aviationSoutheast

Show

lands at Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU) on Saturday, October 29. See inside for more details.

A Publication of the South Carolina Aviation Association

PAPalmetto Aviation Summer 2011

2 • Palmetto Aviation

Summer 2011 • 3

ADC Engineering.............................p. 8 Aircraft & Marine Assurance Agency.....p. 5Delta Airport Consultants, Inc.........p. 3 Georgetown Airport.........................p. 6Hope Aviation..................................p. 9The LPA Group, Inc. .......................p. 13MB Kahn..........................................p. 14Myrtle Beach Aviation.....................p. 9Pace Pavement Technologies.........p. 9Peek Airfield Marking......................p. 4SC TAC ...........................................p. 3Talbert and Bright............................p. 12WK Dickson & Co............................p. 2LowCountry Regional Airport..........p. 15

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Many years ago, a Detroit automobile manufacturer’s corporate philosophy was “Quality is Job One.” I sug-gest that our industry’s goal is “Safety is Job One.” After all, we will be out of business if we are not safe. This is brought up for two reasons.

First, building on our partnership with the South Caro-lina Aviation Safety Council, starting with this edition of Palmetto Aviation, there is a new column on current safety issues. Make certain to check it out and apply it.

And second, we are back in the flying season with ice off our runways and wings. Remember not to take any shortcuts with the preflight or weather and get out there and enjoy yourselves, and BE SAFE.

Upcoming events will also provide safety tips. There will be an October 29 Southeast Aviation Show which will include both a trade show and education sessions for pilots, and of course, our Annual Conference to be held February 8 – 10 in Myrtle Beach.

Bringing up a close second to safety is security. It will soon be the 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the United States, and I ask that you take a moment to reflect upon September 11, 2001. Our world has changed, and we must remain diligent. If something does not seem right, it probably isn’t. If you see some-thing, say something. Don’t be complacent--that is security’s worst enemy.

Thank you for reading and enjoy this issue of Palmetto Aviation.

Be Safe and Secure,

Eric RamsdellSCAA President

Myrtle Beach International Airport was recog-nized and awarded by the Southeast Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives as the winner of the 2011 General Aviation Airport project of the year award in the Architectural Category for its new General Aviation Terminal.

The award was presented by David King of Gresh-am, Smith and Partners, Inc., the architectural firm that designed the new General Aviation Terminal at MYR. King presented the plague to Bob Woods and Mike Marlowe at the May 24 Horry County Council meeting.

Myrtle Beach Aviation New Terminal Design Recognized with an Award

4 • Palmetto Aviation

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EAA President to Speak at SCAA 2012 Annual ConferenceEAA President Rod Hightower has agreed to speak at the February 8-10, 2012 SCAA Annual Conference at the Grande Dunes Marriott in Myrtle Beach. Hightower will provide his outlook on aviation for the coming year and report how EAA is moving forward during this time.

Hightower has been President of the organization for one year in July. Prior to that Hightower has more than 25 years of busi-ness management and leadership experi-ence. Hightower has led domestic and international business operations with as

many as 2,300 employees and annual revenues of up to $470 mil-lion. That experience includes positions at Square D Corporation, York, and Public Safety Equipment Corporation.

Along with his business expertise, Hightower is a passionate aviation enthusiast. He has been an EAA member for more than 20 years, and restored his own Stearman biplane that he flies out of Creve Coeur Airport near St. Louis. Hightower is also active as a director in the National Stearman Foundation, a volunteer role focused on fundraising and organizing the annual weeklong Stea-rman National Fly-In.

EAA’s 160,000 members and 1,000 local chapters enjoy the fun and camaraderie of sharing their passion for flying, building and restor-ing recreational aircraft.

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at the Marriott Grande DunesMyrtle Beach

for the February 8-10 SCAA Annual Conference.

Room rate of $115 is available until

December 29Call 800-644-2881.

Summer 2011 • 5

An Update from the Aeronautics Commissionby Paul Werts, Executive Director, SC Aeronautics Commision

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Contined on page 13

In August 1978, the South Carolina Aeronautics Commission (SCAC) hired an air-port planner and he taught me a great deal about airport planning and surveying. Of course, that airport planner is John Floyd! The most important things he taught me is having a strong work ethic and living a Godly life. After 33 years, John Floyd will retire from SCAC on August 3. John has been a great mentor and has provided outstanding aviation public service to the airport community. John will be truly missed by his peers, aviation associates and friends, and we wish him the best on his retirement!

