Airport to expand with addition of hanger

Muhlenberg County Airport will be expanding with the addition of a new hanger to help facilitate a partnership with Madisonville Community College. The 10,000 square foot hanger will create space for aircraft used in the new pilot training program offered through the college.

Construction of the new hanger will begin this summer. It will be located on the western edge of the airport, near the Kentucky Route 189 bypass in Greenville. The construction will take approximately 18 to 24 months.

The project will total nearly $3 million with funds coming from state and local government. Kentucky Department of Aviation has agreed to fund $1.5 to $1.7 million for the cost of a taxiway to connect the hanger with the runway and infrastructure needed for the project. Muhlenberg County Fiscal Court in November pledged $150,000 and the airport is committing $600,000 to the addition, with the remaining funds coming from the Federal Aviation Administration and economic development grants.

Airport board president A.D. Pollock said while the hanger will be mainly to support the college flight program, the need for the hanger space is great. “Planes are so expensive,” Pollock said. Costing half a million or more, pilots want a place to store their aircraft indoors.

The airport currently has 16 aircraft based there. Pollock said several are owned by local people, but people who rent hanger space come from as far as Leitchfield and Fort Campbell because of the lack of facilities closer to home.

The college has leased two airplanes with a third on the way, Pollock said. A second new hanger is part of longterm plans, as the school program grows.

Work began nearly four years ago to bring the pilot training program to Madisonville Community College and the Muhlenberg County Airport. A group from the college visited the airport and pitched the idea. The board jumped at the opportunity.

The pilot training program through Madisonville Community College is a two-year program, open to part-time and full-time students. Maximum capacity for the program will be 90 to 100 students. There will eventually be about 20 planes used in the program.

The first group of 15 students are currently enrolled in the pilot training program. They are spending the first part of their training in the classroom, but soon will learn from the flight simulation equipment at a classroom located near the airport. These state-of-the-art machines were purchased through a grant from the Felix E. Martin Jr. Foundation.

Todd Smith, who heads up the program at MCC, said the flexibility of this course is good for the working person looking to change careers. After completing the program, the students will be a rated pilot. They will not have completed the 1,500 hours of flight needed for airline pilots, but they will be headed to the first stop working in aviation – training future pilots.

“The first job almost everyone has in aviation, after reaching the point where they can work and collect a paycheck for flying is as a flight instructor,” Smith said. “You’re hired in as a flight instructor to teach the next generation of flight instructors. That’s how you build the experience to get to the 1,500 hours.”

The college is working on a recertification program for pilots who need further hours and was approved late last year to begin a program to train aircraft mechanics as well. Helicopter pilot training is being done at the airport in Madisonville.

These courses offer a unique opportunity for people in the community and beyond to obtain skills for a job in aviation without attending more expensive options like private schools or bachelor degree programs at the university level.

The demand for workers in this sector is high, for pilots and certified mechanics. Smith said the certification for an airline mechanic has become a standard in other industries as well. “Oil refineries, mass transit systems, nuclear power plants and even theme parks hire these mechanics to maintain all of their equipment,” he said.

The expansion and the college program can open the door to further development around the aviation industry in the area, Pollock said. Kentucky exports more than $11 billion in aviation products each year. “We’re second to Washington state,” Pollock said.

Pollock and Smith were quick to say they have had immense support from the Kentucky Department of Aviation and Aviation Commissioner Mark Carter for this project, as well as help along the way from Rep. Melinda Gibbons Prunty.

Rep. Prunty said she has been able to bring attention to the local airport by consistently supporting the transportation budget to insure it includes funding airports in the state. She is a member of the Aviation Caucus, which promotes aviation, especially at the high school level.

“I have worked with the airport board and attended the planning meetings strategizing about how to secure the funds for the expansion project,” Rep. Prunty said. “With aviation being one of the top industries in Kentucky, resulting in economic and job opportunities, I continue to advocate with Commissioner Carter not only for this specific project but for all things aviation in the district.”