Using The Owner Maintenance Hangars

     Owner Maintenance Hangars are to be used exclusively for aircraft maintenance as defined in FAR, Part 43.  Only hangar and permanent tiedown tenants are eligible to use the hangars.  Use of the facilities for maintenance work on transient aircraft is PROHIBITED. 
     The use of the maintenance hangars are on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Reservations for the facilities must be made in advance by contacting the Director of Airports' office at (925) 646-5722.  Reservations are to be made by the aircraft owner only for

work on their registered aircraft. 
     The maintenance hangars are open daily from 6:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.  Aircraft owners must remove their aircraft from the hangar at the end of the prescheduled time, unless no one has scheduled the hangar after their time.  There is no overnight storage of aircraft, vehicles, tools, or other non-airport owned equipment in or around the hangars.
     For a complete list of the Owner Maintenance Hangar Rules For Usage contact  the Director of Airports' office.

FAA Suspends Ground Marker Evaluation at Concord, CA

     The Federal Aviation Administration decided to suspend indefinitely the Ground Marker (GM) evaluation at Concord, CA - Buchanan Field (CCR) after several attempts to correct a system design flaw.  The GM system installed at CCR last year did not perform reliably and was deactivated shortly after it became operational.  Supplying power to the GM transmitters was the pri

mary issue.   The program office is currently analyzing all of the data collected during the program to determine the next steps for GM.
     The FAA would like to thank the Fixed Based Operators, the flying clubs, the pilots, the controllers and the airport for all of the cooperation that was provided during the program.

Aviation Advisory Committee Sees Some Changes

     At it's regular meeting in May, the County's Aviation Advisory Committee (AAC) rotated officers and adopted a plan for the coming year which calls for emphasis on two goals: increased community input and broader involvement in airport interests and issues.  New AAC officers are Chair Patricia Howlett of Concord, Vice Chair Phillip Day of Byron, and Secretary David Freet of Pleasant Hill.   
     "We have no real authority, but it's our job to provide advice about our airports to the Board of Supervisors, the Internal Operations Committee, and airport staff members," Chair Howlett explains. "That means we'll reach out to all interested community members, listen to all points of view on any issues about Buchanan Field and Byron Airports, then recommend actions to address problems or improve conditions."
     AAC members feel strongly that all community citizens - both airport users and non-users - are entitled to be kept informed and

to have input on issues which impact their interests. To that end, regular meetings held on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at Buchanan Field's Director of Airports' office will occasionally take place in local community facilities. The July meeting will be at Byron Airport and will feature a review of that airport's Master Plan Update and Business Plan. "That is certainly an issue relevant to East County citizens," says Howlett. In August the committee will meet at Concord City Hall, and plans are under way to hold a fall meeting in Pleasant Hill.
     "All county citizens - individuals, groups and formal organizations - with questions or concerns about the County's airports are encouraged to attend AAC meetings or to ask for an AAC representative to attend a meeting of theirs to answer questions," says Howlett .  She has asked also the Board of Supervisors to fill the several vacancies on the committee to make it more representative of the county as a whole.