The SCAC is not moving to the Department of Transportation as originally planned. SCAC will remain within the State Budget and Control Board and Title 55, which deals directly and indirectly with SCAC and state aviation law will be addressed by the Judiciary Committee in 2012. The SCAC also has a new Chair-man, Delphin Gantt who replaced Gregg Malphrus. Continue to follow Title 55’s progress on the Aeronau-tics web page or the State Legislative web site http://www.scstatehouse.gov.

If you have a gathering of non-aviators and/or business leaders and find a need to make a presentation on the benefits of owning, renting, or learning to fly an airplane, contact SCAC General Aviation Ambassador – Merrill Donahoo @ 803-261-8022 and schedule a presentation. We have received positive responses from attendees on this new endeavor to promote general aviation usage, and I would like to hear back from you on how we can continue to promote aviation and help the industry to grow and to prosper.

For those of you, who are responsible for electrical circuits and lighting equipment at public use airports, check out the electrical inventory located on Aeronautics web site. We also have a contract to conduct an in-depth pavement study on 26 airports in South Carolina. You may find Applied Research moving around an airport using very sophisticated equipment.

6 • Palmetto Aviation

Georgetown Airport129 Airport Road

Georgetown, SC 29440

Airport ManagerPhone: (843) 545-3638

Fax: (843) 545-3526www.GeorgetownCountyAirport.com

Seven Rivers Aviation (FBO)Phone: (843) 527-7516

Photo by Robert Mikrut

Visit our airport and see why we are proud to call Georgetown Airport the “Gateway to Georgetown County”

Georgetown Airport is a general aviation airport located between Myrtle Beach and Charleston providing ultimate convenience and services.

•New 8,500 sq ft terminal building

•Full FBO Services - 2 Active Runways

•Overnight Aircraft tie-down parking

•Corporate Hangar – Nested T-Hangars

•Air Charter Services Available

•Flight Training – Ample Parking Space

•Meeting and class room facilities

Sump Your Aircraft Before Each Flight!By Hugh Tuttle, South Carolina Aviation Safety Council member

On June 3, my co-pilot and I had the pleasure of flying South Carolina’s Governor and others to Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station, Charleston AFB/International Airport and the Horry County Airports as they prepared for this year’s Hur-ricane season. Thankful for our elected officials’ hard work to ensure South Carolina is prepared in the event of a damaging storm this season, I reflected a bit on general aviation and how I can be better prepared.

Looking back at some major hurricanes, I recall one in 1996, Bertha, a Category 3 Hurricane crossed the Leeward Islands passed near Puerto Rico then made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 storm. The estimated damages were

$270 million and there were many indirect deaths. Days after Bertha cleared out and the weather was nice once again, a Piper PA-18 with floats took off and within minutes crashed near Gatesville, NC. The NTSB determined fuel contamination from water in the fuel system caused the engine to fail. Bertha’s heavy rains days before were most likely the cause.

Just because you hangar your aircraft from the elements of a passing storm does not guarantee protections against fuel contamination by water. The three most common ways water is introduced to the tanks of our aircraft are:1) Water enters at the filler cap or filler neck where the fuel is added to the tanks. This was most likely the way the Piper PA-18 found its tanks contaminated as its extended range fuel tanks had a flush mount filler cap where water was suspected to have entered the tanks. Make no mistake though, it doesn’t take a hurricane for water to get into your tanks at their filler caps; contamination can occur by merely washing a plane that does not have properly sealed fuel caps.

2) Condensation is another culprit. Over time, the tanks of our aircraft can collect hazardous amounts of water just sitting outside or even inside the hangar. continued on page 9

7 • Summer 2011

Governor Haley Proclaimed June General Aviation MonthThe South Carolina Aviation Association partnered with the SC Aeronautics Commission and the Alliance for Aviation Across America to have June declared General Aviation Appreciation Month in South Carolina. So far, the alliance has partnered with 31 states to have each declare a General Aviation Appreciation Month. You can go to www.aviationacrossamerica.org to see what other states are participating.

Plans are being made now on how the association can maximize exposure of Aviation Appreciation Month in 2012.

“It is great to have a platform that will allow the aviation industy to showcase what it offers to our state through Aviation Appreciation month.” said SCAA President Eric Ramsdell.

8 • Palmetto Aviation

On May 24, 80 aviation maintenance technicians in Columbia and the sur-rounding area gathered for lunch at the SC Aeronautics Commission to cel-ebrate Aircraft Maintenance Technician Day in honor of Charles Taylor.

Charles Taylor is known for building the first aircraft engine used by the Wright Brothers and he was a vital contributor of mechanical skills in the building and maintaining of early Wright engines and airplanes.

