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TheNoonans · 05-19-2009, 11:31 AM

Hi C-Duff,

I think I can address your questions, let me know if I can offer any additional info.

Regarding the 129 based aircraft and the 97 operations a day, I would say that those numbers aren't very high by comparison to the operating numbers of many other regional/municipal airports that safely accommodate skydiving. The truth is those numbers are not problematic at all.

Separately, it's pretty much an industry acknowledged short coming of our airport reporting system that annual number have a certain "acceptable" margin of error when reported. If the FAA were to park a lawn chair on the side of the runway for the season and count operations, not many people in the aviation industry would bet their paycheck on the actual numbers being remotely close to the reported ones. I have spent a beautiful sunny summer day sitting in the parking lot doing a similar ad hoc study, and unless there is a second "Laconia Municipal Airport" in the area I am not aware of, I would agree that 97 operations a day is a little high of a number.....

As for NASCAR weekends, we mentioned in an earlier post that we have no intention of operating the first NASCAR weekend so that we can sit back and monitor the traffic. We want to do our own research on the NASCAR traffic before making any decisions on jump operation during such a reportedly busy weekend. Worst case scenario, we voluntarily shut our doors that weekend and go to the races ourselves. As a side note, our intended parachute landings over the course of a season expect to be between 1000 and 3000. The Deland Municipal Airport in Florida receives all of the overflow jet traffic and small aircraft traffic for Daytona NASCAR weekends, and the dropzone there does 80,000 annual parachute jumps by comparison. They do not shut down during NASCAR weekends and have never had an issue with NASCAR related air traffic. With that said, it certainly is an issue that deserves detailed analysis, and we plan to do such analysis before we make any decisions on whether we choose to operate, even if at a reduced rate, during the NASCAR events.

Regarding the FAA. Yes, we have talked to the Portland, ME FSDO who has jurisdiction over LCI airspace. We have also talked to Boston Center ATC. A lot of them are actually former parachutists and understand exactly what we want to do. The other (better) half of Skydive Laconia, is my wife Mary and she is a graduate of Daniel Webster College and holds multiple aviation operations degrees and has run manifest for another local dropzone for many years. Between filing daily NOTAMS, filing a permanent one to go in the charts and using standard communication procedures between our jump pilot, other air traffic and local frequencies, our aircraft will have the same communication in place as other dropzones in the area. Forgive me if I defer the specifics of the communications to my wife, I prefer her to speak first person on it. FAA/ATC interaction is one of her primary functions.

If I can answer anything else, please let me know. I will direct Mary to this post and ask her to write up a more clear explanation of the ATC communications for our jump operation.

Blue skies to all and to all a good flight,

Tom

05-19-2009, 11:31 AM	#85
TheNoonans Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Daytona Beach, FL - Bedford, NH Posts: 136 Thanks: 0 Thanked 219 Times in 57 Posts	Skydive Laconia Hi C-Duff, I think I can address your questions, let me know if I can offer any additional info. Regarding the 129 based aircraft and the 97 operations a day, I would say that those numbers aren't very high by comparison to the operating numbers of many other regional/municipal airports that safely accommodate skydiving. The truth is those numbers are not problematic at all. Separately, it's pretty much an industry acknowledged short coming of our airport reporting system that annual number have a certain "acceptable" margin of error when reported. If the FAA were to park a lawn chair on the side of the runway for the season and count operations, not many people in the aviation industry would bet their paycheck on the actual numbers being remotely close to the reported ones. I have spent a beautiful sunny summer day sitting in the parking lot doing a similar ad hoc study, and unless there is a second "Laconia Municipal Airport" in the area I am not aware of, I would agree that 97 operations a day is a little high of a number..... As for NASCAR weekends, we mentioned in an earlier post that we have no intention of operating the first NASCAR weekend so that we can sit back and monitor the traffic. We want to do our own research on the NASCAR traffic before making any decisions on jump operation during such a reportedly busy weekend. Worst case scenario, we voluntarily shut our doors that weekend and go to the races ourselves. As a side note, our intended parachute landings over the course of a season expect to be between 1000 and 3000. The Deland Municipal Airport in Florida receives all of the overflow jet traffic and small aircraft traffic for Daytona NASCAR weekends, and the dropzone there does 80,000 annual parachute jumps by comparison. They do not shut down during NASCAR weekends and have never had an issue with NASCAR related air traffic. With that said, it certainly is an issue that deserves detailed analysis, and we plan to do such analysis before we make any decisions on whether we choose to operate, even if at a reduced rate, during the NASCAR events. Regarding the FAA. Yes, we have talked to the Portland, ME FSDO who has jurisdiction over LCI airspace. We have also talked to Boston Center ATC. A lot of them are actually former parachutists and understand exactly what we want to do. The other (better) half of Skydive Laconia, is my wife Mary and she is a graduate of Daniel Webster College and holds multiple aviation operations degrees and has run manifest for another local dropzone for many years. Between filing daily NOTAMS, filing a permanent one to go in the charts and using standard communication procedures between our jump pilot, other air traffic and local frequencies, our aircraft will have the same communication in place as other dropzones in the area. Forgive me if I defer the specifics of the communications to my wife, I prefer her to speak first person on it. FAA/ATC interaction is one of her primary functions. If I can answer anything else, please let me know. I will direct Mary to this post and ask her to write up a more clear explanation of the ATC communications for our jump operation. Blue skies to all and to all a good flight, Tom