From the XD's Desk:
Vancil Honors Airport Workers
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Former Salina Airport Authority board member Troy Vancil has honored Salina Airport workers with a one-of-a-kind art piece that now graces the M.J. Kennedy Air Terminal. Troy was inspired by the dedicated individuals that contributed to successful Airport operations over the past few years. Tim Unruh’s articles will give you the inside story on Troy’s newest artwork.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give” - Winston Churchill
Tim Rogers, A.A.E.
Executive Director
Salina Airport Authority
Salina Regional Airport & Airport Industrial Center
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Destinations abound flying United at SLN |
Tim Unruh
August 9, 2022
Whether for the first-time air traveler or a veteran, airline workers at the at Salina Regional Airport’s M.J. Kennedy Air Terminal are proud to serve most any need.
“There are hundreds of destinations just a connection away, and for the small-town friendliness and feel that you get at Salina, it’s a hidden gem,” said Steph Flanagan, general manager of the SkyWest Salina station. The SkyWest staff operates United Express flights Salina to Chicago O’Hare and Denver International airports.
The Denver hub connects to 165 destinations, from Albuquerque to Williston Basin (North Dakota), not to mention Honolulu; Aspen, Colorado; Boston; Palm Springs, California; New York City; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. International connections are to 16 destinations across eight countries, including Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, The Bahamas, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Belize.
Chicago connections include 157 domestic destinations from Key West, Florida, to Fargo, North Dakota, Phoenix, Louisville, Tampa, Tulsa, and Tucson. There is a connection to Yellowstone International Airport in Bozeman, Montana, along with Detroit Metro Airport and Portland International. Once at O’Hare, there are also 43 international destinations across 27 countries, from Aruba to London, Mexico, Italy (Rome and Milan), Iceland, Israel, Ireland, and Switzerland, just to name a few.
All of the above journeys can originate from SLN, nestled near the intersection of Interstate highways 70 and 135 in north-central Kansas, in a relatively small town with big ambitions, loaded with friendly folks aiming to please the flying public.
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Vancil's new art salutes history, dedicated to aviation workers |
Concrete artist Troy Vancil poses with his latest work “Endure” at M.J. Kennedy Air Terminal (Photo courtesy of Tim Unruh) |
Tim Unruh
August 10, 2022
A bold image of the new-age GlobalFlyer aircraft gracefully gliding over a wheat field ahead of a Kansas storm, calls up special memories for Troy Vancil.
The former nine-year member of the Salina Airport Authority board, beamed in early August while marveling at his concrete art — dubbed “Endure” — after its public display.
Hanging near the baggage claim in M.J. Kennedy Air Terminal, the vibrant production serves as a sort of shrine of both aviation accomplishments and challenges conquered in Salina and north-central Kansas.
The one-of-a-kind artwork in 27 layered colors, is on a base of plywood and two coats of one-eighth-inch thick concrete. The vision harkens back to the a feat of adventurer Steve Fossett swooping toward a landing at Salina Regional Airport, on March 3, 2005.
On that unseasonably warm day, in front of some 16,000 onlookers, the daring pilot set a world record in the first solo circumnavigation of the globe, without refueling. The flight lasted 67 hours, two minutes and 38 seconds traveling 23,000 miles, taking off and landing at Salina.
“It captures a moment that’s really important to Salina’s history,” said Vancil, 57, a concrete worker by trade who is transitioning the material into art with a few of his close friends around the nation.
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Vancil's art simple, but difficult to define |
Tim Unruh
August 2022
Explaining the multi-layered from of concrete art is not easy, said Rachel Knigge, but it works.
Troy Vancil’s two Salina projects — named “Rise” and “Endure” — started with photos.
“He wanted to create as realistic of a reproduction of an image he had,” said Knigge, the co-owner of FLOORmaps INC. of Rogers, Arkansas, with her sister, Kathren Knigge.
They used a method called “posterization.”
“We upload an image with a specified amount of color, then add special effects, limiting the image to a more desirable amount of colors for production. Sometimes there are just too many colors. It can be pretty cool to watch our program reduce these colors from the original images. It can create something really abstract, which definitely adds to the artistic feel of the end piece,” Rachel said. “Then our computer program (Adobe Illustrator) prepares the elements, turning them into vectors, where we manipulate them into workable layers later.”
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Watch the video to view the process. |
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K-State Salina was selected to support an unmanned aircraft prize competition organized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for a second consecutive year. Drone-enthusiast contestants can win up to $685,000 in prize money. |
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K-State Salina again selected to support national UAS prize competition |
In partnership with Capital Consulting Corporation, K-State Salina will coordinate the National Institute of Standards and Technology First Responder UAS Indoor Challenge, with plans to hold the live part of the competition in Salina in spring 2023.
This challenge, which will award up to $685,000 in prizes, asks participants to develop a low-cost unmanned aircraft systems platform for first responders that offers improved usability — or flyability — when operated indoors with limited or no GPS signal.
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On the Flightline at America's Fuel Stop |
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Runway 17/35 construction continues at SLN. The work includes a mill and asphalt overlay of the south 7,500 feet of Runway 35. |
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Address: 3237 Arnold Ave.
Salina, Kansas 67401
Phone: 785-827-3914
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