New Policy at Ogden Airport Yields Progress for Homebuilders

March 2, 2017 - Following the FAA’s policy update last year officially recognizing non-commercial construction of amateur-built aircraft as an acceptable aeronautical use of airport hangars, airports around the country have been updating their own policies to reflect this change.

One of EAA’s first airport advocacy efforts after the FAA policy update resulted in an improved airport hangar-use policy at Ogden-Hinckley Airport in Utah. The airport’s first draft of a new policy created concerns among the airport’s many general aviation users, in part due to the establishment of unrealistic time limitations  on homebuilding and construction activities that almost no builder or restorer could meet.

EAA members from the area brought this policy to the attention of EAA’s government advocacy team, and Mack Dickson, EAA’s senior government advocacy specialist, immediately got to work collaborating with Ogden city officials to improve the policy.

Those efforts resulted in a new policy, officially adopted in February, which included realistic timeframes for aircraft construction and restoration, with additional provisions for the extension of such timeframes if needed by the builder or restorer. EAA will use this interaction as a template for future efforts at airports across the country. Look for more on this success in the Advocacy section of April’s Sport Aviation magazine.

For more information on EAA’s airport advocacy efforts, or to raise concerns about your own airport, contact govt@eaa.org.