By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - The Butler County Commission awarded a contract Thursday for installation of a glide-slope instrument landing system at the Butler County Regional Airport-Hogan Field.

The glide slope, a radio signal that helps approaching planes descend at an appropriate angle on a specific path, is considered a crucial element in the airport's future growth because it will facilitate landings in bad weather.

Commissioners awarded a $308,000 contract for installation to Ludwig Contracting Inc. of Cedar Grove, Ind.

The glide slope may be operating by May, said Ron Davis, airport administrator.

"This is a milestone for the airport," Commissioner Courtney Combs said.

"It will give us the opportunity to grow, prosper and expand."

But some pilots expressed safety concerns about the location of the glide slope, a project that has been planned for more than 10 years.

Cliff Hogan, a local pilot, said it might be safer to place the array of antennas that are part of the glide-slope system on the north side of the airport instead of the south.

He said he was concerned that aircraft might come too close to the antennas and interrupt the radio signal and pose a safety problem.

He said it would be safer to place the antennas on the north side of the airport.

But Richard McFarland, a nationally known expert on instrument landing systems who worked on plans for the glide slope for Butler County's airport, said the antennas pose no safety threat on the south side.

He said he recommended placing the antennas on the south side because installation would cost $300,000 more and maintenance costs would run $8,000 a year more if they were placed on the north side.

"There's not an issue of safety here," said Mr. McFarland, director emeritus of the Avionics Engineering Center of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Ohio University."It's strictly economics."

The Federal Aviation Administration has approved the glide-slope plans for the airport.

After listening to Mr. McFarland and others respond to the safety issues, commissioners said they were convinced of the glide-slope plan's safety and voted to award the contract.

"The FAA has reviewed these plans," Commissioner Mike Fox said, "and have concluded that they are safe and pose no risk to pilots."

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com