Letter: A sensible solution to the airport problem

Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006 | 7:28 a.m.

One of the neat things about being an old general aviation pilot is having macro vision. Let me explain.

Placing an airport in the Ivanpah Valley between Primm and Jean will produce a regulatory nightmare that will be difficult to overcome, while leaving McCarran International Airport, Nellis Air Force Base and North Las Vegas Airport to putter along as before.

Is there an alternative and less expensive way to alleviate airport congestion problems while reducing noise, pollution and crowding?

I say that the answer is a resounding yes.

If we move Nellis Air Force Base to Tonopah, to the existing airport that's already there, and convert Nellis into a commercial airport, we would accomplish a lot of good things. Think about it!

Here are some of the benefits:

1. Tonopah Air Force Base is much closer to the practice fields than is Nellis Air Force Base, saving fuel and noise pollution (classroom work at Community College of Southern Nevada could continue uninterrupted by Nellis training programs such as Red Flag.)

2. Affordable housing would become more available in Las Vegas since Nellis workers and personnel would have to move up north, leaving us more balanced statewide.

3. Weather conditions of Tonopah are more realistic and less country club-like, making training more realistic.

4. Converting Nellis Air Force Base to civilian use would be far less costly since the radars, fuel and other infrastructures already exist.

5. Converting Tonopah to an active U.S. Air Force base is a matter of upgrading the existing buildings and runways from the days when Tonopah was a B29 Bomber Training Field.

Arno G. Seegers, Las Vegas