Timeline: Cape Girardeau aviation, 1990-2005

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one of a series of files presenting a timeline of aviation in Cape Girardeau. The timeline accompanies a series of stories on the history of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, the first of which was published Sunday, June 13, 2010.

1990

Jan. 4: The Airport Advisory Board shoots down an idea of the city farming land at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; instead, the board recommends that the city continue leasing acreage to area farmers; board members recommend that the city council accept the bid of R.J. Niederkorn, a Scott City area farmer; in other business, board members decide to hold off making a recommendation on a new lease agreement regarding the Cape Airport Restaurant.

Jan. 14: LifeBeat, the aeromedical service at Southeast Missouri Hospital, makes a precautionary landing in a field near the Interstate 55-Fruitland rest stop when it develops an oil pressure problem; the landing is made without incident.

Jan. 23: Efforts by city officials to terminate a lease for an airplane-repair business at the municipal airport and to award a new lease on the property comes to a crashing halt; at a lengthy Airport Advisory Board meeting, the prospective tenants reject board members' demands that they pay a flat, annual rental charge of $3,500, or 2 percent of gross receipts of any aviation business operated there, whichever is greater; in other action, the board recommends extending the airport restaurant lease, held by Joyce and J.D. Treadwell, for one year rather than enter into a longer-term lease.

Jan. 24: A new contract is awarded to MidWest Weather Inc. of Maryland Heights, Mo., to provide weather observations at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; Mid-America Weather Services of Overland Park, Kan., had been providing weather reporting at the airport since 1987.

Jan. 25: A just-completed master plan for the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport calls for spending almost $11.7 million on airport improvements and maintenance over the next two decades; total costs could go even higher if city officials decide to build a new terminal building rather than renovate an existing one.

Feb. 8: The city staff proposes that municipal airport property be designated as a special zone and that new buildings be limited to two stories, or 30 feet, in height.

Feb. 20: The city council shoots down plans by the city staff to implement an airplane parking fee; council members rebuke the staff and the Airport Advisory Board for making a decision to implement the fee without seeking approval from the council.

March 5: The city is buying the commercial building at municipal airport at a cost of $40,000, and plans to lease out space for various business ventures; the city council authorizes the purchase of a building from John Farquhar, who operates an airplane repair business; the purchase was recommended by the city staff and the Airport Advisory Board after city officials were unable to come to terms for a new lease with two aviation enthusiasts, who had been seeking to buy the building from Farquhar.

March 8: Although an airport parking fee was shot down by the city council last month, Airport Advisory Board members indicate they still favor implementation of the fee; board member Paul Brinkopf says airplane owners should be required to pay a fee for parking their airplanes; but general aviation pilots Steve Robertson and James McHaney oppose the idea.

April 1: The city council agrees to amend the city's lease agreement with Transworld Express, allowing it to relocate operations in the terminal building to the former Northwest Airlink ticket counter.

April 20: All five members of the Airport Advisory Board tell the city council and city staff they feel their recommendations have been ignored over the past months; at the close of the hourlong meeting, council members and staff pledge to do a better job of communicating with the board; board members feel their input has been ignored or not been presented to the council in regards to leasing out airport property for farming, hiring an airport manager, a proposal for implementing a parking fee for planes parked on the airport ramp, buying a building at the airport, and hiring an engineering firm for planned improvements at the port.

April 23: Trans World Express introduces a new 19-seat, British Aerospace J-31 Jetstream aircraft to the Cape Girardeau service.

May 27: The wreckage of a plane, piloted by John E. Godwin Jr., formerly of Cape Girardeau, is found in a mountainous area about 10 miles out of Franklin, N.C.; Godwin, 68, a Southeast Missouri native, was co-founder of Cape Central Airways.

May 30: The Airport Advisory Board votes unanimously to recommend the city council authorize a feasibility study for renovation of the terminal building.

June 5: The city of Cape Girardeau has been authorized to spend $530,057 in Federal Aviation Administration entitlement money on municipal airport improvements; FAA grant money will go to help fund construction of taxiway spurs, installation of required airport signs, renovation of terminal building and restructuring of the terminal parking lot.

June 18: Despite concerns that the measure would "dilute" the body, the Cape Girardeau City Council approves an ordinance changing the structure and clarifying the duties of the Airport Advisory Board; the ordinance essentially clarifies the board's role as an advisory body of the council; it also calls for a seven-member board with three-year terms instead of the current five-member board with six-year terms.

June 30: Air traffic is halted at the municipal airport when an allegedly intoxicated woman takes a 20-minute joyride on the airport's runways and taxiways; how the 29-year-old O'Fallon, Mo., woman gains access to the area is unclear.

July 25: The city of Cape Girardeau will issue $6.1 million in Public Facilities Authority bonds to fund a flood-control and airport improvement project.

July 27: Tom Holshouser, of the architectural firm of Holshouser & Associates, says the cost estimates for renovating the municipal airport's terminal building show that a new building might cost the city only $115,000 more than renovation.

Aug. 1: The Red Baron Stearman Squadron of Marshall, Minn., gives an air show at the airport to raise money for the Kenny Rogers Cerebral Palsy Center in Sikeston, Mo.

