“Fly With The Best”

· Approach

Precision – An electronic system that provides navigation information to aircraft allowing them to land in bad weather.

▪ A precision approach provides lateral and vertical guidance to the runway on a fixed glide slope.  These systems will sometimes allow the pilot to descend to as low as 200 feet above the runway. Boeing Field has two such approaches.

▪ Because these systems require lighting systems on the ground that extend beyond the runway, it is doubtful that Renton will ever have a precision approach.  Lake Washington and Renton High School are located where these lighting systems would need to be installed

 

Non-Precision – Also, an electronic system that provides navigation information to aircraft allowing them to land in bad weather.

▪ A non-precision approach provides lateral guidance to the runway, but no vertical guidance.  Descent is accomplished using a “Step Down” method as the aircraft gets progressively closer to the runway. These systems never allow the pilot to descend as low as a precision approach.

▪ Renton currently has only a non-precision approach. Pilots are required to be at or above1600 feet until they reach a point known as “BLEIR” located 4.7 miles from the runway, over north Mercer Island.  They then descend to 760 feet.  They can go no lower until they have the runway in sight and are in a position to land.

 

· Balanced Field Length

The minimum distance an aircraft needs in order to accelerate to take off speed and then safely come to a complete stop.  This distance increases when the runway is wet or when the aircraft is heavily loaded.  This limits the size and type of aircraft that can operate from the Renton Airport, particularly in the winter, because our runway is 5300 feet which is less than the Balanced Field Length of larger jet aircraft.

 

Boeing is able to safely use our runway to launch their 737’s because these newly completed airplanes are lightly loaded.

▪ No passengers or luggage on-board.

▪ No interior furnishings installed.

▪ Light fuel load.

 

· Based Aircraft

An aircraft that is permanently stored at an airport. These planes represent the “bread and butter” customers of the FBO.  They provide a steady revenue stream through storage, maintenance, and fuel purchases. Based aircraft actually have little impact on the number of airport operations.  Some are flown once or twice per month while others are flown two or three times per week.

 

The operators of these aircraft are very considerate and cooperative concerning their operational procedures and hours because they “live” at the home airport and have no desire to annoy their neighbors.  Renton currently has 7 turbine powered based aircraft, 2 jets and 5 turboprops.  These planes account for approximately 10-15 operations per week.

 

· Decibel – dB

The decibel (dB) is the unit used to measure the magnitude or intensity of sound. It uses a mathematical scale to cover the large range of sound pressures that can be heard by the human ear. A 10-dB increase will be perceived by most people to be a doubling of loudness. For example, 80 dB typically seems twice as loud as 70 dB.

 

· FAA

Federal Aviation Administration – the governmental agency responsible for the Federal Airspace System.

▪ The authority to control aircraft in flight and on the ground is vested exclusively in the FAA.

▪ The FAA, however, cannot control the number of flights or the time of day of aircraft operations.

▪ Federal law preempts any local government agency from implementing any action that is intended to control the routes of aircraft in flight.

Therefore, local elected officials and airport management cannot control the routes of aircraft in flight or on the ground.

 

· F.B.O.

Fixed Base Operator.  An aviation service company, located on an airport, which provides a variety of services to the flying public.  These services generally include fuel sales, storage, aircraft rental, flight instruction, maintenance, catering, concierge services, etc.

▪ Pro-Flight Aviation is an FBO on the Renton Airport and opened in 1994.  We operate a small fleet of seven piston-powered aircraft for rental and training purposes.  We are the primary fuel supplier on the field and provide all the aforementioned services, among others.

▪ Pro-Flight has served as a member of the RAAC since it’s founding in 2001.  We have continuously worked with citizens on noise issues and education by taking people from various neighborhood groups on informative local flights to help them better understand the operational requirements of small aircraft.

▪ Pro-Flight’s owners reside in Renton, directly below the Airport Traffic Pattern.

Pro-Flight is a good neighbor.

 

· Grant Assurances

Over the years since the FAA gave the Airport to the City of Renton, the Airport has accepted federal grant funds for major improvements to the Airport.

 

The conditions for funding are:

▪ Actively use the airport property for aviation purposes.

▪ The City cannot use airport property for any other use i.e.: Apartment complexes, Automobile repair, etc.  Strictly aviation related uses.

▪ Not discriminate based on aircraft type.

▪ The City cannot ban jets or any other type of aircraft.

▪ Ensure that the runway is available 24/7.

▪ The City cannot close the runway or ban jets at night.

If the City violates these assurances, it will be required to pay back the millions of dollars in grant money it has accepted.

 

The City cannot force a private business, like an FBO, to be open 24/7, nor can it prevent it.

The City cannot stop a private business, like an FBO, from charging “after hours” fees that are large enough to discourage late night operations, nor can it insist upon it.

 

· Jet Center

A misnomer for what should have been more aptly named a “Corporate Aviation Center”.  In Pro-Flight’s concept, this would be a facility consisting of 27 hangars and a passenger reception facility.  7 hangars are large enough to accommodate any aviation related business.  The remaining 20 hangars would be rented to aircraft owners and operators.

