which
are active throughout the day, and into the night.
A majority of flight schools at major GA airports
around the country are relatively small, having
less than a dozen aircraft. Compare this to one of
four schools at our airport that has nearly 30
light piston aircraft. A vast majority of
these aircraft are in the air on any given
weekend-most likely doing maneuvers in the
Southeast and Southwest Designated Practice Areas,
or transiting the airspace on their way to
regional cross country destinations.
When considering the additional operations of
just three other important operators' aircraft, in
excess of sixty light piston airplanes available
for flight training or rental on any given day is
available at our airport. There are days when the
local control tower radio becomes so congested
that it is split into two discreet frequencies,
one termed "Local One' and another, "Local Two",
each controlling one of two parallel runways.
While only one primary tower frequency is
published on aeronautical charts (118.9), local
and visiting pilots must know that there is a
great likelihood on a fine clear afternoon that
multiple tower frequencies will be in use. You
should expect to be routed to a runway best suited
for ATC's workload and traffic needs given your
initial request.
I often hear grumbling from some pilots about
the "tense" atmosphere that can exist on the
weekend-when perhaps a short tempered controller
may have quipped something akin to "xxx Foxtrot
Tango, read back hold short of RWY 17 left at
Bravo 8" followed by silence, then "XXX FOXTROT
TANGO HOW DO YOU HEAR?"-finally followed by a
timid pilot response..., "Ah, this is Fox Tango,
we're over here on Bravo holding short of....
(mumble, mumble) ah, ah..." These are the days
when I count down the minutes to a tower shift
change, in anticipation of an afternoon phone call
from one of my controller friends wanting to go
have a beer after work to test my
psycho-therapeutic skills... They ask me
semi-joking, "how can it be that these people are
allowed to fly airplanes"? I think they somehow
assume I have the answer...I don't.
The irony here of course is that most of the
guys and gals upstairs are pilots too. Some in
fact have advanced flight certificates, and even a
few have turbine time (those that figured out that
being a controller was a reasonably good tradeoff
from waves of furlough's, reduced, or even erased
retirements, weeks away from home, and a paycheck
that would actually clear the bank-but that's
another 'economic' story altogether). On top of
that, a good percentage of the senior folks have
worked at some of the busiest airports and
airspaces in the world, like Chicago O'Hare, LAX,
New York Center, and SOCAL-you name it. Naturally,
as the suds continue to flow, the smiles broaden,
and the comradery intensifies. We all send out a
resounding "CHEERS" for we all remember that we
are in this insanity together, and somehow, we
continue to share a love for this aviation
insanity for pretty much the same
reasons.
As we share stories, I might interject a
reminder of what they already know deep down; that
pilots, like controllers, merely act out what they
have been taught by their instructors, or have
observed when watching their peers, or read in one
of 'those were the days in Nam' books, or worse,
what they may dangerously assume is true without
any empirical evidence. I remember an adage from
my days spent in a graduate Aviation Psychology
course: you shouldn't always blame the individual,
but more often, we should blame their training,
professional culture and sometimes, even the
industry.
General Aviation tows a very narrow line
between acts of individual freedom, and the
respect and demand for collective compliance to
shared rules. It's sort of like a democracy in
that we all expect each other to participate in a
shared system with the utmost respect for
one-another's freewill. But, we also equally
demand that all of us show an unwavering
dedication to personal responsibility that does
not impinge upon others, made for the pursuit of
intelligent enlightenment, truth and equality
(deep breath here...) So-we need to remember that
while the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS)
gives us extraordinary freedom it must then also
have rules that protect us (the general public)
from undue harm. We do need a hen house as it
were. Thus, we must all remember that indeed, we
are all in this together...that each and every one
of us has an impact upon another's ability to go
where they want, when they want, and how we might
want to go about doing it. So, that said, let's
talk about what we can do at Centennial Airport to
enhance the safety, efficiency and fun flying
experience for everyone.
The Centennial Airport Air-Traffic Control
Tower has a published document titled "General
Operating Tips" which briefly describes the ATC
operational procedures that have been designed for
KAPA which have been proven to be most effective
given the kinds of traffic that utilize our
airspace and airport. There are a number of unique
differences given a typical Class D airport.
Probably the most noticeable for transient pilots
is the ATIS instruction to call Ground Control
AFTER your run-up is complete for a tower
controlled departure sequence. This effectively
means you must call Ground Control at least twice,
one for a taxi clearance, and one to advise ground
control that you are ready for departure. Due to
the heavy load of training traffic, and the desire
to not impede the departure of turbine traffic
(after all, they don't need a run-up-usually) ATC
desires to sequence departures such that
bottle-necks on the taxiway are minimized, speed
separation on departure is enhanced and traffic
pattern congestion is properly managed given the
current load.