Sept. 6: The Airport Advisory Board has approved a conditional recommendation that the city build a new terminal building at municipal airport; the recommendation includes a stipulation that the city proceed with plans to build a new facility if a tenant can be found for the existing building within next six months and the project doesn't sacrifice too many other projects outlined in the city's Airport Master Plan.

Sept. 22-23: Aviation Days at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport feature an air show in addition to its traditional static display of vintage combat and experimental aircraft.

Sept. 23: A pilot who flies into municipal airport for Aviation Days and Air Show unexpectedly becomes part of the show; the left landing gear of the plane flown by Don Torinni collapses when he attempts to land at the airport in the morning, delaying the start of the show by about 30 minutes.

Nov. 9: After recommending months ago that the city build new $1.3 million terminal building at municipal airport in lieu of plans to renovate the existing building, the Airport Advisory Board now wants to reconsider the proposal; some members of board feel the ideal site for a new building is north and west of existing terminal, on the opposite side of the airport; the planned site for new terminal is just north of the existing facility.

Nov. 26: Airport manager Mark Seesing is waiting to see if the FAA will allow the city to continue operation of the airport traffic control tower; last month, the FAA refused to renew the control tower contract with the city, requiring instead that bids on the service be let; two private contractors, as well as the city, have submitted bids.

Dec. 4: The Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport Advisory Board recommends that the city council renovate the airport terminal building and purchase 114 acres of farmland adjacent to the airport for future industrial development; the recommendation ends more than a year of deliberations over whether to renovate the existing structure, build a new one adjacent to the terminal or build one across the airport on a different site.

Dec. 13: Trans World Express, which provides air service from Cape Girardeau to Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, is being sold; Air Midwest Inc., a Wichita, Kan.-based regional air carrier, has agreed to sell the assets of its Trans World Express operations out of St. Louis to Trans States Airlines Inc., St. Louis' other Trans World Express operation, for $16 million; no change of service is expected at the municipal airport.

1991

Jan. 8: The owner of Cape Central Airways says the charter airline service hasn't suffered seriously despite a "heavy handed" penalty last year for violating federal air-safety requirements; Reggie Hopwood says the Federal Aviation Administration revoked Cape Central's air carrier certificate in August following four flights in an aircraft that had inoperative equipment; but the certificate was reissued a few days later after Hopwood resigned as operator of the fixed-base air charter company.

Jan. 18: The war in the Persian Gulf has brought about bolstered security at municipal airport and puts Cape Girardeau police officers on heightened alert; heightened security is being taken to guard against possible terrorist activities against government facilities, including the city's federal, state and municipal buildings.

Feb. 6: Perryville Alderman Robert V. Pirrie, 52, is killed in the afternoon, when the single-engine airplane he is flying crashes into a plowed, muddy field west of Dutchtown.

Feb. 20: The city continues to operate the municipal airport control tower while officials try to convince Federal Aviation Administration to abandon its contention that the tower contract be awarded to a private company.

March 8: City officials say it's likely boardings at the municipal airport will dip below 10,000 this year, which would result in the loss of $300,000 in Federal Aviation Administration entitlement funds for airport development.

March 18: The city council approves a resolution to authorize a contract with the FAA for operation of the municipal airport control tower; the action resolves a six-month conflict over whether the city should continue tower operations or relinquish the contract to a private air traffic control company.

May 15: Bureaucratic snags and uncooperative weather have forced delays in capital improvements projects at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport this year; airport manager Mark Seesing says a terminal building renovation project, T-hangar and taxiway construction, and an airport signage project all have been delayed by unforeseen obstacles.

May 16: Cape Girardeau airport manager Mark Seesing recently was elected president of the Association of Missouri Airport Managers.

June 5: A meeting last week between Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport representatives and Trans World Express officials yielded little to resolve problems with unreliable service and slipping airport boardings; TWE, the airport's only commercial carrier, considers Cape Girardeau a low priority and has little interest in expanding service here; continued complaints about canceled and delayed TWE flights, and poor service have been blamed for declining boardings at the airport.

June 19: City officials last week visited a Texas-based commuter airline company hoping to generate additional airline service at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; officials flew to Dallas-Fort Worth to talk with representatives of Lone Star Airlines about prospects of the company serving the Cape Girardeau airport.

June 30: Cape Central Airways has been sold to Arkansas aviation businessman Mark Spatz, 28; he purchased the business from Reggie Hopwood, who acquired it in 1987.

July 7: The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has awarded Cape Girardeau a loan of $130,092 to install energy conservation measures at the municipal airport terminal building and the wastewater treatment plant.

Aug. 3: A crowd of more than 1,400 turns out for Fly Cape Aviation Days, despite sweltering heat; the open house and air show will continue at the municipal airport tomorrow.

Sept. 5: The Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport restaurant closed this week after three decades of operation; but the city, which purchased the restaurant from Joyce and J.D. Treadwell earlier this year, plans to reopen the facility under new management after the terminal building renovation project is completed.

Sept. 8: Trans World Express Airlines has notified the U.S. Department of Transportation that unless their operations here are subsidized they will pull out of Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport within 90 days.

Sept. 10: U.S. Sens. John C. Danforth and Kit Bond announce that the Federal Aviation Administration has awarded a $420,000 grant to the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport for renovation of the terminal building; the money is part of the Airports and Airways Trust Fund, which provides airport improvement funding for the nation's "primary airports."

