FAA Compliance Hangar Inspection Juneau, Alaska

[Freddie]

George,
I admit to being an historian and a patriot and a devourer of books and as such I had several synapses make contact with your statement that spending the night in your hanger must be a violation of some rule. That statement goes right to the heart of the problem in this day and age that is ruining the country. In the 1920s, Pres. Herbert Hoover wrote a book in which he made numerous predictions, all of which had come true by the time I read the book around 1980. The only prediction that wasn't immediately apparent as having come true was the statement that he made that America would end up a fascist state. I thought he had missed that one prediction out of the many he made until I went to the Webster's unabridged dictionary. It's definition of fascism: Control of the people through taxation and regulation. Over a period of days I contemplated what job or profession could you have in this country that did not require either you or the person you worked for to have a license. I never thought of any. That's why I would not be surprised that having a cot in your hangar would be illegal. A simple thing that disturbs no one except some overreaching bureaucrat. Due to our founders and the great American spirit, we have had it very good in this country for a very long time. Two or three consecutive generations who were able to live without great personal fear is all that is necessary to lose the American spirit. In fact, Thomas Jefferson stated that "A democracy is never more than one generation away from tyranny." This allows gradualism to erode our rights because we put up with such seemingly insignificant rules such as not being able to spend the night in your hangar to avoid a seven hour round-trip. And tomorrow we put up with yet another seemingly insignificant rule. Then the next generation comes on scene thinking that this is the way it has always been. Then they allow a few more innocuous rules. I recall a statement that I read way back in the 1980s: "If you think we have it good today in this country, consider how good it would be if we still had the 93% of our rights that have been taken away from us." With consideration of the above, then contemplating the possible illegality of spending the night in your own hanger seems to have a much greater significance than mere inconvenience.
Louie

[Eagle Six]

That statement goes right to the heart of the problem in this day and age that is ruining the country.

Nice post Louie, it's sad, but I agree with you.

Through the years I've been rich and I've been poor......I'm in one of my poor stages (as far as money goes). But, even though I'm currently on a small fixed income, I could spring for a flop house room to spend the night. I also have a lot of friends in the area I can stay with. So, I suppose it is more of a convenience issue......I can work late in the hangar, not inconvenient friends, crash on the cot for a few hours....then spring back up with the sun rise, to do more fiddling on the plane. The money I save from renting a room helps pay for the gas down and back.

But, there is a BUT......if I lived in the same town, just a few miles away, I see no harm in me flopping on a cot in the hangar for an over-nighter. Actually back in the 70's, I lived in a little 2 bedroom bungalow which was on the airport......I walked to work! I was a CFI at the time, but often helped the A&P's on some late night repair jobs, and more than once I just flopped on a cot in the hangar rather than walk the 1/4 mile back to my bed. No one got offended.......but (there's that BUT again!) times have certainly changed, some things for the good, most, at least from my perspective, have changed for the worse.

On the other hand, I suppose the worse day at the airport and around little airplanes, is better than the best day at work (wait a minute George, you don't work anymore...or at least you don't have a day job.....yippee!).


Best Regards.......George

[Jon Ahlgren]

No FAA report yet, the following is quoted from the Juneau airport board meeting minutes:"B. FAA Certification Inspection. The Airport had a dual certification inspection the week of December 9, 2013. For the Part 139 inspection, the Airport had eight correction items; from lighting, signage and markings to scheduling of fuel inspections. Some of the correction items stemmed from the runway shift during the runway safety area (RSA) project. Most of the corrections can be completed by the end of January, while some will have to wait until we have weather to paint or after the runway rehabilitation work is complete.
The second part of the inspection was related to grant assurances and land use. The inspection will be on-going as this is a very lengthy process. The Airport has not received the official findings of this investigation at this time, but more information will be gathered over the next few months. Only two airports in Alaska are inspected in this manner each year because it is so in-depth. We will keep the Board updated on this part of the inspection and any operational changes that may arise due to land use compliance.
The Airport appreciates both FAA Certification Inspectors, Eric Swann and Gabriel Mahns, as they were great to work with during the inspections."

I'll post a link when more is available.

I chatted with the airport manager a little about the inspection. The FAA is looking at things like should the Civil Air Partol lease their hangar land for one dollar a year? (yes, written into law). But, what about the Fish and Wildlife hangar, US Customs or the fire hall/comination crash rescue building? Looks like pallet burn pile is no more.

The local folks have been good to work with but what will happen with the feds?