During the event Walter Gene Grant with Bankair was awarded the FAA Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award. This award recognizes the life-time accomplishments of a senior mechanic. The recipient has to fulfill a list of criteria before being considered for the award.

Past recipients of the award who were present included: John Barbieri, Rich-ard Becker, Roland Morgan and Leonard McCullough. Steven Barbieri was also present and recognized as the 2010 Aviation Maintenance Technician of The Year.

The event was sponsored by Bankair/Columbia Aviation, Eagle Aviation and WestStar. The event was hosted by the SC Aeronautics Commission, FAA, and South Carolina Aviation Association.

Aviation Maintenance Technicians Celebrated on May 24

Past Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Recipients visit at the event.

Left: Neil Baker played a game of mechanic jeopardy with attendees.

Pictured far left: Paul Werts with the SC Aeronautics Commission congratulates Walter Grant on his award.

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Dwayne Pittsenbarger with the FAA presented Walter Grant with his award.

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b u t t h e re’s Hope.

Summer 2011 • 9

3) Refueling source can be a third culprit. Without our knowledge water can be introduced and contaminate our tanks during fueling.

We can do all we can to prevent water from entering our fuel tanks and still might find a positive detection on our walk around. Knowing that even on a sunny day with a well maintained aircraft the engine can still fail causes us as pilots to be even more vigilant at looking for contaminates in our fuel. Sumping our aircraft and always looking for signs of positive detection are es-sentials.

I am thankful to serve with the members of the South Carolina Safety Council where the organization pro-motes “safer pilots and safer skies.” Keep up with us at www.scaviationsafety.org for more great safety infor-mation and events designed especially for the palmetto state’s important aviation industry.

Fly Safe!!!

Sump Your Aircraft Before Each Flight!... continued from page 6

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Palmetto Aviation

WHEN SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 • 9 am - 5 pm

WHAT TRADE SHOWWHERE GREENVILLE DOWNTOWN AIRPORT (GMU)

COST $5 children under 15 and students with id’s are free

pilot products, services and aircraft displays

aviationSoutheast

Show

Summer 2011 • 11

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 • 9 am - 5 pm

TRADE SHOWGREENVILLE DOWNTOWN AIRPORT (GMU)

aviation

Show

EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS: New General Aviation Technologies • What A Buyer Needs to Know Before Purchasing a Plane • Best Practices For Renewing an Aviation Insurance Policy • What it Takes to be A Pilot • Careers in Aviation • FAR 91.411&91.413 checks/IFR/VFR checks • How Aviation Can Benefit the Corporate Community. • Aircraft Tire Maintenance •More to be added.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: AOPA President Craig Fuller at 11 am

See Who Is Exhibiting At The Showsponsored

by:

Find more details on the event schedule and an up-to-date listing of exhibitors at www.scaaonline.com. Attendees can register on-line, and an exhibit registration form is also available here. Questions? Call 877-359-7222.

Look for our advertisement in General Aviation and Trade A Plane Pulications.

12 • Palmetto Aviation

The South Carolina Aviation Association in partnership with the South Carolina Aeronautics Commission provided close to $10,000 in funding for aviation-related events this year. Funding was provided for the following aviation programs in 2011:

The Safety Fly-In is hosted by the South Carolina Aviation Safety Council. This Council develops, organizes, educates and implements safety awareness initiatives that address issues and concerns throughout South Carolina’s aviation community. The Safety Fly-In is just one of the events created to accomplish this mission.

Wright Flight is a program that involves coordination of volunteers, pilots, schools, teachers and business people from the community. Currently, the only Wright Flight program is located in Myrtle Beach. It involves an aviation curriculum taught in a school setting and requires thatstudents keep their grades up in order to participate. The program concludes with a private flight for each student and is provided by volunteers.

Celebrate Freedom Foundation coordinates an educational program called SOaR “Student Opportuni-ties and Rewards.” This program supports the science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses in middle and high schools and provides skills and competen-cies greatly needed in the global workplace. So far, SOaR has partnered with 160 schools in South Carolina. The SOaR™ Aviation Technologies curriculum has been approved by the S. C. Department of Education. Aviation technology resources, such

as helicopters, jet engines, avionics and hydraulics systems is taken to the schools along with the volunteer subject matter experts through the SOaR™ school outreach program to provide hands-on training to complement the class-room instruction.