Sept. 12: The Airport Board votes to go ahead with the airport terminal renovation project despite a last-ditch effort among some members to instead build a new building.

Oct. 7: The city council approves a lease agreement with WEB Aero Inc., an aircraft repair and refurbishing station that wants to rent a building at the airport.

1992

Jan. 7: As expected, boardings at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport in 1991 fell well below the 10,000 required to assure $300,000 in annual federal entitlements for airport improvements; airport manager Mark Seesing reports to the Airport Advisory Board that total boardings through December were 8,704, down from 10,017 in 1990.

Jan. 20: A Cape Central Airways pilot is forced to make an emergency landing in the evening at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, after his plane's landing gear fails to engage; the pilot, Bill Beard of Chaffee, Mo.,isn't injured; the plane, a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron, skids on its belly on a runway before coming to stop.

Feb. 14: It's moving day for the remaining tenants of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport terminal building, as the city prepares for a $1.1 million renovation of the facility; the work is expected to begin later this spring, but tenants are being asked to temporarily relocate to prepare the terminal building for an asbestos-removal project.

April 24: Two months after bids were opened on the long-delayed airport terminal renovation project, the city remains without a construction contract; the FAA refuses to approve a contract with Sides Construction when the contractor fails to meet requirements of a quota program designed to benefit minority-owned businesses.

May 4: The Cape Girardeau City Council approves a resolution to reject all contractor bids and rebid the airport terminal renovation project if the FAA doesn't award the construction contract within a week.

May 9: Crowds estimated between 30,000 and 35,000 attend Aviation Days at municipal airport, a majority coming for the Blue Angels performance in midafternoon; festivities will continue tomorrow with hot-air balloon races, aerobatics by Peterson-Krier Airshow, parachute jumps and another performance by the Blue Angels.

May 18: The city receives word the Federal Aviation Administration has approved a bid by R.A. Schemel and Associates for the Municipal Airport terminal building renovation project.

May 26: Three months behind schedule, the city at last is poised to embark upon an improvement project that officials hope will spawn broader use of municipal airport; the impasse over the use of minority subcontractors for renovation of the airport terminal building is over; contractor, R.A. Schemel and Associates, last week was able to demonstrate its compliance with conditions of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, and received FAA approval to proceed with the work.

June 9: At a joint meeting of the City Council and the Airport Advisory Board, the council unanimously recommends a proposal by Lone Star Airlines of Fort Worth, Texas, to provide air service between Cape Girardeau, Memphis and St. Louis; if the U.S. Department of Transportation concurs with the recommendation, the city will have commercial air service to Memphis in addition to St. Louis.

June 17: Nine months of effort to secure expanded service at municipal airport apparently is for naught as Trans World Express this week withdrew its application for a federal subsidy to operate here; that means the U.S. Department of Transportation isn't likely to consider the city's recommendation that Lone Star Airlines of Texas be awarded the subsidy instead.

June 22: Renovation work begins at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport with a groundbreaking ceremony in the morning; R.A. Schemel and Associates, the contractor, has 270 days to complete the project, which includes interior and exterior work.

July 10: Boardings at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, which dipped well below 10,000 last year, have rebounded slightly this year but still lag behind the pace needed to secure federal airport improvement funds.

July 23: Jim Dodd, 50, and Louis Rex Pettit, 43, both of Cape Girardeau, are killed when a twin-engine plane crashes in south-central Pennsylvania; Dodd, the pilot, owned Motorcycle Stuff Inc. in Jackson; Pettit was warehouse manager of the company.

Aug. 12: Under a new lease agreement, the fixed base operator at municipal airport will be charged a 2-cent-per-gallon fuel flowage fee and will lease fewer acres; Mark Spatz, owner and president of Cape Central Airways, the airport's fixed-base operator, says he's unhappy with the agreement, although he understands why it was changed; the city last year canceled Cape Central's lease because the company was three months behind on its payments.

Sept. 8: City officials predict a February completion of terminal building project.

Oct. 10: Two Russian helicopters make a refueling stop at the municipal airport.

1993

March 1: Tenants at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport terminal building will have to operate out of their temporary offices for a while longer; completion of the long-awaited terminal building renovation project has been pushed back to April 17; although some of the tenants likely will be able to move into the renovated section of terminal later this month, car-rental companies at the airport will have to remain in a temporary office -- a mobile trailer situated in the terminal building parking lot.

April 6: Blaming continuing losses at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport, Trans World Express airlines announces it has applied for a federal subsidy to continue operations between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis; in applying for the federal Department of Transportation subsidy, TWE has given the city 90 days notice that it will withdraw air service unless the subsidy is granted.

April 23: The contractor renovating the terminal building at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport apparently won't make the completion deadline; work has been plagued by holdups -- initially by a Federal Aviation Administration bureaucratic snafu and now by construction delays.

May 2: A twin-engine plane owned by HAVCO Wood Products Inc. lands on only one engine at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport in the afternoon; the pilot and four passengers are returning to Cape Girardeau from Knoxville, Tenn., when one of the engines on the Cessna 421 fails five or six miles from the airport.

June 1: Randy Holdman becomes airport manager, succeeding Mark Seesing, who resigned to become operations manager for Cape Central Airways Inc.

