By TIM UNRUH
New shelters for general aviation aircraft are under construction at Salina Regional Airport, replacing nine hangars damaged or destroyed by a December 2021 derecho.
Defined as a long-lived windstorm, the derecho was declared a natural disaster.
The cost to repair the wind damaged obsolete hangars was prohibitive, said Maynard Cunningham, director of facilities and construction, so the decision was to rebuild.
The SAA did not qualify for insurance settlements, said Shelli Swanson, director of administration and finance, but was deemed eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance, which paid for $992,809 of the $3 million project cost.
The new C-Hangars — all pre-leased to aircraft owners — are being built just northwest of the M.J. Kennedy Air Terminal. “There are 13 units," Cunningham said.
“How many aircraft can be stored depends on the size of the aircraft,” he said.
For example, one unit could house two Cessna 172s or one twin-engine Cessna310, Cunningham said.
Target date for completion of the current hangar project is July 1, he said. Contractors on site are Prairie Landworks, of McPherson and Bret Givens Construction, of Hutchinson. Salina based contractors are Precision Electrical Contractors, Dellinger Fence, and APAC.
The Airport Authority is looking for opportunities to build more GA hangars. There is a waiting list with names of 40 people wanting to lease hangar space at Salina Airport.
“You build in phases. It’s better to have a list of people waiting for hangars than a list of hangars waiting for people,” said Pieter Miller, deputy executive director of the Salina Airport Authority.