Civil Air Patrol Summer Encampment is one of its core cadet activity’s which is typically a week to ten days long,Cadets are immersed in an intense, military-structured environment with emphasis on physically and mentally demanding tasks and required classes and activities. Classes include aerospace education, Air Force organization, cadet programs, and drug demand reduction. Activities include the classroom courses, physical training, and drill and ceremonies.

SC Historic Aviation Foundation celebrated flight’s first century in the Palmetto State with a family-centered week of aviation education activities. The Annual International Young Eagles Day “kicked off” the events for the week. Dur-ing the week a speech was given by Jimmy Shannon, a co-pilot on the C-47 airplane that extracted from China Gen-eral Jimmy Doolittle, along with members of his Tokyo Raid crew. Jimmy Doolittle’s granddaughter, Jonna Doolittle Hoppes, spoke at another event during the week. She talked about growing up with revered grandparents. On display during the week was the iconic B-25 Columbia Army Air Base bomber, the WWII C-47 airplane and several other WWII airplanes. A special appearance by flying members of the Carolinas’ chapter of the Ninety-Nines closed out the the week long celebration.

Funding Provided For Aviation Education

Summer 2011 • 13

After a record 20 extensions authorizing FAA to remain open for business and support aviation infrastruc-ture programs, Congress may soon address the core of reauthorization with a new bill. All the political chatter appears to mean less funding available. Central Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the bill would decrease spending by $4B and increase revenue by $34B over the FY11 through FY16 period. No matter how the program shakes out, FAA has been a strong ally to South Carolina in assisting airports with justi-fiable priority needs.

Governor Haley proclaimed June as General Aviation month in South Carolina. Her proclamation focused on the economics general aviation contributes to the South Carolina economy. The message -- General Aviation is not only for recreation and business venues, but a necessity for South Caroline’s to prosper. This coming year, SCAC will partner with SCAA to create the first ever sponsored aviation summer camp for kids. This camp will provide leadership and education on aviation science and technology. Logistics is be-ing work out and more information will be provided in the Fall Edition of the newsletter.

Since I’m writing about first time aviation endeavors in South Carolina, please mark your calendar for October 29 to attend the first Southeast Aviation Show at Greenville Downtown Airport. This is a very unique aviation event that will provide pilots and aviation technicians with an opportunity to network with other pilots, learn new information during the education sessions and learn about new products and services while visiting with exhibitors. Think of this event as the first beginnings of a Sun-n-Fun in our state. Let’s make this event a success for South Carolina in hopes of further expanding general aviation in our state.

Safe flying,Paul Werts

An Update from the Aeronautics Commission... continued from page 5

14 • Palmetto Aviation

SCAA Honors Leader Larry HolcombeLarry Holcombe recently retired from the Greenville Spartan-burg International Airport (GSP) after 38 years of service in various positions including Director of Public Saafety, Operations Manager, Deputy Executive Director, Airport Manager and Senior Vice President.

During his time with the airport, Holcombe played a vital role in building the South Carolina Aviation Association and has been a key leader having served as Secretary/Treasurer of the South Carolina Aviation Association for six years and served on the South Carolina Aviation Association Board of Directors for 12 years. Through his leadership as Secretary/Treasurer, Holcombe

is credited with rebuilding the association reserve fund.

“It is because of leaders like Larry who give of their time and expertise that SCAA is where it is today.” said SCAA Executive Director Katie Koon, CAE.

SCAA Past President Frank Manning (r) presents Larry Holcombe with a Resolution on behalf of the SCAA Board of Directors.

SCTAC President & CEO, Jody Bryson, traveled to Paris, France on June 19 as part of the South Carolina 30-member delegation to the 49th International Air Show in Paris. The delegation was led by Governor Nikki Haley and SC Secre-tary of Commerce Bobby Hitt. Bryson represented SCTAC and Greenville Area

SC Delegation attends International Air Show

Jody Bryson

LOWCOUNTRY REGIONAL AIRPORTWalterboro, SC

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1-877-FLY SCAA (359-7222)www.scaaonline.com

2011 Corporate Members Upcoming SCAA EventsAOPA President Craig Fuller will provide the keynote address for The Southeast Avia-tion Show on Satur-day, October 29 at the Greenville Downtown

Airport (GMU). The event will include a 30-booth trade and at least 20 aircraft in a static display

Other education sessions will be provided throughout the day. For more information see page 10.

EAA President Rod Hightower will provide the keynote address at the February 8-10, 2012 SCAA Annual Conference to be held at the Grande Dunes Marriott in Myrtle Beach.

As other educational sesssions and speakers are confirmed SCAA will include them on its website at www.scaaonline.com. For more information on Rod Hightower see page 4.

Continental Aerial Survey