June 10: The long-awaited terminal building renovation project at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport is virtually finished, with all the building's tenants moved into the remodeled facility.

June 24: Cape Girardeau officials are hoping the $1.1 million renovated terminal building at municipal airport will be a catalyst for increased boardings and, eventually, airline service to additional cities; representatives of Trans World Express, the airport's commercial airline, meet with travel agents and city leaders to tour the new terminal facility and to discuss the future of the airport.

July 23: Balloon Fest '93 brings 35 hot air balloons to Cape Girardeau for three days of competition, displays and rides; flights start at the Show Me Center; originally, some were to start from the airport, but planners were concerned about flooding coming into play.

Aug. 2: The Cape Girardeau City Council approves a resolution authorizing a lease agreement with Mary Bergen to operate the restaurant and lounge in the terminal building at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport; Bergen will rent the restaurant for $200 per month, with six months of free rent for startup.

Aug. 9: Despite rising floodwaters, the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport remains dry, thanks to the massive Diversion Channel levee; it is the only airport along the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Memphis that's operating with a control tower; it's also the only airport in that long stretch large enough to handle some of the aircraft being used in flood relief efforts.

Aug. 10: Nearly $500,000 in airport improvements are slated for this fall and early next year, thanks to a state block grant awarded recently to the city of Cape Girardeau; the grant will fund completion of the terminal building renovation project, acquisition of an aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle, and water line construction and ramp reconstruction.

Sept. 8: After closure for the last year and a half because of the terminal renovation, the Runway Restaurant at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport is opened by Mary Bergen.

Sept. 10: Cape Girardeau Circuit Judge A.J. Seier, a pilot with 40 years' experience, makes an emergency landing at the municipal airport; it is his first experience landing without a nose wheel when efforts to get the wheel down fail and he has to land on two wheels.

Oct. 2: The $1.3 million remodeled terminal building at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport is dedicated in the afternoon; among the activities at the two-hour event are speeches, presentations to the families of John E. Godwin Jr. and Rush H. Limbaugh Jr., and a skydiving demonstration.

Oct. 20: A single-engine airplane is forced to make an emergency landing about two miles south of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport near Kelso; the pilot, whose name isn't disclosed, is forced to land in an open field at about 1:40 p.m., after his engine dies as the result of "icing in his carburetor."

Nov. 11: Bolstered by robust new boarding numbers and a new marketing plan, airport manager Randy Holdman says he will try to land a commuter airline with service to Chicago; he also hopes to find a third carrier to serve southern destinations within three years.

1994

Jan. 26: The pilot of a plane operated by Cape Girardeau-based Cape Central Airways is killed when the plane crashes near Cincinnati; Paul Cottrell, 40, of Harrison, Ohio, is alone in the plane when it crashes in a wooded area shortly after takeoff.

April 15: The Great American Circus holds two shows in the evening at the municipal airport.

May 18: Citing concerns with the timing of payments and overall safety standards, the city of Cape Girardeau elects to send Cape Central Airways Inc. an eviction notice; city officials are seeking to end a 12-year lease with Cape Central Airways, which is the fixed-base operator for the airport.

June 16: Operators of Cape Central Airways have opted to fight the city of Cape Girardeau's eviction notices in court; Cape Central Airways chief operation officer Mark Spatz has hired attorney Al Lowes to represent him in the lawsuit.

July 23: A crowd of between 4,000 to 6,000 people jammed the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport last evening to watch 45 tethered hot air balloons "glow" in the fading light of dusk; the balloon glow and rides were the first of a series of events for Balloon Fest '94, which continues today and wraps up Sunday.

July 31: Airport manager Randy Holdman resigns to take a position with Drury Southwest Inc. of Cape Girardeau.

Aug. 24: Prestige Air Services, a newly formed company owned by Duane Beussink, will petition the Cape Girardeau City Council for the right to become a fixed-base operator at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport.

Sept. 2: Air Evac Lifeteam Corp. is in the process of purchasing the assets of Cape Central Airways to become the next fixed base operator at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport.

Sept. 17: The city has agreed to lease the municipal airport space occupied by Cape Central Airways to Air Evac EMS Inc.; Air Evac wants to be the next fixed-base operator at the airport; the only snag: Cape Central Airways holds its spot at the airport while litigation between Central Airways and the city is pending.

Sept. 25: Air Evac, which is purchasing the assets of Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport fixed-base-operator Cape Central Airways, has entered into a 15-year lease with the city with the option for a five-year extension.

Oct. 10: The name of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport is changed to Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

1884 Oct. 18 Bob Hankins is 50 miles northwest of Cape Girardeau when an engine of the Cessna 401 he is piloting begins to lose oil pressure; 20 minutes later he lands safely at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport.

Dec. 2: Construction is underway on a water line that will provide improved fire protection for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the $172,915 project involves laying about a mile of 12-inch water line from the Nash Road industrial site southward to the airport.

Dec. 3: The FAA is considering closing 23 air-traffic control towers at non-hub airports nationwide, including the one in Cape Girardeau.

Dec. 5: Greg Chenoweth assumes his duties as the new airport manager.

