Boise City Councilwoman Elaine Clegg says the answer to loud jets flying out of Gowen Field may be to fully develop a thousand foot training runway, south of Gowen Road, which is only seeing limited use right now.
A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, aka Warthogs
“At this point, it services military helicopters for the most part,” said Clegg. “Early estimates were as much as $100 million to build it out, but we asked for an update on that and it looks like the amount might be considerably lower than that.”
To handle F-15s or F-35s, Clegg says it would need to be extended to 5-7,000 feet. She says the money could come from FAA grants, or from Boise airport user fees.
The City of Boise is giving residents another 90 days to sound off on the issue. Clegg says the F-15s or F-35s that could replace the A-10s in a few years are louder, but they’re not the first loud jets to fly out of Gowen. Before the A-10s, Gowen was home to F-4 Phantoms and Wild Weasels, from 1975 to 1996.
