OUR GORGE : VENTURES
Flying Ahead TAC Aero helps bring Hood River’s airport— and Gorge aviation technology—into the future STORY BY DON CAMPBELL • PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAC AERO
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istinguished World War II flying ace Ken Jernstedt wouldn’t recognize the place now, or what it will soon become. But he darn sure would be proud of what it’s doing for Gorge aviation. Jernstedt, who earned commendation for piloting his Flying Tiger over Burma in 1941-42, is the namesake of Hood River’s Ken Jernstedt Airfield-4S2, which might appear to most as a sleepy, little-used strip with not much horsepower under the hood. Though the former mayor, state legislator, and businessman died in 2013 at age 95, he would likely thrill to have learned that the Port of Hood River, owner of the public facility off Tucker Road, has some significant multi-phased airport improvements that will take this Basic Utility, Stage II airport into the future. The Port has gotten word that it will receive over $2.5 million in state and federal grant funding for upgrades to the south taxiway and the north ramp and apron. One major funding component is a $1.3 million ConnectOregon VI grant for an “Aviation Technology & Emergency Response Center” at the airport that, according to the Port, “combined with FAA grants, Port funding and significant private investment, is expected to spur over $7 million in development at Hood River’s airport over the next few years.” Helping fulfill this part of a 20-year Airport Master Plan is a group called Hood Tech Aerocorp, Inc., that works as the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) of what’s becoming a burgeoning operation. Under the name of TAC Aero, flying under the stick of TAC Aero president Jeremy Young and VP Brian Prange—two eager young men who spun off from the Gorge’s unmanned aircraft systems developer Insitu to found TAC Aero—Jernstedt Airfield will go from nearly abandoned by the FAA, to a crown jewel in the region’s aviation, aeronautics and high-tech realms. Young and Prange (along with majority partner, Insitu founder and aeronautics giant Andy von Flotow)
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have helped fuel the airport’s growth since Hood River-based TAC Aero’s founding in 2013. In addition to the ConnectOregon VI grant, the Port and TAC Aero will take advantage of an FAA grant of $1.2 million, and a Critical Oregon Airport Relief (COAR) program grant of $103,000 to fund rehabilitation, design and construction on the facility’s south taxiway. Ultimately the project will bring the Jernstedt Airfield into compliance with necessary FAA standards with a series of taxiway, aircraft and fuel tank relocations, plus the addition of a 25,000-square-foot, three-bay hangar. But that is certainly not the full extent of what’s happening at our little airfield. In addition, TAC Aero has been busy, according to Young, “bringing affordable aviation, payload and ISR to the area.” What that means in layman’s terms is 14-hour days, seven days a week to enable the company to offer a full array of aviation offerings, including flying lessons, aviation services that include
SUMMER 2017 : THE GORGE MAGAZINE
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5/25/17 12:44 PM