Dec. 8: A small cargo plane crashes short of the runway during the night at Kansas City International Airport, critically injuring the pilot; the twin-engine Beech aircraft, operated by Cape Central Airways of Cape Girardeau, is en route from Sedalia to KCI when the pilot radios the control tower that she is concerned about icing on the plane. (The pilot, Sandra Campbell, died the next day.)

1995

Jan. 16: The Cape Girardeau City Council approved a 15-year lease with MDI Inc., doing business as Prestige Air Services, establishing it as the regional airport's second fixed-base operator; the agreement is similar to the one under which Air Evac operates.

Feb. 28: The Cape Girardeau Airport Board and city staff disagree over how the airport should be run; the advisory board has recommended that the airport operate as a separate department instead of as a division of the Public Works Department; the city's top administrators contend that the current arrangement has worked well.

May 27: VisionAire Corp. is looking at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport as a possible site for a plant to manufacture its proposed new VisionAire Vantage single-engine business jet.

June 15: Navy Lt. Cmdr. Larry Packer lands his F/A-18 Hornet here, much to the surprise of air traffic control officers at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; Packer, a former Blue Angels pilot, plans to attend a softball game and visit his friend Jessica Arnzen and her family in Kelso, Mo.

June 19: The Cape Girardeau City Council hands the financially troubled airport restaurant a reprieve, giving the business six months to turn its operation around.

July 21: A B-2 Stealth bomber fly-by, former national champion balloonists and the women's world altitude balloon record-holder are among the attractions at Balloons & Arts Festival '95 being held this weekend; more than 50 hot-air balloons and balloonists from across the United States, Canada and the U.S. Virgin Islands are participating in the annual festival at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Aug. 3: A St. Louis firm -- VisionAire Corp. -- will manufacture business jets in Ames, Iowa, rather than in Cape Girardeau because local investors there will contribute $2.4 million over the next three months to the project.

Aug. 22: MDI Corp. and Air Evac EMS Inc. have reached an agreement for MDI to purchase the fixed-based-operator assets of Air Evac Aviation at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the purchase will be by MDI's Prestige Air Services division.

Sept. 20: A Southeast Missouri Hospital LifeBeat helicopter crashes shortly after 4 a.m. in a swampy, wooded area near the Mississippi River in Union County, Ill.; the pilot and flight paramedic suffer lumbar fractures, while the flight nurse sustains only bumps and bruises.

Oct. 5: Air Evac EMS Inc. will remain the fixed-base operator at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the West Plains-based company announces that plans to sell the assets of Air Evac Aviation to MDI Corp. have been terminated.

Oct. 10: A Federal Aviation Administration official has concluded that the control tower at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport is "mission essential"; that conclusion leaves city officials and airport advisory board members optimistic that the FAA will continue to fund the airport tower; the city expects a final decision from the FAA this month.

Nov. 27: Faced with a reduced federal subsidy, Trans World Express of St. Louis cuts back on its flight schedule; TWE, Cape Girardeau's only commuter airline, provides passenger service to and from St. Louis; it reduces its daily round trip flights on weekdays from three to one, and eliminates all three of its weekend flights.

Nov. 28: In the second disappointment for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport in as many days, the FAA announces it will cease funding operation of the airport's air-traffic control tower; barring a reversal of its decision, the FAA will cut off funding at the end of business Dec. 31.

Dec. 15: Trans World Express officials announce a round-trip Sunday flight between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau will be reinstated Feb. 4.

Dec. 18: Trevier Minton of West Frankfort, Ill., has assumed operation of the Runway Restaurant.

Dec. 20: The city of Cape Girardeau and the Federal Aviation Administration have finalized a deal to allow the city to operate the tower at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the city will assume operation of the air traffic control tower effective Jan. 1; the city allocated reserve funds to pay for tower operation through the first half of 1996; in the meantime, other funding sources will be sought to keep the tower permanently open.

1996

April 29: Funding for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport traffic control tower soars in the Missouri House but crashes in a Senate committee; the House included $77,000 in the 1996-1997 budget to help fund the airport tower in the wake of the Federal Aviation Administration's to decision no longer fund it; but the Senate appropriations committee removes the funding from a transportation bill before it reaches the Senate floor.

May 3: The King-Royal Bros. Circus gives two performances at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

May 17: Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Advisory Board member William H. Walker resigns, citing what he calls a lack of an aggressive airport marketing plan and inept leadership; in a letter of resignation to the Cape Girardeau City Council, Walker says "the airport is a liability, not an asset."

May 20: Prestige Air Service has been appointed a Cessna pilot center by Cessna Aircraft; Cessna pilot centers provide pilot training.

June 7: A B-17 Flying Fortress, one of two owned by the Confederate Air Force, flies into the regional airport; it will be on display through Sunday, an attraction of an open house and fly-in; the event provides an opportunity for the public to see the airport's facilities, including the results of a $2.2 million improvement project that included extending one of the the port's runways.

June 19: The Cape Girardeau City Council is once again looking for an operator for the Runway Restaurant; the latest proprietor, Trevier Minton of West Frankfort, Ill., closed the restaurant's doors at the end of April and left town.

July 28: More than 40 balloons from 15 states are in Cape Girardeau for the fifth annual Cape Girardeau Balloon and Arts Festival.

Aug. 17: A reunion of some of the women pilots who participated in the 1966 Powder Puff Derby is held at the regional airport.

