Embry-Riddle is hitting some headwinds in its plan to ease the pressure at its western headquarters in Prescott, Arizona, by diverting much of its pattern training traffic to a satellite airstrip it wants to build near the city. The school, which creates hundreds of new commercial pilots every year at its campus at Ernest A. Love Field, is proposing to lease property in the Chino Valley to build a $15 million paved runway to accommodate training traffic. The land is currently zoned for two-acre parcels and there are dozens of residences in the area. The plan has been approved by local government but there are now calls for a referendum on the project.
In an interview with the Chino Valley Review, Dr. Ken Wichter, the chancellor of the university, said there is a lot of misinformation about the university’s intentions for the new airport. He said the plan is to operate it as a private facility for the use of its students only so they don’t have to compete for airspace at Prescott or any of the other public-use airports in the area. “At private airstrips you don’t have to worry about other aircraft,” he said. Future industrial use and educational facilities are also included in the proposal.
All the usual concerns are being raised by neighbors, including noise, safety, and general disruption in the rural area. There is also a large Buddhist meditation center in the area, but Wichter said planes will not be flying over it. The runway is planned for a section of the Perkins Ranch, a historic cattle and farming operation. Proponents of the plan say it will put less pressure on water supplies and other resources than if it was developed for housing. Wichter said no deal has been signed with the Perkins family, which still owns the 120-year-old ranch, while they await the outcome of the potential referendum.
Overview of the proposal provided by the Perkins Family:
Great idea ERAU. You need to do the same thing at your Daytona campus. Riddle birds are constantly raiding our pattern at 28J. It’s getting out of hand. ERAU gives plenty of lip service about their safety culture but doesn’t put it into practice.
Competing for pattern space is a reality of general aviation, as is communication with ATC. And, while I can appreciate reducing congestion at Prescott, I wonder how well prepared ERAU stucents will be to tackle the real world. Anyone in the pattern? Last transmission <joke>.
Why didn’t they do this 15 years ago?
It will also handle all of the Embryo helicopter traffic.
Several years ago, when I was still working at the airport, it would have been nice to have all of the helicopters flying out of the new airport in Perkinsville.
This attachment is a Perkins family propaganda piece. Their “myths” are not myths at all. The ingress and egress route on the south side of the airfield is directly over our neighborhood. Until January, there were 1-5 flights over our neighborhood per day. There are now 25+, and the plan calls for up to 110 per day. This claim by proponents that this represents no additional overflights above homes in the area is false, by their own plans.
“The usual concerns…”. Yes. As in we chose to live here for the peace and quiet. So we take it to a vote, because WE DO NOT WANT MORE PLANES. They can bus the students to a more rural area. It’s ridiculous how many planes we already have flying over every day!