General aviation pilots based at Friedman Memorial Airport will meet in October to discuss their future after a replacement airport is built and opened, according to Jim Perkins, the president of the Blaine County Pilots Association.
Even as Friedman's fate seems almost inevitable, most general aviation aircraft owners and pilots continue to oppose its closing and the opening of a new facility at a distant locale, presumably so-called site 10-A in southern Blaine County near the Blaine-Lincoln county line just east of state Highway 75.
Perkins said the meeting would discuss various concerns of pilots—such as fog and wind at site 10-A, plus the increased drive time to a site that is preferred by the Friedman Memorial Airport Authority. Perkins has expressed the hope that Friedman would remain open even if a new airfield were built.
Perkins said in May that in a casual poll of pilots, most said they would not move to a new facility. Instead, he told the airport authority, most would relocate to other airfields in the region.
According to Friedman's statistics, 147 single-engine, multi-engine and jet aircraft are based there, of which 101—or about three-fourths—are smaller general aviation aircraft.
However, even the closest airports still are as far or farther in ground drive time from Friedman than site 10-A.
A grass strip at Picabo is 20 miles from Friedman, the airport at Carey is 28 miles, while site 10-A is 23 miles from Friedman. Airports in Jerome and Gooding are much farther (65 and 80 miles respectively).
The Picabo runway is 3,000 feet long and 100 feet wide. Nick Purdy, whose family has developed Picabo for several generations and also is an aircraft owner, said 10 aircraft are based there, but said "not really" when asked whether the field could handle a number of new aircraft. Aviation fuel is available, but no other services.
Carey's airport runway is 2,650 feet long and 170 feet wide with a turf surface. Manager Craig Adamson said before the economy soured, the city had inquiries from developers about building hangars to handle more tenants. No such discussions have been held recently.
The replacement airport, Friedman Manager Rick Baird points out, will have an array of new features for general aviation pilots, including a wash rack, a briefing room and connections to FAA flight service and probably a restaurant, plus fire and rescue services not available at the smaller rural airports.
