Huntingburg Regional Airport to explore more hangar space
The Huntingburg Airport is nearly at capacity for airplane storage.
Airport Manager Travis McQueen reported that less than a year after opening a new T-hangar, the regional airport is exploring options to add another.
“We are talking about having to add to that capacity because we’re full up again,” McQueen said. “A week ago Friday we had another aircraft come to the airport, specifically in hangar five; hangar three is already full for a month plus.”
In the meantime, the airport authority is taking bids for space in the Humer Hangar – a hangar built by the Olinger family in the 1960s that the airport operates. The highest bidder will get the lease for their aircraft.
Leasing space in the hangars brings the airport about $71,000 in annual revenue and bolsters the activity and fuel sales.
The board decided to explore options for creating another T-hangar. A committee comprised of McQueen, board president Mike Cummings and board member Bob Johnson will take on the task of planning a hangar to be placed just west of the new one.
The just-completed hangar cost around $630,000, and the county chipped in $413,000 towards the project. The airport authority shouldered the remaining cost.
The committee will likely approach the Dubois County Council to ask for another infusion of money to help with construction costs.
The board also took the following actions:
-Approved four high bids Monday evening for agricultural farming of the 225 acres owned by the airport. The bids significantly increased the amount of money collected on the leases as they came in about 31 percent higher than the previous five years. The bidding is completed every five years and this year’s bids will bring in $47,538.00 annually for the operating budget at the airport.
-Nick Isenberg with Woolpert Engineering gave an update on the runway extension plan and said that the final capital improvement plan had been submitted to the FAA on February 1st.
-Heard the tunnel configuration for County Road 200 West had changed. Isenberg reported that an arch will be used to buttress each side of the tunnel. He said there will still be an 18-foot clearance, but the weight distribution on the foundation will take pressure off of the walls.
-Heard that McQueen had received another cell phone tower proposal. It will be placed in Dale, just west of the Denny’s restaurant in the southwest quadrant of US 231 and I-64. The tower was not expected to pose any adverse risk for the airport.
-Heard the airport has two high school interns; Aaron Meyer from Forest Park and Nolan Kiefer from Jasper High School. Both have plans to make aviation their career of choice.
