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Planes, No Trains, and Lots of Automobiles

10/1/2021

Vintage planes, as well as vintage cars and giant Tonka toys, were on display at the first-ever Four Corners Fall Fly-In at the Cortez Municipal Airport. Sponsored by Keesee Motor Company and Big-O Tires

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There were planes, but no trains, and dozens of automobiles at the inaugural Four Corners Fall Fly-In at the Cortez Airport in late September. You're watching the Local News Network brought to you by Keesee Motors and Big O Tires. I'm Wendy Graham Settle. Private planes buzzed overhead at the Cortez Airport on the last Saturday of September, while hundreds of spectators inspected vintage cars, vintage planes, air ambulances, firefighting equipment, and the airport snow removal fleet of giant Tonka trucks. Airport Director Jeremy Patton said the Fly-In was the first of its kind for Cortez.

The idea is to bring general aviation and the community together. So you've got pilots flying in from all aspects, commercial, military, private, and then you've got the car show clubs from various areas. We've got cars from Cortez, Farmington, food vendors, and we try to keep it local as possible. Public service sector, so fire EMS, classic air medical. So it's just a big community event, essentially. And to promote that various thing, community, general aviation, and integrating it into the area.

Cortez Air Service, a private company that offers charter flight services and short and long-term aircraft parking provided free flights for the lucky few who signed up in time. The flights not only reminded passengers about the services Cortez Flying can offer, they also counted towards the airport's enplanements numbers that it reports to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Yeah, so they're a charter operation part. It's basically called part 135 operations. So that counts for enplanements for carrier service. So when people get on their plane and get these rides, it counts towards our enplanements numbers, which in turn down the road gives us access to more funding from the FAA.

Patton is in the midst of rewriting the airport master plan. And in the process, he hopes to make a case for significant improvements so the community will have more flight options in the future.

We want to extend our taxi lanes, do a new runway in the next few years to improve the quality of it, and the weight rating of it, as well as build more hangers for tenants to put their aircraft and for more commercial operations.

If you'd like to know more about the Cortez Municipal Airport, visit cityofcortez.com/airport. Thanks for flying with the Local News Network. I'm Wendy Graham Settle.

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