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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Base Operator Has Big Plans for Airfield

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
    At a cruising speed of 140 mph in his CTSW Light Sport Aircraft above N.M. 41, Brian Longwill seems like a happy man.
    "I'm building an airport ... It's a very high-quality gravel runway. It's all surveyed and laid out to build hangars out there," exactly what Longwill would love to see happen at the Estancia Municipal Airport, he said.
    Longwill, a pilot for more than 40 years, took over as fixed-base operator of the airfield after the last FBO, Bill Dolson, blew out of town rather quickly in 2004 after finishing a master plan.
    "In here, I have a complete financial analysis for the town," Longwill said as he opened the master plan. In 10 years, the plan says, the airport will create 43.6 jobs in and around town. Dolson's master plan also estimates an economic impact of $2.3 million annually in benefits to Estancia, Longwill said.
    Longwill is working with Tom Baca, the state aviation director, to "get $50,000 to pave our runway," he said.
    "We're looking at a July time frame," although Estancia does not have a promise for the funding, Longwill said.
    Last year, Longwill began working on the abandoned airfield by painting the hangar, floor and fixing the walls. Parked inside is his own CTSW Light Sport Aircraft that he flies every day. As an authorized dealer, he sells the aircraft for up to $135,000. The hangar also contains a 1944 Howard GH-3 that won grand champion at the Moriarty Air Show last year, he said. Also parked inside is a 1941 Dodge Army truck that was his car in high school.
    A driver's license is all that's needed to qualify for a light sport pilot's license, he said.
    "(Light sport planes) opened up flying for lots of people," Longwill said.
    Estancia Mayor Martin Hibbs is also happy that Longwill is the FBO.
    "Airport improvements really need a person with passion or desire who understands airports and airplanes," Hibbs said. And apparently that person, unsalaried, is difficult to come by.
    Estancia has spent $200,000 to get the airfield to "the place it's at now," Hibbs said.
    Hibbs confirmed that the town is trying to bring in pilots who would like to park their planes in Estancia between flights.
    "We would lease the land and they would build improvements on it. They would build their hangar and we would get revenue from the leased land," Hibbs said.