Jim Robinson Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Hi guys, here are a few more shots for you, first some recent work on the ground poly. I added this concrete taxiway/apron area in front of the "Paragon Hangar" over the last couple days.Time for a war story The Paragon hangar was built in the mid 80's to house a Gulfstream G2 that was owned by Pepsi Cola Bottling Company of Denver. At the time the owner had a small school/retreat for troubled boys near the Montana state line which he called "Paragon Ranch". I was working as an A&P for Boundary Aviation at that time, which later became Panhandle Rotor & Wing, and finally Northern Air a few years later. The first time the Gulfstream visited the airport we learned that the tarmac at 65S wasn't substantial enough for the weight of the massive aircraft (max gross weight was over 60,000 lbs), the airplane left slight depressions in the tarmac as he taxied and from then on every time it rained the water would pool up in those tracks so you could see exactly where he had been. They anticipated this problem so they had some large 1" thick steel plates made up to park the aircraft on. The pilot shut down at the fuel pumps and they positioned the steel plates in front of the wheels. We hooked a 4 wheel drive Dodge Ramcharger onto the nose gear with a towbar intending to pull the aircraft up onto the steel plates. It didn't exactly go as planned, the Ramcharger spun all 4 wheels on the asphalt, a cloud of thick white smoke filled the air, but the aircraft didn't budge.It was imperitive that they get the airplane onto the steel plates, otherwise it would have sunk up to the axles by the time they were ready to leave the following Monday. The pilot jumped in and fired the beast up again to power it up onto the plates. There was an old straight tailed Skyhawk tied down about 150 ft behind the jet, just before he boarded the aircraft the pilot nonchalantly said "You better get some guys on that 172 back there". Myself and about 5 other guys took our places on the Skyhawk's wing struts, tail, and wherever else we could find a handhold. It took nearly full thrust to move the G2, the skyhawk was airborne a number of times in spite of our efforts to hold it down. Actually I think we'd have been blown completely across the highway if we hadn't had the Skyhawk to hang on to. The only thing that saved us were the tie down chains securing the aircraft, it was jerking and yanking on those chains like a mad dog lunging at the end of his rope. The Gulfstream finally moved, but it all happened so fast that he rolled completely across the steel plates. They repositioned the plates for another try, this time placing some chocks on them to help stop the aircraft on the plates. We braced for round two - the heat from the exhaust was intense and the noise was even beyond that. They finally got the airplane onto the plates on the second try and the festivities came to an end.It was pretty obvious there would need to be some facility improvements if the jet were to visit again and the owner anticipated making frequent trips to visit the school from time to time so he had the Paragon hangar built that summer. The concrete slabs that made up the taxiway and apron were a foot thick as was the floor in the hangar. This took place long before the parallel taxiway was built so at the time the concrete taxiway had to reach all the way to the runway. Later when they added the parallel taxiway they left the concrete section in place to serve as a cross-taxiway between it and the runway.Here's what I came up with, the Paragon hangar directly in front of the airplane:The 182 gets a drink:And a couple preparing for takeoff from Rwy 20:I don't think you folks have seen this one yet, "the quonset":Another angle on what I've been calling "hangar 16", this hangar had an old rotating beacon stored inside years ago. Huge all-glass thing, like 2 feet in diameter and 2 1/2 feet tall. I doubt it's there anymore, someone probably sold it for $10,000 on ebay by now :So there's a few more for you to check out, thanks for looking, more to come soon.Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capnsully Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Great shots and even better looking models Jim. That last building must've been a beach to get right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba43 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 According to Airnav, 65S is named Boundary County Airport. It's located in Bonners Ferry, ID but the name it's currently being listed at here is incorrect. Just and FYI. Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Venema Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Bonners Ferry sounds more romantic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ba43 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Well who am I then to step on that ideal? Just thought I might help by pointing that out. Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradB Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Looking forward to this one , great work on this Jim . Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Goff Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 According to Airnav, 65S is named Boundary County Airport. It's located in Bonners Ferry, ID but the name it's currently being listed at here is incorrect. Just and FYI. Brad Jim and I tossed around the idea of using Boundary Co. but stuck with Bonners Ferry since it is more recognizable. Some other airports have done the same, 3W5 Concrete Municipal's real name is Mears Field! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Harrell Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Amazing, gentlemen. You should be very proud of your work. Todd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike62 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Thanks for the background information and am really looking forward to this airport. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capnsully Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Ha, Bonnerys Ferry sounded Irish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Robinson Posted June 26, 2013 Author Share Posted June 26, 2013 Ha, Bonnerys Ferry sounded Irish! Actually it's "Bonner's Ferry", as in possessive - a ferry owned by a guy named "Bonner". They dropped the "possessive-ness" later when it was incorporated as an actual city and named it simply "Bonners Ferry". From Wiki: When gold was discovered in the East Kootenays of British Columbia in 1863, thousands of prospectors from all over the West surged northward over a route that became known as the Wildhorse Trail. Edwin Bonner, a merchant from Walla Walla, Washington, established a ferry in 1864 where the trail crossed the broad Kootenai River... Then Alex came along and built a bridge, so the ferry is now obsolete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaseman007 Posted June 26, 2013 Share Posted June 26, 2013 Whoa. Looking great. Some wonderful work here Jim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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