No injuries in plane vs. van crash near Poplar Grove Airport - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

POPLAR GROVE — No one was injured, but a van was damaged Saturday afternoon when a plane was landing at the Poplar Grove Airport, 11619 Illinois Route 76.

The crash occurred at 12:37 p.m. on Orth Road just east of Illinois Route 76. A woman was driving a van westbound on Orth Road when a small Cessna-type airplane hit the roof of the van with one of its tires.

The plane was coming in for a landing, said Boone County Sheriff Sgt. Dan Reid. The tire damaged the top of the van and the windshield, Reid said. The plane carried the pilot and one passenger. The woman had child passengers in her van, Reid said.

The plane landed safely. The Boone County Sheriff's Department completed an accident report, Reid said, and turned it over to the Federal Aviation Administration.

No injuries in plane vs. van crash near Poplar Grove Airport - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Norwegian Air CEO says $69 flights from U.S. to Europe around the corner | Reuters

 

Parked Boeing 737-800 aircrafts belonging to budget carrier Norwegian Air are pictured at Stockholm Arlanda Airport March 6, 2015.

Reuters/Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency

Bjorn Kjos, CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, answers questions during a press briefing in Oslo March 10, 2015.

Reuters/Terje Pedersen/NTB Scanpix

 

Parked Boeing 737-800 aircrafts belonging to budget carrier Norwegian Air are pictured at Stockholm Arlanda Airport March 6, 2015.

Reuters/Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency

EW YORK Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (NWC.OL) hopes to sell one-way tickets to Europe for $69 as early as 2017 by flying from U.S. airports that have low fees, Chief Executive Officer Bjørn Kjos said in an interview Tuesday.

Europe's third-largest budget airline is considering flights to Edinburgh and Bergen, Norway from U.S. airports that have little to no international service today, such as New York's Westchester County Airport and Connecticut's Bradley International Airport, just north of Hartford, Kjos said.

Average prices on such routes are likely to be closer to $300 round trip, Kjos said, compared with many of Norwegian's fares that run more than $500 today because of higher fees levied by busier airports.

The potential plans are part of Norwegian's broader move to cut prices and take share from traditional flag carriers that dominate trans-Atlantic flying.

While airlines such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHAG.DE) offer travelers hundreds of destinations via connections in airport hubs, Norwegian is aiming to make nonstop service to small cities that straddle the Atlantic more common, which keeps costs low.

"I think you will see a lot to that effect within five years' time," Kjos said. "What will happen to (Lufthansa) when everyone starts to fly direct?"

Norwegian has 100 737 MAX jets from Boeing Co (BA.N) on order and expects to receive five in 2017. These planes are equipped to traverse the Atlantic but are smaller than most jets that currently do so, making them a better size for international flights to cities such as Birmingham in Britain, Kjos said.

Regulators will have to agree to set up customs stations at U.S. regional airports to handle international traffic, although Kjos said he is confident this can be arranged.

Norwegian is not the only airline to market cheap fares across the Atlantic.

Iceland's Wow Air recently offered one-way fares between Boston and Paris for $99. Lufthansa's low-cost subsidiary Eurowings is also starting cheap long-haul flights.

Kjos downplayed the competitive threat of Eurowings, saying, "I don't believe in their being able to operate low cost with a Boeing 767," in part because the widebody planes save less fuel and have smaller range than planes such as Boeing Dreamliners in Norwegian's fleet.

Norwegian separately reported Tuesday that it filled 96 percent of long-haul plane seats in September, helping the airline post better-than-expected results.

Norwegian Air CEO says $69 flights from U.S. to Europe around the corner | Reuters

Poplar Grove Airport top privately owned, open to the public airport in Illinois - Special - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

By Kimberly Watley
Correspondent

Posted Sep. 19, 2015 at 8:00 AM

POPLAR GROVE — In the 1960s, the world was changing steadily. In the countryside of Boone County, things weren’t much different.

Side-by-side, dairy farmer Dick Thomas and his son, Steve, tended to cows and worked the land that had been in their family since the 1800s.

A fellow farmer came by to purchase an outbuilding from Dick in 1967. Rather than come up the lane in a pickup truck, he arrived in a small craft airplane, landing alongside the pasture.

“He took me up for a ride. I was 15. I said, ‘Ooh! This is it! This is a whole new world.’ And it seemed more exciting and more fun than milking cows, baling hay and shoveling manure,” Steve said.

From that moment forward, flying would become an instrumental part of his life.

His father also was bit by the bug. Their mutual and instant attraction to flight got the wheels rolling and in 1972, using a portion of the farmland, Dick opened the first airport in Boone County.

Both received their pilot’s license and learned the ins and outs of running a successful small airport.

