Chuck, then you will have to attend one of my special seminars entitled "Let's make it dark!" It's held every 3rd Sunday at the range... Kurt, I'm thinking the only impact to SPOC operations will be in the reduced use of laser pointers. ;) Quoting Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com>:

Is the runway 5 miles long?

Seriously, the SPOC site is already a compromise site- by design- not a dark-sky site at all. It's close proximity to population centers is needed for effective public outreach. With the growth of the Wasatch front as well as Tooele valley, the writing is on the wall. We should just use it for as long as we can. In a decade or three, it will be time to move it.

If gas prices continue to climb, I won't be able to afford to drive to any dark-sky sites very often, anyway! *:o( * On 5/25/07, Kurt Fisher <fisherka@csolutions.net> wrote:

...

The Tooele County Commission has begun a 102 acre (10 SLC blocks) expansion of the Tooele Airport. I believe Tooele Airport is about 5 miles from SPOC. Will this expansion impact SPOC operations? - Kurt

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I wonder if I will ever be able to use my lazer at spoc again Bob Bob Moore Commerce CRG - Salt Lake City office 175 East 400 South, Suite 700 Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 Direct: 801-303-5418 Main: 801-322-2000 Fax: 801-322-2040 BMoore@commercecrg.com www.commercecrg.com -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+bmoore=commercecrg.com@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+bmoore=commercecrg.com@mailman.xmission.c om] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 1:48 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Tooele Airport to Expand - Impact on SPOC? Even on rifle sights? Won't this curtail your seminar efforts? ;o) On 5/25/07, diveboss@xmission.com <diveboss@xmission.com> wrote:

Kurt, I'm thinking the only impact to SPOC operations will be in the reduced use of laser pointers. ;)

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On 25 May 2007, at 15:11, Ken Warner wrote:

The runway in Tooele valley (Erda) is about 5500ft. If they are planning on landing jets then I'm guessing it will be lengthened at least 2000 ft. Currently the runway lights at night are controlled by the pilots as the come in to land and stay on for about 10 minutes at a time. Unless they decide to put in more permanent lighting I don't see that it should be much of a problem for SPOC.

Ken

First I first remember hearing about expanding the Tooele County airport in the late 1970's when I was flying out of the Tooele City airport. I'm interested to see if it really happens this time. Adding to what Ken said, the great majority of traffic at the Tooele Valley Airport (TVY) takes off and lands to the north. Since traffic pattern turns there are all to the left they wont be flying over SPOC. As for flight paths, it is possible to overfly SPOC on the way to TVY from SLC (I've done it a time or two so Guy would have something to point his laser at), the more typical path has one going north along the south shore of the lake an then turning south once west of the airport. Add that to what Ken already said and it's probably safe to say impact on SPOC will be minor. Oh, and, since we're talking airports, I wonder if this landing was as "fun" as it looks (and how much more fun it would be at night in bad weather): http://www.break.com/index/insane-landing-in-honduras.html pw