Presho plans airport improvement

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PRESHO — Pilots in and around Presho may soon have an improved airport.

City Airport Manager Dustin Smith recently applied for a 50/50 grant through the State Aeronautics Commission to construct two concrete turnarounds for the gravel runway. Included in the project will be 200 feet of straightaway for safer takeoffs, Smith said.

“Right now, it’s just a gravel strip and planes pivot around on the gravel,” he said. “When it’s wet out, the gravel is softer and it gets hard to turn around.”

Smith said preliminary bid estimates place the project around $56,000; however, the city has not placed the project out for bids yet. The state grant will pay up to 50 percent of a project that costs $56,000, said Andy Vandel, aviation facility planning engineer.

To fund the rest of the project, private individuals both in Presho and out of the area have pledged money, Smith said. So there will be no cost to the city if the project bids come in around $56,000.

Smith said it takes a lot of power to turn a plane around, which can result in the prop sucking up rocks, causing nicks in the propellers.

“That decreases the life of a prop,” he said. “If there’s a big enough rock, that can damage the prop enough to need to be replaced.”

Smith has received complaints about the gravel, which is a main reason why Presho does not have as much outside plane traffic.

Although Presho is a hot spot for hunters in the fall, not many are landing there due to the gravel runway, he said. Usually, pilots find a different airport in Pierre, Winner or Chamberlain.

Smith said the city hopes to get the bid papers prepared with the state by mid-July and advertise within the month.

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