GATESVILLE, Texas — Cities across Central Texas are preparing for April 8's Total Solar Eclipse. Some cities like Gatesville have to plan for the arrival of tourists via the skies and are asking residents to help them prepare.
"I'm going to guess this is probably going to be the biggest event we've had at the airport here," said Cheri Shepherd, City of Gatesville Eclipse Coordinator.
The Gatesville Municipal Airport can see the arrival of three airplanes on a normal week and up to 12 airplanes on a busy week. On April 8, the day of the Total Solar Eclipse, City and airport officials are expecting more than the weekly average of airplane arrivals on that day alone. This higher amount of inbound aircraft is causing an increased amount of planning.
"Well initially I didn't think about the airport, then someone came to me and said we need to plan," said Shepherd.
Gatesville Municipal Airport is asking pilots to bring their own tie-downs and to bring enough fuel onboard to leave the airport, as the fuel supply will be limited. Ground transportation into town is also not provided.
Safety is the main priority for the airport. Local pilot Ken Mallach has advice for incoming pilots who are not used to flying in the local area.
"Well, we are right next to Fort Cavazos, and that is a restricted flying area and we are in a military operating area so they need to be aware of the airspace that they're in," said Mallach.
Once on the ground, pilots should be warned of back-taxiing, where an airplane must taxi back down part of the runway where it has landed in the opposite direction, which aircraft must do at the Gatesville airport.
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