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I enjoyed the article on the 50th birthday of the airport. The new terminal is elegant and spacious to those of us that used to stand packed like sardines into the 'baggage area' of the old terminal. Bob Nicholas and his staff have successfully added the, unfortunately necessary, security to the entire airport and keep us in compliance with FAA regulations.

As a child I spent a fair amount of time at the old terminal building. Living on Dart Drive in the days before even the Triphammer, Cayuga or Pyramid malls were built, the airport was the exciting place that we could get to on our bicycles. My friends and I would watch planes fly in and out and hang out in the terminal as we spent our coins in the vending machines and searched the basket of Avis's "we try harder" pins to find ones in languages that we didn't already have. (Who else remembers those?)

Beyond the obvious commercial air traffic, however, our airport is very active with general aviation. The East Hill Flying Club has been, and continues to be, an important piece of the airport. It has been teaching pilots to fly for generations. My father used to be member and instructor at the club and my sisters and I did more than our fair share of helping with the pancake breakfasts. Now I enjoy being able to sit and let others do the work! I would be willing to bet that the Club has more take-offs and landings at the airport than any other group.

Having a Fixed Base Operator (FBO) at the airport means planes based here and those traveling in for business or pleasure have the services that they need (in a very simplified manner, you can think of an FBO as a full service gas station for airplanes). Taughannock Aviation, in their new home, provides a very pleasant entry into our airport for non-commercial travelers. Many people receive their first impression of Ithaca from this location as well as from the main terminal. Between offering this service and their charter business they are also a real asset to the airport.

General aviation at the airport also includes several dozen privately owned planes that are used for both business and pleasure travel.

I do not believe that people realize how vibrant our airport truely is. Tompkins County is well served by having the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport available for travelers of all types.

Happy Birthday and best wishes for many, many more.

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v2i29



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