Aug. 19: The city council authorizes a lease agreement with Ronald and Glenda Woodard to operate the restaurant at the regional airport.

Oct. 21: Cape Girardeau Regional Airport manager Greg Chenoweth announces his resignation; he has accepted a job managing the airport in Chandler, Ariz., a Phoenix suburb.

Nov. 9: Ron Woodard becomes the third restaurateur in as many years to close an eatery at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; he blames lack of traffic at the port for his decision to close after less than two months.

1997

Feb. 22: Bruce Loy, a licensed commercial pilot who previously was an airport manager in Washington state, has been hired as the new manager of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; he will begin his new duties April 2.

March 5: The National Weather Service goes to an automated system that provides continual weather observations from the airport; previously, weather observers were a fixture at the airport for decades.

April 28: About 20 people from as far away as Sikeston and Marble Hill, Mo., descended on Cape Girardeau Regional Airport last week for the beginning of a new skydiving club; the group, called Sky Sports, is the first of its kind at the local airport; all it took to get the group was for the airport to build a small pea-gravel pit, collect some waivers from the jumpers and coordinate the jumps with the control tower.

July 31: Trans World Express and the U.S. Department of Transportation have signed an agreement that will add one flight a day Sunday through Friday and initiate Saturday air service at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport starting Oct. 1; all flights will go to St. Louis and connect with TWA flights for about $40; connections to other airlines will be more costly; the total number of weekly flights will increase from 11 round trips to 19.

Oct. 18: Aviation Day is held at the regional airport; the day ends with a hot-air balloon glow in the evening.

1998

Jan. 8: A Wal-Mart Stores Learjet 35 en route from Bentonville, Ark., to New York makes an emergency landing at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport in the morning, when smoke is reported in the plane's cabin; the plane lands safely and without incident at about 9:30.

April 4: Air Evac is expanding its air ambulance service; Air Evac EMS Inc., headquartered in West Plains, Mo., has added a fourth helicopter to its regional services; the new Bell 206 chopper and its EMS flight crew will be stationed at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

May 15: The airport and the school district in Cape Girardeau stand to gain financially from bills passed by the Missouri Legislature; lawmakers approve bills that would provide state funding for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport control tower and increased state aid for the local school district; the governor must sign the bills before they become law.

June 12: The instrument landing system at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport should be back in operation this month; the system, which failed in mid-May, is being repaired by the Federal Aviation Administration and could be ready as early as June 22.

June 25: More than 40 pilots, all of them women, converge on the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport for the 1998 Air Race Classic.

July 10: The three-day Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival begins in the evening with a balloon launch and a USO Hangar Dance in the evening; other features of the weekend event are displays of World War II vintage airplanes, demonstrations of modern military aircraft, helicopter and plane rides and tethered hot-air balloon ascents.

July 31: Cape Girardeau officials haven't decided how to use the money paying for operation of the airport control tower now that the state will pay for tower operations; Gov. Mel Carnahan last month signed legislation creating the Aviation Trust Fund, which, among other things, would reimburse cities up to $125,000 annually for control tower operations at rural airports where operations previously were funded by the federal government.

Sept. 22: A Canadian company might establish an airplane manufacturing plant at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; Zenair of Toronto wants to move its manufacturing operations to the United States; the company manufacturers single-engine, two-seater and training aircraft.

Oct. 4: Regional airport officials are hoping the two-day Sky-tober Fest Skydiving Boogie will attract 100 skydivers to the port.

Oct. 6: The Cape Girardeau City Council approves leasing the airport restaurant to Mac's Smokehouse, owned by David and LaRue McAllister of Jackson.

1999

Jan. 17: The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport enjoyed a banner 1998 with a record number of passenger boardings; the airport recorded 11,745 passenger boardings, topping the 11,014 achieved in 1987; it also marks the first time since 1990 the airport topped the 10,000 boarding mark.

March 2: Aircraft manufacturer Zenair of Canada Ltd. and Independent Manufacturing and Development Co. might start assembling planes in Cape Girardeau within 60 days; Independent Manufacturing president Mathieu Heintz says he hopes to get started before 60 days; Heintz is in Cape Girardeau to announce that his company has agreed to produce the FAA-type certified CH2000/CH2T aircraft at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

April 13: Cape Girardeau has received a commitment for a $600,000 community development block grant for water and sewer line improvements at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the preliminary grant award, announced by the Missouri Department of Economic Development, will help the city provide water service to the airport and surrounding businesses.

April 19: The Cape Girardeau City Council votes unanimously to issue $2.8 million in bonds for improvements to Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and A.C. Brase Arena Building; the bonds will help with renovation projects and water and sewer improvements at the airport in conjunction with the Zenair project.

May 6: Zenair of Canada Ltd. won't be coming to Cape Girardeau; Independent Manufacturing Development Co., a subsidiary of Zenair aircraft company, has notified Cape Girardeau officials that it is terminating its memorandum of understanding with the city and will not put a plant at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

May 22: Around 40 pilots fly radio-controlled airplanes at the regional airport; the air show is the first of its kind for the Southeast Missouri Modelers Association, sponsor of the daylong event.

