Temporary Control Tower Departs, Huge New TFR

Temporary Control Tower Departs, Huge New TFR

Perations have returned to relatively normal at Santa Ynez Airport with the departure of the temporary control tower. Firefighting operations have moved to Rancho San Fernando Rey, east of Lake Cachuma within a huge new TFR created for aerial firefighting operations.

The new TFR (Temporary Flight Restrictions) area is a box of airspace that runs generally along the coastal ridgeline north of El Capitan Beach to Carpinteria, and then almost to the Cuyama Valley northward, encompassing nearly 750 square miles and extending up to 12,000 feet. Although not an impediment for higher altitude air traffic, the TFR is pushing local air traffic south over the Santa Barbara area if the route is from the Los Angeles or coastal sections southeast.

During the 26 days of operations at Santa Ynez Airport, Tower Tech Inc. Chief Controller William Lichty stated, "Thirty eight hundred thirteen operations were conducted for an average of 147 per day." At their new base of operations at Rancho San Fernando Rey off Paradise Road, Lichty said that operations are averaging 267 per day with a high on Aug. 7 of 411. These higher operation numbers were due to the addition of the heavy-lift helicopters at the forward operating base. Lichty went on to say that during the seven days that the tower has been operating, they have moved a volume of 1,572 operations. An operation in aviation parlance is a take-off or a landing of one aircraft.

Helicopter and fire-fighting equipment operations during the nearly one month of activity at Santa Ynez Airport left little sign of wear and tear on the south and east unpaved portions of the airport. Other than a couple of discarded water bottles and flattened weeds around the perimeter of the airport, no evidence remains of the Blackhawks, Hueys, fuel trucks, four-wheel-drive-heavy-equipment vehicles, trailers, and hundreds of fire fighting personnel who have been working to save our forest from additional destruction.

Reports from the airport operators indicate that increased fuel sales from high-volume operations during the Zaca Fire increased revenue to the airport by a factor of nearly 10. Income for July, the first month of this fiscal year, may equal all of the income from the previous year.

New Web site Up

The new Web site for the Santa Ynez Valley Airport is up and available for public viewing. Direct your Internet browser to www.santaynezairport.com. The Web site has been created by local resident Eric Cobb at the direction of the Santa Ynez Valley Airport Authority