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6/24/75 AC 150/5300-4B <br />CHAPTER 2. PRINCIPLES OF APPLICATION <br />4. GENERAL. One of the most important decisions in the establishment of <br />an airport is to determine its role for the present and the future. <br />Should the airport be established to primarily serve recreational <br />areas which are nearby or to serve the industries in the community? <br />Should the airport serve primarily as a feeder stop for air taxi <br />operations to the regional air carrier airport, or will it provide <br />access to the airways from a relatively remote community? <br />a. In most cases, the airport will serve a multipurpose role. For <br />example, it may provide air taxi service as well as access to the <br />airways for airplanes of a local industry. It may also serve as <br />a reliever airport; that is, it may receive diverted traffic from <br />a large metropolitan airport which is congested. <br />b. <br />In any event, the role of the airport must be carefully considered <br />so that the initial investment is commensurate with benefits received, <br />yet allows for adequate future expansion. Frequently airports <br />designed to accommodate only VFR operations are required to <br />accommodate IFR operations within a few years. <br />5. AIRPORT TYPE. Once the role of the airport has been determined based on <br />future requirements of at least 5 years hence, the category of the airport <br />can be selected. For purposes of design, the Federal Aviation <br />Administration (FAA) has developed the utility airport concept. This <br />concept categorizes all airplanes of 12,500 pounds or less gross weight <br />into three groups. Examples of airplane models accommodated by each <br />airport type are shown in Figure 2-1. These airplanes include turboprop <br />but not pure jet airplanes.' The three groups relate to facility <br />requirements as follows: <br />a. Basic Utility --Stage I. This type of airport accommodates about <br />75 percent of the propeller airplanes under 12,500 pounds. It <br />is primarily intended to serve low -activity locations, small <br />population communities, and remote recreational areas. Usually, <br />Stage I is only the first step toward development of a Stage II <br />Basic Utility airport. <br />b. Basic Utility --Stage II. This type of airport accommodates about <br />95 percent of the propeller airplanes under 12,500 pounds. It is <br />primarily intended to serve medium size population communities <br />with diversity of usage and potential for increased aviation <br />activities. <br />c. General Utility. This type of airport accommodates all propeller <br />airplanes of less than 12,500 pounds. It is primarily intended <br />to serve communities located on the fringe of a metropolitan area <br />or a relatively large population community remote from a metro- <br />politan area. In either case, there should be a substantial usage <br />or potential usage by airplanes having a gross weight of over <br />8,000 pounds. <br />Chap 2 <br />Par 4 <br />Page 3 <br />