By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
12-27-2008

Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop is experiencing a time of change with equipment and runway improvements on tap and a newly re-formed advisory board chomping at the bit to get more work done.
The Inyo County Board of Supervisors approved a reconstruction of the Airport Advisory Committee, from seven to five members earlier this year.
That move was made at the behest of advisory members, who say they have not been able to form a quorum since this past summer.
“In the last year or so it has been difficult to muster sufficient members of the Advisory Committee to produce a quorum at the quarterly meetings,” Lead Eastern Sierra Regional Airport Technician Ken Babione said. “ At the request of (Committee Member) Rex Allen and with concurrence of the Board of Supervisors, the Advisory Committee was disbanded and the number of members required for a quorum was reduced.”
Once the reconstruction was approved, a request for new prospective members was advertised and, to date, only four members have been appointed. Without a fifth member, the committee still can’t make a quorum.

The current committee members are Rex Allen, Monica Allen (no relation), John Rosenthal and Brad Wyatt.
A second request for members went out in December in an attempt to fill the remaining position.
Once it is able to form a quorum and get back to work, one of the topics of conversation for the Advisory Committee may be a change of name at the airport.
In the past, the Advisory Committee has said that pilots flying into the area seek out Bishop, as opposed to the Eastern Sierra, when searching for airports via the Internet.
With that reasoning, it has been suggested that the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport may attract more flyers if its name were changed back to the Bishop Airport.
However, without a quorum of the Advisory Committee, no further action has been taken on that suggestion.
As for the airport’s facilities and services, staff there have been working on a series of upgrades.
“Bishop’s 1939 vintage Westinghouse beacon has endured numerous repairs and modifications since it was first installed around 1940,” said Babione. “The Fresnel lens and housing are original, but the drive mechanism has been modified and replaced a number of times. The beacon chain drive is similar to that found on a bicycle and the large sprocket is slightly out of alignment.”
Due to the configuration of the drive sprocket and the manner in which it is installed, airport staff said it was not feasible to realign it in place. Airport personnel recently fabricated and installed an idler assembly on the drive chain to take up the slack and prevent it from falling off the sprockets.
“It appears that this repair has been successful, as the beacon has operated satisfactorily since the idler was installed in early November,” Babione said. “We are cautiously optimistic that it will continue to operate without problems.”
The airport beacon is a Bishop landmark and the idea of replacing it with a more modern beacon, though discussed once or twice over the years, has never been seriously considered, Babione said.

Staff is also in the process of replacing cracked areas of the airport’s taxiways.
“Taxiway crack repairs are best accomplished in cold weather as the cracks are at their widest,” Babione said. “We will make repairs to taxiway Alpha during the next phase of asphalt patching.”
Airport staff is also planning to take a second look at taxiway repairs made in the spring. Additional cold mix will be added to any cracks that have compressed or shrunk.
“Our goal is to make repairs twice yearly as weather and funding permit,” Babione said.
On the lighter side of the airport, Patricia (Symons) Rowbottom has offered to loan the airport a number of photographs taken by her late father, Bob Symons, to put on display.
The photographs will be available for viewing in the pilot’s lounge.
Rowbottom has also loaned nine aviation and soaring related books to Eastern Sierra Regional Airport.
“This material will be available for research purposes and can be viewed at the airport, but will not be allowed to leave the terminal building,” Babione said.