Unfortunately, it is a common experience for
controllers to have to query pilots upon initial
contact to confirm they have received the ATIS
information. Why? Well, often pilots are too lazy
to listen all the way through a long winded ATIS
(some after all are painfully long) when they see
each number of the HOBBS 'click', as the thought
crosses their minds of the inverse relationship
that event has to the thickness of their wallets.
However, this is where the pilot is expected to
have received the airport specific information
that instructs us to "...contact ground when
run-up is complete for sequence to tower." For
those concerned about saving money on the ground
(and the environment) you can call 303-799-6722 on
your cell phone before engine start to receive
KAPA ATIS. This is what I make my students do
before we go out on a lesson, mostly because its
safer (more heads-up time) and I have an
opportunity to ask performance questions before
the airplane is growling. I shake my head often
when I see pilots sitting on line, gasoline fires
burning for what seems like a century, head down,
copying ATIS, with no idea who might be walking
around that 6' meat grinder.
Ground Control will instruct the pilot where
to go, and when to monitor tower (operative
word...MONITOR) upon your call to instruct them
that your run-up is complete. After which you will
be told to hold position, or pull-up to the hold
line of the assigned runway, if that is what they
need at a given time. Ground control will be very
specific about when to 'Monitor Tower'...and this
means what it means, just monitor. Unlike other
airports, Centennial will not accept your
departure request if you initially call tower.
Remember, ATIS already gave you everything you
need to know. It is the ground controller who is
responsible for sequencing each control strip to
the tower controller.
A recent addition to these unique procedures
is the "read back all hold short instructions
VERBATIM". I've been to a number of national
airports recently and more and more, I hear this
statement on ATIS. What does verbatim mean...?
Dictionary.net defines the word Verbatim
\Ver*ba"tim\, adv. [LL., fr. L. verbum word.] Word
for word; in the same words; verbally; as, to tell
a story verbatim as another has related it. So, in
effect, spit it back exactly how you heard it.
E.g. "Cessna xxxFT, hold short of runway 17L at
B8". You say....... Why? One simple reason, runway
incursions are on the rise, and accident data
suggests this is one of the single most deadly
transgressions we can make as pilots.
Additionally, the verbatim read back protects you
and the controller from any misunderstanding and
the legal implications this might have for both of
you if something goes wrong.
Remember, controllers are on the 'hook' as
much, if not more than you are. We think we have
enough rules, you should see the 7110.65
Attached is the Operating Tips published by
the Centennial Airport Air Traffic Control Tower.
Think of it as recurrent training. I know most of
you have probably read this at least once, but
it's worth another review. Next CABA newsletter
I'll be discussing the Centennial Airport practice
areas and good operating techniques when flight
training. In the meantime, think about this:
How is it possible that on a fine cloudless
afternoon a group of ATP rated jet pilots
(possessing multiple flight instructor
certificates) in 172's flying a missing man
formation almost suffered a mid-air collision with
another unrelated aircraft transiting the adjacent
airspace (while monitoring the practice area
frequency, another air-to-air frequency, the
tower frequency, and approach)? Ah...it really can
happen to anyone... Until then, fly with your ears
open, and your head on a
swivel! Centennial Airport Operating
Tips |
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Upcoming
Meetings/Events |
April 29th, 2009
Wright Bros. Room
(4 pm- 6 pm)
CABA Annual Membership
Meeting
Featuring Guest Speaker
Charlie Priester and Balistreri Vineyards
June 13th & 14th,
2009
25th Anniversary of Front
Range Airport-Airshow
June 10th, 2009
Signature Charity Golf
Event- Black Bear Golf Course
June 21,
2009
CABA Welcomes
the Women Racers of the Air Race Classic
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CABA Mission
Statement |
"To
foster and promote aviation and related business
at and near Centennial Airport; to collectively
address and respond to issues impacting Centennial
Airport, including safety and operational
effectiveness; to educate the general public about
all aviation activities at the airport, and to
preserve the airport and related businesses as
valuable economic assets to the community at
large." |
|
CABA Board of
Trustees |
Iver
Retrum
(Chairman)
Brittany
Davies
(Secretary and
Treasurer)
Donovan DeVasher
John Furstenberg
Craig Johnston Gene
Langfeldt
Bill
Payne
Craig
Teasdale |
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Current CABA
Sponsors
![](First%20Quarter%202009_files/sponsor-logo-balistreriwine.jpg) |
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