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Dept. of Defense renews fuel contract with local airport |
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Tuesday, 20 July 2010 |
 A C-130 transport aircraft taking off from the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop. The ESRA was granted another three-year contract to provide fuel to top military jets and planes. Photo by Ken Babione By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
7-20-2010 Military aircraft will continue to be seen in the skies above the Owens Valley, now that they’ll continue stopping in for gas at the Eastern Sierra Regional Airport.
In a coup for both fans of the fancy jets and Inyo County coffers, airport manager Ken Babione said Monday the U.S. Department of Defense has renewed its three-year fuel contract with the local airport.
Babione has only been at the airport for 10 years, but said the contract was in place when he came on board.
“The awarding of this contract was a direct result of a tremendous amount of hard work by Inyo County Account Technician Cindy Truelsen,” Babione said. “The process of bidding for a government fuel contract involves research and a stack of forms that have to be filled out with 100 percent accuracy. Cindy managed to wade through all the forms, put correct and accurate data in the appropriate boxes, and did so in a timely manner.”
While the contracts are competitive, Babione explained that Bishop is quite isolated and surrounded by military bases, so getting the contract – if all the leg work is done – is almost a given. Pilots from San Diego, Camp Pendleton and Edwards Air Force Base regularly stop in for gas and sometimes lunch before heading north, Babione said.
But, the training possibilities of the Bishop airport are not a given for flat-landers.
Babione said the U.S. Coast Guard trains in Bishop regularly. He said that in the aviation world, Bishop is considered “high-altitude” for a craft coming up from sea level. The air density at 4,000 feet elevation is very different from that at sea level and so the Bishop airport is considered ideal for training.
Babione said that the summer months make the atmosphere even less dense. He explained that on Monday with the intense heat, the air density was closer to 7,000-7,500 feet.
The Owens Valley is also an ideal training ground because the local landscape looks very similar to that of Afghanistan, Babione said.
“Inyo County has always been a big supporter of the military,” Babione said, “and our goal as always is to provide outstanding service.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 03 August 2010 )
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