July 10-11: "Heroes & Legends: An Aerial Tribute to Our U.S. Veterans" is presented at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the show includes a number of demonstrations, including the 69th Battalion Vietnam rescue re-enactment, The Skyfighters T-34 dual team aerial show, T-6 Aerobatics and an aerial dog fight between a U.S. P-51 and Japanese Zero.

Oct. 9-10: Thrill-seekers who want to enjoy falling from 14,000 feet get their wish at the third annual skydiving "boogie" at the regional airport.

2000

May 18: A ribbon-cutting ceremony is held at noon at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport to mark the inaugural flight of a new airline service for Cape Girardeau; beginning today Trans World Airlines Inc. and Corporate Airlines Inc. of Smyrna, Tenn., offer nonstop service under the Trans World Express brand between St. Louis and Cape Girardeau.

May 20: Snoopy's doghouse lands at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport as part of a radio-controlled modelers air show.

June 13: The city council has authorized Crawford, Murphy and Tilly consultants of St. Louis to complete an airport layout plan update; the master plan will consider how the airport will change in the next five, 10 and 20 years and will serve as a blueprint to outline what projects might be needed to accommodate growth.

July 8-9: Flying at speeds up to 300 mph, Formula One racing planes add some excitement to the third annual Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival.

Sept. 2: A pilot and his passenger are unharmed when their two-seat aircraft makes an emergency landing in northern Scott County; about 5:30 p.m., the pilot, Lindsey D. Bredemeyer, 37, of Houston reports problems with the old PT-13 Stearman he is flying into the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; he is forced to land in a cornfield about one mile south of the airport.

Oct. 14-15: The fourth annual Frog Fest skydiving boogie is held at the airport.

2001

Jan. 9: As many as 1,000 recreational airplanes a year eventually may be manufactured Cape Girardeau if the state comes through with loans for a young company looking to move its operation to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; officials lured 3-year-old Renaissance Aircraft of Eastman, Ga., to the area by offering incentives including $2.1 million, issued through bonds, for facility construction, equipment, furnishings, water and sewer lines, roads and parking lots.

Feb. 2: Arch Air Medical Service Inc. has replaced LifeBeat, the helicopter service that originated at Southeast Missouri Hospital; the service has moved its operation from the hospital to a hangar at the regional airport.

June 2: Jim Martindale safely lands his single-engine Meyers 200 propeller plane at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, even though one of its three landing gear fails to deploy.

June 13: Though some technicalities remain to be resolved between the city and state, Renaissance Aircraft expects to break ground in late summer or early fall on its new production plant at the airport; company president John Dearden says the $1.2 million, 60,000-square-foot facility will be completed within four months following the start of construction; it will produce the Renaissance 8F, a two-seat plane that will be marketed to recreational pilots.

July 14-15: The annual regional air festival at the Cape Girardeau airport features a re-enactment of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Doolittle Tokyo raid of 1942; helicopter and airplane rides are also available.

July 16: The Cape Girardeau City Council passes a resolution accepting a $750,000 loan from the Missouri Department of Economic Development that will fund infrastructure improvements at the airport, which will allow Renaissance Aircraft to build planes there.

July 28: Steve Long, with the FAA St. Louis Flight Standards District Office, presents the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award to John M. Farquhar of Cape Girardeau at the Cape Pilots Club; the lifetime achievement award, which is named for the Wright Brothers' airplane mechanic, is presented for 50 years of service in aviation maintenance, which includes 30 years as a certified aviation mechanic; Farquhar owns and operates Highlander Magneto Service at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Sept. 13: Airport manager Bruce Loy says operations at the airport could resume at noon; the FAA grounded all air service nationwide Tuesday, after two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York and a plane crashed into the Pentagon.

Sept. 27: Gov. Bob Holden orders the deployment of at least 150 National Guardsmen to boost security at airports in Cape Girardeau, St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia, Joplin and Fort Leonard Wood; the order is in response to President Bush's request for heightened security at the nation's airports.

Oct. 6: Missouri National Guard troops begin security duty at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and others around the state.

Oct. 27: A federal rule that required unauthorized vehicles to park at least 300 feet from airport terminals has been lifted for small airports like Cape Girardeau's; visitors may now park in the airport's 175-space lot, which had been off limits since Sept. 12.

Nov. 14: Air Evac EMS Inc. will cease operations at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport beginning Dec. 1; Air Evac's decision will not affect the company's helicopter service, which provides medical emergency transportation to Saint Francis Medical Center.

Dec. 1: The city takes over fueling operations at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport to keep it from becoming just a landing strip; the city steps in with loaned tanker trucks because Air Evac EMS Inc., the company that has been providing fueling services, has ceased operations here.

2002

Jan. 25: After more than a year of toiling in red tape and litigation, the Renaissance Aircraft breaks ground at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport on a new 52,000-foot-square manufacturing facility; the building will house up to 150 employees within a year of its completion and will include 4,000 square feet for office space.

Feb. 20: A representative with the new Transportation Security Administration visits the Cape Girardeau airport as the first step toward federal government control of the airport's screening process; the new system will be run by better-trained and higher-paid federal employees who will screen passengers and luggage.

May 3-5: Two hundred eight Boy Scouts attend the 2002 spring camporee at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the event provides all sorts of aviation education.

