Runway Extension

    "Revise" are not my favorite words to hear from ATC when I am preparing to land at a airport. After receiving my clearance I can visualize my intended approach; everything is programmed in and from my current position I can plan each step ahead, all the way to my touchdown and then it happens, ATC comes back and says "revise" and everything I just planned gets changed. God has completely revised all our plans to buy the land to the South.

     Everything on was set, the negotiation process was going along fine and then everything fell through; in the end selfishness and overreaching won the day and our “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” Proverbs 16:9 Back on our knees praying we decided to reconnect with our neighbor to the North and see if their offer to lease the land (they refuse to sale) was still good and we were praying that the price didn’t double or triple since we last talked to them. We were so happy when they didn't change their minds and so we quickly moved forward with the deal. It was going to cost us $6,000 for the first five years out of a 20-year lease agreement and upon checking with Angel One we discovered there was EXACTLY $6,000 that had come in, amazing! We arranged the contract, paid the money and started clearing brush and trees off the north end and marking out the 500ft extension. agreement to purchase the land to the South of us completely fell through. The price we settled on was high, but it was well worth the opportunity to add 500ft to our existing runway, but when they requested us to pay 3 times what is was worth, we had to walk away, it was too much for us.

      Back on our knees praying we decided to reconnect with our neighbor to the North and see if their offer to lease the land (they refuse to sale) was still good and we were praying that the price didn’t double or triple since we last talked to them. We were so happy when they didn't change their minds and so we quickly moved forward with the deal. It was going to cost us $6,000 for the first five years out of a 20-year lease agreement and upon checking with Angel One we discovered there was EXACTLY $6,000 that had come in, amazing! We arranged the contract, paid the money and started clearing brush and trees off the north end and marking out the 500ft extension.

    There’s only one big hurtle; it’s now ours to use, but it’s all mud and it will take an estimated 60 dump truck loads of rock and gravel to bring it up to a useable grade for landing on. This is way better than the situation we were facing on the south side which was diverting a small river and building a canal for it to flow through and then having to bring in lots of rock so that those rice fields would be brought up to grade. God's revision of all our plans hurt at first, but has worked out far better in the end. Please pray for us as we try to find the cheapest fill/gravel possible because right now the lowest prices that we are getting quoted will cost us an estimated $10,000 for those 60 dump truck loads of rock. Is it worth it? For those of us who land here on a regular basis we agreeably say, YES! That extra 500ft will make our runway many times safer and allow for larger and faster aircraft to operate here. Thank you so much for helping!