 

While large enough to store many types of aircraft including jets, Pro-Flight’s market research shows the primary market to be turboprop aircraft such as those made by Pilatus, TBM, and Beechcraft.  The physical limitations of the Renton Airport make it less than desirable to operators of larger jet aircraft.  See “Balanced Field Length” and “Approach”

Our experience shows that storing 20 additional corporate aircraft on the field will only produce an additional 30 to 40 operations per week.  See “Based Aircraft”

 

· Operation

                 A take off or landing is defined as an operation.  Every flight takes off and lands somewhere, and

                 this equals 2 operations.

 

· Piston Powered Aircraft

This type of aircraft uses a reciprocating engine to drive the propeller.  These engines operate on principles similar to a car engine and run on gasoline.  Many aircraft operating from the Renton airport have engines as large as 985 cubic inch displacement.  That TWICE as big as a muscle car engine from the 1960’s

 

Mufflers used on these airplanes are either non-existent or minimally effective.

▪ Many airplanes were designed and approved with no muffler at all.

▪ Better mufflers cannot be installed without going through a prohibitively expensive and time-consuming FAA approval process.

 

· RAAC

Renton Airport Advisory Committee

▪ Founded in 2001 to help gain community input to the airport and address noise complaints

▪ Consists of local citizens and airport users.

▪ Developed and helped implement the Voluntary Noise Abatement Procedures in place at the Renton Airport.  This program has been very successful in reducing the number of complaints.

 

Pro-Flight Aviation has been a member of this committee since its inception and has actively pursued a good neighbor relationship with the community since we opened our doors.

▪ We require all employees and aircraft renters to comply with the Noise Abatement Procedures

▪ We attend Open House meetings.

We have worked to educate pilots and the public to promote a harmonious relationship between the Airport and the Communities that surround it.

 

· Stage 1, 2, and 3

In 1969 the Federal Aviation Administration adopted regulations requiring commercial jets to meet noise standards.

▪ Stage 1 jets, such as the original Boeing 707s and McDonnell-Douglas DC-8s, are the oldest and noisiest aircraft. They have either been retired from service or retrofitted to meet quieter Stage 3 standards.

▪ Stage 2 jets, such as 727s, 737-200s and DC-9s are noisy aircraft. Most have either been retired from service or retrofitted to meet quieter Stage 3 standards.

▪ Stage 3 jets such as 737-300s, 757s, A319s, MD-80s, Fokker 100s and regional jets are the quietest jets flying today.

 

Nearly all business jets meet or exceed Stage 3 requirements.

 

· Transient Aircraft

Aircraft that are “passing through”.  The owners/operators of these aircraft are visitors to our communities and bring us economic benefit well beyond the airport boundaries.  They buy catering, hotel rooms, and rental cars as well as fuel.  The passengers are often business executives of large companies already doing business in Renton and the surrounding communities such as Fry’s Electronics, Wal-Mart, Costco, and Boeing. Affluent business executives, sports stars, government officials and Hollywood celebrities have all visited the Puget Sound Area through Pro-Flight in recent years.

 

A small number of these aircraft are carrying freight or operating as air ambulance flights.  These serve the community by helping to keep local assembly lines moving or carrying local residents home when they have taken ill in another city or state.

 

· Turbine Powered Aircraft

Collectively refers to Jets and Turboprop aircraft.  Many people think that the only types of aircraft are “jets” or “props”.  The truth is that a turboprop is essentially a jet engine with a propeller installed.  Piston powered aircraft use an engine similar to a car engine to turn the prop.  See “Turboprop” and “Piston Powered Aircraft”

 

· Turboprop

A propeller driven aircraft powered by a turbine engine.  Because the “jet” exhaust is converted to torque to drive the propeller, this type of aircraft produces less noise than a piston powered aircraft of similar horsepower and far less noise than a jet.  Most turboprops have excellent Short Field performance and therefore would have no problem utilizing the Renton Airport.

 

· VLJ

Very Light Jet.  A new generation of small jet aircraft capable of seating 6 people.  These aircraft promise to be among the quietest planes ever built.  As of today, only a few companies have produced prototype aircraft and full scale production has yet to begin.  While these airplanes show great potential, it will be years before there will enough of them delivered to have a significant impact on the aviation industry.

 

Aviation, like many industries, has it’s own unique language.  Many times, asking an aviator to explain something is like asking a computer tech to explain why you have to re-boot now and then.  After a couple of minutes, you’re sorry you asked.

We’ve given our explanation of the following terms in the hopes of helping introduce these terms to non-aviators. We also made an effort to keep aviators satisfied with the technical correctness presented.

If you have any additions, questions, comments, or corrections, please let us know.  We will be happy to discuss any changes and will make every effort to update this page as needed.

The “Paholkepedia”

A Definition of Terms Being Discussed

Concerning the Renton Airport.

(and a few opinions)