Mount Olive airport runway gets another look
By Turner Walston
Published in News on March 23, 2006 1:45 PM
MOUNT OLIVE -- The Mount Olive Municipal Airport Committee considered ways to extend the airport's runway to 5,000 feet at its monthly meeting Wednesday.
The existing paved runway is 4,250.65 feet in length.
The committee decided to postpone runway extension efforts until the Federal Aviation Administration certifies the airport's precision airport path indicators, or PAPIs -- the lights that help incoming aircraft determine the proper elevation for landing.
The lights were installed more than a year ago, and have yet to be certified.
Jay Talbert and Kim Chambley of Talbert & Bright, an engineering firm from Charlotte, gave a presentation on ways to extend the airport's runway without infringing on Kelly Springs or Northeast Church roads.
Committee members favored a plan that would create 5,000 feet of landing distance available with minimally invasive runway protection zones on private property.
The proposal, which was also recommended by Talbert & Bright, suggests a construction cost of $545,000, and land acquisition costs of nearly $300,000.