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According to my research the youngest
grandfather in history was a British man by the name of Dale Wright. At
29, I'll go ahead and give him that honor; however at 43, Mr. Wright
still had only one son and one grandson and was reportedly not fond of
the term "grandpa." This leaves me wondering how Mr. Wright
would have felt if not one but seven children were calling him Grandpa
before his first grey hair.
Meet Ron Boyd, a firefighter at the Salina Airport Authority since
October of 2004, has four grown children and seven (count 'em seven)
grandchildren, ages 7 months to 7 years, and all at the ripe old age of
43.
"We started early," he explained as I picked my jaw up off
the ground. "and apparently it was hereditary."
Ron married his high school sweetheart shortly after graduation and the
first baby came soon after that. His daughters followed suit finding
good husbands who became great fathers.
"I love having them around," he said. "We've always done
stuff as a family and my sons-in-law and I get along great."
Grandma and Grandpa Boyd babysit "all the time" and regularly
have multi-generational dinners.
"Our whole lives revolve around the kids and grandkids," he
continued. "When I was younger and my kids were in sports I was
always the coach, now that my grandkids are playing, it's nice to just
sit in the stands and cheer."
As far as the airport is concerned, family plays a big role in that as
well.
"The family values held by the upper management is really what got
me hooked," explained Ron. "It's a small crew, but there's a
lot of interesting people. Every day is different and we get to see and
do a lot of cool stuff."
Although, Ron Boyd may not hold the record for becoming the world's
youngest grandfather; I submit to the Guinness Book of World Records
Ron Boyd: world's youngest grandfather of seven.
_______________________________________
TOWER UPDATES
· Salina FCT has a
new employee. Jon Botkin started employment at the tower on December
14. He is a former Army controller who spent time in Korea, Iraq, and
Alabama. Welcome to Salina Jon.
· The FAA has
awarded Midwest Air Traffic Control a new 5 year contract to operate
the control tower at Salina. Midwest operates 70-80 towers in the
central U. S. and northeast.
· With the new
contract award, Salina Tower will be increasing staff with another
controller. Our compliment will be 6 controllers and one manager.
· Pilots should use
caution due to numerous flights of Canadian geese in the area. We have
seen more geese this year that ever before. They seem to be most active
in the morning and evening before sunset.
· We are glad to
finally see some good flying weather. This winter has been very
disagreeable with fog, ice, snow, and cold weather.
· Kansas City Center and Salina Tower
participated in the KSU Standardization Meeting in January.
Thank You,
Bruce M. Boyle
Manager, KSLN FCT
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Recent
Releases
Photo
Gallery Updates
Additional
Information
Quick
Links
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Greetings!
From the
XD's desk: 2010 off to a good start
The New Year has started with a flurry of requests for information
about available buildings and hangars at the SLN Aviation Service
Center. Aviation and aerospace companies are working on projects scheduled
for 2011 and 2012 operations. With more than 595,000 square feet of
hangar, manufacturing and warehouse space available, Salina is well
positioned to provide a growing firm space for expanded manufacturing,
maintenance repair and overhaul work or as a base of operations for UAS
development. Complete details for available space at the SLN Aviation
Service Center can be found at All
Available Properties Slide Show on the homepage.
Tim Rogers, A.A.E.
Executive Director
Salina Airport Authority
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· Study confirms
positive economic impact of military
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A recent
study commissioned by the Governor's Military Affairs Council and
Kansas, Inc. reaffirms the major positive economic impact the military
brings to Kansas communities.
The study,
conducted by the Center for Economic Development and Business Research,
W. Frank Barton School of Business and Wichita State University, shows
the annual impact of military activities to the gross state product is
nearly $8 billion, yields close to 170,000 jobs and pays more than $5.5
billion in wages and earnings.
With Fort
Riley right down the road, few think of Salina as a military town.
However, according to the study Smoky Hill Air National Guard Weapons'
Range and other Great Plains Joint Training Center units directly and
indirectly contribute to more than 1,700 jobs for area residents. Those
workers collect more than $15.5 million in earnings.
There is a
larger military role in Salina and Saline County than many people see,
said Kansas Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Tod M. Bunting. "However,
we believe their awareness will change as we bring in more worldwide
air competitions like we had this past summer, and more large-scale
(joint training) exercises like Vigilant Guard 2009."
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Read on...
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· Salina leaders
tour Ft. Riley
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Salina City
Manager Jason Gage and Salina Area Chamber of Commerce President Dennis
Lauver check out an OH-58 Kiowa as Salina Airport Authority Executive
Director Tim Rogers, A.A.E. discusses the aircraft with a soldier,
while on a tour at Ft. Riley, January 27.
Local
leaders from the Salina Airport Authority, City of Salina, Salina Area
Chamber of Commerce and others were guests of the Combat Aviation
Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. The group got to get up close and
personal with some based aircraft, tried their hands at piloting some
of those aircrafts from the safety of a simulator and got a look at the
air traffic control tower. The CAB is gearing up for a deployment to
Iraq this March and has been training in the Salina Area.
"We
support the CAB by our openness to allowing them to be a community
partner and how we assist them to grow and develop in our community,
explained Gage. "They support us through their positive economic
impact and desire to commit both people and services whenever
needed."
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Read on...
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· Blizard
conditions can't stop SAA
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Tim Rogers,
A.A.E.
Executive Director
The Salina Airport Authority staff has been very busy with winter snow
operations this month. During any period of snow or icy weather Salina
Airport airfield conditions are monitored 24 hours a day and when
necessary the Airport Authority's snow and ice removal plan is put into
action. The objective during any snow or icy weather event is to
maintain the airport's runways, taxiways and aprons in a condition for
safe aircraft operations.
To maintain safe airfield conditions, SAA staff work around the clock
on 12-hour shifts. The large snowplows, pavement deicing trucks and
snow blower have the ability to remove tons of snow and ice. It is only
with the skill of SAA staff that specialized equipment is operated in a
manner to maintain the airport for safe operations during and after a
snow storm.
Thanks to the efforts of SAA staff the Salina Airport has been open for
business every day this winter.
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· December Lift-
Santa Claus considers remote Salina base
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After years
at the North Pole, pilot Kris Kringle told reporters he is considering
using the Salina Municipal Airport as a seasonal base of operations in
a press conference held at the Salina Airport Authority.
Old St. Nick
couldn't ask for a better spot to locate for the Christmas season, than
the Salina Airport. Its central location offers easy access to anywhere
in the nation and K-State at Salina right next door gives him the
availability of the latest in aviation technology and training.
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Read on...
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· Great Lakes
Schedule
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Effective
December 1, 2009
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