What constitutes an "Aircraft Operation"?

deonb

deonb

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deonb
I was looking at a property this weekend at Crest Airpark in WA, and then I looked up from Airnav how busy that airpark is and found this:
http://www.airnav.com/airport/s36

To my surprise it's rated as 312 aircraft operations/day on average (113880 operations in 2014). That would constitute an average of one "operation" every 2 minutes, considering we only have about ~250 flyable days per year over here. Even Wikipedia listed it as 271 per day back in 2005, so it's not just Airnav that's showing this.

I got curious so we went and sat next to the field to see how much traffic there would be in this little airpark that is supposed to be as busy as KCLE (Cleveland-Hopkins International).

But we waited quite a while and it was exactly what I expected. One guy landed in a 152 and taxied over to the hangars, and a student & CFI in a 172 doing some landing & takeoff practice. Not 6 planes in the pattern, or a line on takeoff that Airnav suggests. I also followed this area with FlightRadar24 over the last few days (granted would probably not help much), but also - nada.

Seems like a really nice neighborhood to live. The lawnmower and bikes in the area bothered a lot more than the airplanes. But if there truly are takeoffs every 2 minutes, that would become a bit much.

So what gives? Did we just get lucky and even though it was a beautiful day for flying, nobody was interested, and really a place like this can get crazy busy midweek?

Or does an Airnav "Aircraft Operation" mean something other than a takeoff or landing? There was this guy washing his airplane...
 
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I spent many an hour at Crest as a kid watching the planes fly in and out. I also had my first GA flight from there roughly 30 years ago in a '39 taylorcraft and have been hooked ever since. It is sad to say that I would be surprised if what you saw was anything but the norm these days. Back in the 80s there was a P-38 being restored and a T-33 that I think was simply rotting away. I would love to live there so what do you say that you forget all about crest.... I hear it is a hazardous waste dumping ground..... gang members all around...... sink hole about to happen..... mud flow central if Ranier blows her top....
 
red4golf said:
I would love to live there so what do you say that you forget all about crest.... I hear it is a hazardous waste dumping ground..... gang members all around...... sink hole about to happen..... mud flow central if Ranier blows her top....
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Heh. I just started casually looking - so no imminent danger. To be honest for a second I confused Crest with Chewelah and found this property:
http://www.aviationacres.com/washington.asp?CMD=ResDetail&LI=77199&SI=44800

Never mind that property itself being gorgeous - it has a 3800ft airstrip out the front door, and a 27 hole golf course out the back. I was about 30 seconds away from waking up my wife and calling up my bank and then I figured out where it really was. Darn it!
 
deonb said:
Heh. I just started casually looking - so no imminent danger. To be honest for a second I confused Crest with Chewelah and found this property:
http://www.aviationacres.com/washington.asp?CMD=ResDetail&LI=77199&SI=44800

Never mind that property itself being gorgeous - it has a 3800ft airstrip out the front door, and a 27 hole golf course out the back. I was about 30 seconds away from waking up my wife and calling up my bank and then I figured out where it really was. Darn it!
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That is beautiful if not a little far away. We were looking at a place near Rochester owned by Eric Thun of the Thun field (KPLU) family. 50 acres, 1800 foot grass strip, etc. we just waited too long while our 2nd son was born and missed out. I grew up in Kent so crest would be cool but the area has changed a bit in the last 40 years.
 
In days gone buy, Crest Air Park was the premium air park in the state, not so much any more. there was 3 flight schools there during the 90s, none now. the estates that once were the homes of the Seattle elite, are now in decline.

it is the sign of the times.
 
Tom-D said:
In days gone buy, Crest Air Park was the premium air park in the state, not so much any more. there was 3 flight schools there during the 90s, none now. the estates that once were the homes of the Seattle elite, are now in decline.

it is the sign of the times.
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I take it Frontier is where it's at now.

But regardless of the actual state of Crest - Airnav still reports the number of operations at 312 per day. This is 2014 information. Where are they getting this data from?
 
The FAA actually defines it: "Aircraft operations means the airborne movement of aircraft in controlled or noncontrolled airport terminal areas, and counts at en route fixes or other points where counts can be made." FAR 170.3
 
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We base ours (operations) on the number of people that sign the airport register and multiply it by 2 (since we have no a/c based at the field).
 
deonb said:
How does this get determined for a non-towered field?
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Unless the airport sponsor has a more exact way of compiling the data (i.e. through landing fees or FBO records), it done by estimate. Sometimes these estimates can be a bit optimistic as some states dole out money to airports based on operations. Additionally, the Feds use numbers of operations to classify airports in the NPIAS (see ASSET study).
 
deonb said:
I take it Frontier is where it's at now.

But regardless of the actual state of Crest - Airnav still reports the number of operations at 312 per day. This is 2014 information. Where are they getting this data from?
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Old data from the 80/90s held by the FAA never updated.
I'm not sure the airport has an official airport manager any more.
The last time I was down there was about 4 years ago.
 
Windermere reality shows 4 homes for sale in the Creast Airpark. search the zip 98042 the park is in the southeast corner of the zip area.

Are you required to be in the Seattle commuting area?
 
deonb said:
I take it Frontier is where it's at now.
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Windermere Reality shows 1 home on the runway at Frontier. it's a half million 5 ac. Frontier keeps their property values up due to the property size. It is a Private air park, permission required to land there. I understand from several owners there that the Home owners association is a PITA to deal with.
 
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