Festus Memorial Airport

Needless to say KFES or Festus Memorial Airport, does not look, at the moment, like this pic I took back in October. Even though this winter storm was not nearly as bad here as the weather people predicted, I still haven't had school all week. And yes, for my readers who might not know, I am a high school German teacher in a large suburban district. I first visited KFES in the summer of 2006 one evening with my son Teddy, who was 6 years old at the time. We both took to the place and often visit the airport to watch airplanes while we eat lunch, usually McDonald's on the picnic tables near the runway. Because Teddy only knew Lambert and Festus airports, KFES became the "Baby Airport"...which is actually a pretty good name for it...and it is small. The one Runway-- 36/18 is just 2200 feet...there might only be one other airport in Missouri with a shorter runway. This can make landing and instruction here a little tricky, but I would have to think that in the end, it will also make you a better, more exacting pilot....landing out here on our "carrier"! The best part of the airport are the people...always friendly, always willing to let us hang out, look around, just do our thing...not all GA airports are that way. The people that fly and instruct here do it because they love it, not to try to get as much money as they can from you or to show off at all, this is the real deal. There are also a lot of wooded hills near the airport and over the years Teddy and I have seen coyotes, deer and turkeys...and yes all of those animals crossed the runway....so you have to watch out!! Sadly, this airport, like many others across the country, is under threat. The city of Festus sold it or is selling it...I have heard various rumors about the airport's future and I will investigate or ask my readers to comment below if they have any solid information. It is also sad that this is Jefferson County's only airport, a county with over 200,ooo people....the majority of the locals, just don't seem to understand how economically important a thriving airport can be for the future well being and of our community. But, I grew up around small GA (general aviation) airports and often rode along when my Dad would fly charter flights for local business people, so I saw first hand how the local economy and little airports fit together.

Back to Everest: With the bad weather, I spent some time today working on the written test...I studied the first two chapters of the Gleim material again and took some chapter tests on my computer...97% on Chapter one and 92% on chapter two...I will hit chapters 3 and 4 tomorrow...I also studied a sectional chart today and I tried to learn the legend and codes a little bit.