Holly Hill Airport (5J5) Banning Aircraft

[Dale Andee]

First post here although I've been lurking for quite some time.

This is a bizzare story with many twist and turns. I've posted about this on another site but perhaps here it will get more exposure and the pilots of Holly Hill can get some help or advice that might assist us in wading through these strange goings on. So without further ado, here is the story:

http://aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=ma...a-9614ddca0521

http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?d...0-db6cb00abbbb

http://aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=ma...d-32daeeb2f509

It's a mess (last story is the best with your second cup of joe)...

Dale
3.0 Corvair/Tailwheel/Sonex

[Eric Page]

Well, you're in quite a pickle. Leaving aside Jim Campbell's unreadable writing style, his unhinged attacks on AOPA, his ugly class envy of Mark Baker and his antagonistic, unhelpful and legally dubious personal crusade against your mayor, I think he's more or less correct about the situation if, as he says, the airport has no federal grant obligations. There is plenty of precedent that only the FAA can regulate the airspace of the United States, but airspace regulation ends when your tires touch the ground. If the town owns the airport and the mayor owns the town...

Your pilot community needs a good attorney, and, since you're fighting City Hall, deep pockets. Alternatively, you need a campaign to convince the people of your town that the mayor and town council are over-reaching their authority and need to be put in check. You'll only accomplish that via court order or election results.

Overcoming the perception that airplanes are rich people's toys will be difficult. Fortunately, the ban affects the cheaper end of GA, so you can make valid comparisons to things like a bass boat, a pair of jet skis, a classic car or hot rod, or a couple of years' worth of vacations. What's to stop the mayor from banning fishing on the local lake the next time a kid falls in the water, or shutting down the local drag strip the next time there's a racing accident?

Finally, Jim Campbell isn't doing your cause any good by going after your mayor. People aren't swayed to your side of an argument by having your "ally" try to get petty charges filed against them, especially people who are impressed with their own power and influence, as your mayor appears to be. All Campbell will accomplish is getting the mayor and council members to dig their heels in. If I were you I would contact Campbell and respectfully ask that he lay off the mayor and restrict himself to reporting facts, for the good of all concerned.

Best of luck!

[rwanttaja]

Finally, Jim Campbell isn't doing your cause any good by going after your mayor. People aren't swayed to your side of an argument by having your "ally" try to get petty charges filed against them, especially people who are impressed with their own power and influence, as your mayor appears to be. All Campbell will accomplish is getting the mayor and council members to dig their heels in. If I were you I would contact Campbell and respectfully ask that he lay off the mayor and restrict himself to reporting facts, for the good of all concerned.

Good luck with that.

Ron Wanttaja

[Eric Page]

Yeah, I know, but hope springs eternal.

[Aviatrexx]

O.M.G. So Zoom is still around and spraying his vitriolic blather at every aviation "inequity"? He is a perpetual child, screaming "THAT NOT FAIR!" at anything that doesn't work the way he thinks it should, facts and extenuating circumstances notwithstanding. "Nuance" is not in his Funk&Wagnalls. This won't be the first time his intervention has caused more damage to aviation than his bullhorn (such as it is these days) has helped. Zoom sees himself as the Upton Sinclair or Ralph Nader of aviation, when he's merely a self-aggrandizing, insecure, petulant two-year-old. His style is the polar opposite of the "reasoned, calm, and careful approach" to the problem that he advises. This furor is sad because Holly Hill is an easy hop from my home airport, but I've never dropped in because I didn't know there was any activity there.


I suspect I'm not the only person here who deserved a Purple Heart in the Zoom Wars of the last century. Very disappointed to hear they are not over.