RANGELEY — LifeFlight of Maine, through the Federal Aviation Administration, is proposing a 1,000-foot extension to the municipal airport’s runway to allow medical aircraft to land and depart, Town Manager Tim Pellerin said.

The town “has a remarkable opportunity in front of them,” airport Manager Rebekah Carmichael said.

Town officials and residents will get to hear about the preliminary proposal at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 25, at the Stephen A. Bean Municipal Airfield. Numerous public meetings will be held between July and November to discuss the project.

Dubois & King Inc, which has several offices in Vermont and New Hampshire, has been retained to begin preliminary planning for the airport.

With interest in the airport from LifeFlight and the FAA, the planning process will identify various development alternatives, Carmichael said. 

The airport’s field elevation is 1,835 feet above sea level. This elevation creates operational issues with the aircraft, especially on a hot day that would require more runway to land and depart, she said. 

In addition to the altitude issue, if the runway is contaminated, the landing and departure distances increase, Carmichael said. Contamination can include snow, ice and rainwater, among other weather conditions.

The current runway length of 3,201 feet does not allow LifeFlight’s King Air, a medical airplane, to land, especially during these conditions. LifeFlight’s helicopter cannot land in conditions involving ice, snow or a low ceiling, among other weather issues.

Because of this, there is an immense need for access to LifeFlight’s King airplane, Carmichael said.

The project is not a go yet, she said. This is the preplanning stage. A grant could be available to offset costs.

“It is a huge thing for the town to be offered,” Carmichael said.

According to the town’s website ,townofrangeley.com, the airfield was originally known as Rangeley Airport. There is little information on its early history, but in 1934, “plans to create an airport in Rangeley meant this would make Rangeley a model airport.”   

According to the website, “Twenty men of the Civilian Conservation Corps cut and cleared the area on the northeast to southwest and about 1,500 (feet) long by 200 (feet) wide. The construction was completed June 7, 1934.” It  was dedicated in August 1934.  The Forest Service used the airport to base planes for forest fire patrols. At a later date a cross runway was constructed.

“In late 1971 plans were being made to renovate Rangeley Airport,” according to the website. “There was an active charter service operating off the turf strip so a longer runway would be a great benefit. On June 7, 1972, the surveying was completed and on June 19, just a couple weeks later, work began on the expansion. … When completed the runway would be 2,700 feet long and 75 feet wide.”

In August 1972 the paving was completed and the runway headings for Runway 31 and 14 were painted at the end of each runway, according to the website. With the airport renovations came the building of hangars on the Old Cross Runway.

An official ribbon-cutting and open house took place in August 1978. Since then there have been many upgrades, including runway lights, navigational aids, non-directional beacon, T-hangars, and in 1990 a maintenance hangar was installed. 

An expansion of the runway to 3,201 feet was completed in 1998.

The Rangeley Airport was renamed after Stephen A. Bean, a local pilot who died in an airplane crash in December 2000. Bean and his wife, Joann Bean, had operated Mountain Air Services (originally Steve’s Air Service), from 1971 until his death.    

dperry@sunmediagroup.net

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