Jabara Airport to fix runway damaged by Dreamlifter landing, add hangars

Projects are in the works at Jabara Airport in north Wichita to repair the airport’s runway that was damaged when a massive cargo plane, the Dreamlifter, mistakenly landed there last year.

The airport is also repairing and adding additional T-hangars for more aircraft storage. And it’s building a new airport entrance and road.

“We’ve always had more demand than supply for T-hangars over there,” said Brad Christopher, Wichita Airport Authority assistant director of airports. “There’s always been a T-hangar waiting list.”

The project includes replacing some of the airport’s 40 hangars that are no longer functional. It will add an additional 13 hangars.

The airport leases the hangars to Midwest Corporate Aviation, a fixed base operator at Jabara. Midwest Corporate then rents the hangars to aircraft owners and operators and manages them.

“We are pretty confident we’re going to be able to fill those hangars up,” Christopher said.

Materials for the hangars have been ordered, he said. But it may be close to spring before they are completed.

Cost of the entrance, road and hangar construction will total $2.82 million.

The Wichita Airport Authority will host a meeting Monday for airport users, tenants and others to give an update on the projects, issues and operational items that might affect them.

The road and hangar construction, runway repair, winter snow and ice procedures, aircraft accident response and other items will be discussed.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the National Center for Aviation Training at 4004 N. Webb.

Early next year, the airport plans to hire a contractor to replace the pavement that was damaged in November after a huge 747 cargo plane, called the Dreamlifter, mistakenly landed there instead of McConnell Air Force Base, nine miles to the south.

Boeing uses the specially modified 747 with the funny hump to pick up and deliver parts for its 787 Dreamliner.

New York-based Atlas Air contracts with Boeing to fly and operate the planes.

The Dreamlifters are much heavier than Jabara’s runway was designed to handle.

“We do have some fractured pavement out there,” Christopher said.

Professional Engineering Consultants evaluated the pavement’s condition.

“There’s already visual indications that there’s fractures,” Christopher said. “But we wanted to be more thorough and a little more scientific.”

The pavement has now gone through a freezing and thawing cycle.

“The fractures are not a safety issue at this point,” he said. “We will be watching those and making sure they don’t get worse.”

It’s not yet known how much the cost of repairs will be, Christopher said.

But “we will certainly ask Atlas to pick up that cost,” he said.

Atlas Air has been cooperative and helpful, Christopher said.

“I don’t anticipate we’re going to have any dispute,” he said.

Finally, the airport has begun construction of a new main three-lane entrance and intersection to Jabara off of Webb Road and a road that will turn to the south and extend about 100 feet past Midwest Corporate’s parking lot. It will end there in a cul-de-sac. Another new road off of the intersection will extend north to the T-hangars.

The project will include a new sign and landscaping as well.

Repairs and improvements will be made to the airport’s south entrance as well.

A road, the old Jabara runway, will be torn out.

“There will be two separate disconnected entrances to the airport when we’re done,” Christopher said. “There won’t be the old runway that connects the two anymore.”

Cornejo & Sons is the general contractor of the road project. Professional Engineering Consultants is the consulting engineer.

This story was originally published September 26, 2014 at 1:26 PM with the headline "Jabara Airport to fix runway damaged by Dreamlifter landing, add hangars."