The lay of the land has changed dramatically. The two cattle sheds became hangars, the fields became runways, and the fresh dairy air has given way to flight patterns with contrails.

Dick sold the property to Steve, and over time, it was annexed and Belvidere Airport got more than a new name.

Poplar Grove Airport has since grown into a complete aeronautics community.

Adjoining the airport, Aircraft Maintenance Poplar Grove Airmotive isn’t just a maintenance shop, Steve said They inspect, provide maintenance and complete large tasks, including overhauling piston aircraft engines.

“We have customers we ship to as far away as Guam, Indonesia and Korea,” he said.

Bordering the outskirts as well is Bel Air Estates, a subdivision where residents have access to runways adjacent to their driveways. They have hangars next to their garages, all of which was another one of Steve’s visions that came to fruition.

Neighboring Poplar Grove Vintage Wings & Wheels Museum land was donated by the Thomas family. It offers outreach programs, flight camps and scholarships.

There is also a flight school at the airport where students as young as 14 can learn to fly.

“We have lots of past students who became instructors and are now captains for major airlines,” Steve said. “One of our instructors now looks to be headed in that direction, too.”

His wife, Tina, who he met in college, was studying to be a nurse. He took her up for her first flight in 1975. She ended up falling head-over-heels in love, and not just with Steve. By 1976, she had her pilot’s license

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Boone County money sought for Rockford airport project

 

March 5, 2015

By Bob Balgemann

Reporter

BELVIDERE - Winnebago County Board Chairman Scott Christiansen will be coming to Boone County soon, searching for funding to help defray the cost of the proposed $40-million hangar project at Chicago Rockford International Airport.

He already has asked the village of Machesney Park and city of Loves Park for $400,000 each, to be paid in annual installments of $20,000 for the next 20 years.

And he told Machesney Park officials Feb. 17 that he soon would be making a similar request of the Boone County Board and city of Belvidere. Durand and Winnebago also are on his list of upcoming stops.

It's all about partnerships, he said, and far-ranging benefits the hangar project will bring those outside of Rockford. The hope is AAR, one of the world's largest aircraft maintenance companies, will locate at the Winnebago County airport.

The plan calls for construction of two 90,000-square-foot hangars with another 30,000 square feet of office and warehouse space.

It's a cooperative effort with Rock Valley College (RVC) with the goal being to increase the number of graduates from 20 to 120 a year. Those completing the program would be making $45,000 to $50,000 a year.

While the airport and RVC both are located in Rockford, Christiansen said the benefits will be widespread and include Boone County and its municipalities.

Belvidere Mayor Mike Chamberlain said he would not comment on the chairman's proposal until after it is presented to the city council.

Of partnerships and regionalism, he said, "Regionalism is the only sensible solution to economic development in today's economic climate. For us to access federal money, the more citizens who will benefit the better chance we will have."

Regionalism, he added, is the way local governments will be able to create jobs and finance infrastructure improvements in the future.

Support for regionalism

Boone County officials believe in the importance of regionalism. They, in particular county board Chairman Bob Walberg, are members of regional committees that link Boone with Winnebago County and its municipalities. They also attend countless regional meetings throughout the year.

But finding an extra $20,000 a year to help finance the Rockford airport project, at this particular time, would be difficult if not impossible.

The most recent challenge to confront the county is the potential loss of $900,000 in funding it receives from the state. That possibility was part of the budget address given Feb. 18 by newly elected Gov. Bruce Rauner.

He also noted that the lost revenue only would make up 3 percent of local governments' total income.

To finance the hangar project, the airport would receive $15 million from the state, $10 million from Winnebago County and $8 million from the city of Rockford. The airport itself would be in for $5 million to $7 million.

Neither Machesney Park nor Loves Park has committed to the funding request. Machesney Park officials are expected to discuss it March 7, during a workshop on their 2015-16 budget

belvideredailyrepublican.net

Northwest Pallet Supply giving up Boone County for Rockford | Business News

The airport is perfect, NW Pallet will have a private fire department nearby.

Brian Leaf & Jennifer Wheeler

Northwest Pallet Supply signed a five-year agreement with Chicago Rockford International Airport to lease six undeveloped acres on the south side of the airfield, effective Sept. 1. The business will pay $1,960 a month, or $23,500 annually.
“All of the potential hazards that may exist with this type of operation have been addressed,” Carol Moyer, the airport’s properties coordinator, said in a memo to the airport board. “They are to adhere to all regulations to include FAA, state, local, fire safety and wildlife conservation.”….

The county is working to obtain a permanent injunctive order against Coil and Northwest Pallet to limit the kind and amount of mulch that is stored on the land, to prevent this type of business from operating on that site again.

 

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