June 11: Members of the Sanyo Flight Operations crew secure the Sanyo Blimp after landing at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the 165-foot-long aircraft, en route to Chicago from Memphis, where it aided in the broadcast of the Tyson-Lewis boxing match, lands in Cape Girardeau due to thunderstorms in the St. Louis area; the blimp circles an area around Cape Girardeau for about two hours while a field at the airport is mowed and crews prepare for the landing.

June 22: The Jerry Ford Orchestra and the Tony Spinner Band perform at Hangar Bash 2002 at the regional airport; the event is a fundraiser for the 2003 Regional Air Festival.

June 22: Pilot Jack Rickard paints a 177-foot, four-inch green-and-white circle called a compass rose next to the hangar he leases at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the compass rose, which resembles the flower's petals, is a navigational aid that helps a pilot get his bearings and assures him of the accuracy of his compass.

June 26: The U.S. Department of Transportation announces the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport will receive a one-time $500,000 federal grant to help increase the use of the airport and keep ticket prices down; the airport will have to come up with a $125,000 local match.

July 5: A Cape Girardeau man escapes with only a few scrapes after his experimental airplane loses a wheel and flips during a landing at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; Fred T. Schmucker, 72, refuses medical treatment after the mishap.

Aug. 10: The federal Transportation Security Administration has determined that an extra interior glass wall will make air travel safer at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the wall will separate those who have been screened from those who haven't, making the final waiting area a "sterile" zone; when the work is finished next week, Cape Girardeau will be one of the first airports in the nation to have the necessary changes in place to be ready for TSA security agents and luggage inspectors.

Aug. 11: The Southeast Missouri Modelers Association holds a model aircraft show at the regional airport; the event includes a tribute to Pearl Harbor.

Oct. 20: Cape Girardeau doctor Mohammad Shakil, his wife, Farida, and the couple's four children -- Osman, 16; Hassan, 14; Sabeen, 13, and Rabiya, 11 -- are killed when their single-engine Piper PA-32 crashes near Paron, Ark.

Nov. 4: Security agents with the Transportation Security Administration begin working at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the TSA screeners manning the airport are temporary; there will eventually be six permanent part-time TSA agents at the Cape Girardeau airport.

Nov. 26: A master plan for the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport is submitted by the city for public input at an open house at the Osage Community Centre; among major changes the plan suggest are: Extending the primary runway from 6,500 to 7,000, expanding the passenger terminal, purchasing 126 acres of land to the northwest of the airport for future facility development, developing remaining space in the existing terminal area by constructing corporate aircraft hangars, and constructing a fire station at the airport and a snow-removal equipment storage building.

2003

Jan. 11: Although 22 percent more people took to Cape Girardeau's friendly skies in 2002 over the prior year, that still wasn't quite enough to bring home the big bucks; the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport came up 954 shy of reaching 10,000 people boarding planes in a year, the number required to become eligible for $1 million in federal grant money, money that would go toward repairs and facility additions to the airport.

Jan. 13: A brand-new F-18 Hornet, built by Boeing in St. Louis, lands at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport Monday for a two-hour stop; pilots perform touch-and-go techniques as often as two or three times a week at the Cape Girardeau strip.

March 5: Jerry Davis, the man who brought McDonald's restaurant to Cape Girardeau 35 years ago, is killed in an airplane crash; Davis and his flight instructor, Kenneth Krongos, are en route to Cape Girardeau from Duluth, Minn., when they notice ice forming on the wings of the leased Beechcraft Bonanza; the ice causes the craft to lose altitude and it finally strikes trees and breaks apart; the plane goes down near Sparta, Ill., killing both men.

March 24: A constant shortage of air traffic controllers at the regional airport has Cape Girardeau city officials scrambling to find more money to boost pay and keep the tower from closing; the tower reduced hours a week ago to cope with the problem.

March 24: Roy A. Sale, a Cape Girardeau aircraft maintenance technician, has received the highest award possible for aircraft maintenance, the Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award; Sale served in the Air Force before working at the airport in Malden, Mo., Cape Central Airways, the FAA and Air Evac EMS in Cape Girardeau; he is still working part time for Ozark Aircraft maintenance at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

May 25: Despite two years of strenuous legal wrangling, continuing cash-flow problems and some doubt about the marketability of their airplanes, officials at Renaissance Aircraft insist that their promise to create 200 new jobs and to begin production soon are more than flights of fancy; those who worked to bring the company here -- even offering up a few million dollars in state and local startup funding -- say they still have faith in the company.

July 11-13: "Heroes & Legends," the Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival, is staged at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; along with a static display of vintage aircraft, the air show features a Navy F-18 Hornet fighter, skydiving, biplane aerobatics, a jet-powered Dodge Ram speeding on the runway and a demonstration by the Lima Lima Flight Team.

July 14: The mix of cutting-edge aviation technology, aerobatics and classic warplanes brought 10,000 to 12,000 people to the Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival over the weekend; this was the first air festival in Cape Girardeau in two years, last year's being canceled because of the downturn in the economy after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Aug. 2: Flying buddies Stan Crader of Jackson, Dr. John Hall of Cape Girardeau and Tom Jones of Cincinnati set out from the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport on a journey similar to that of Lewis and Clark; the trio are tracking the Corps of Discovery's expedition of two centuries ago, while honoring Orville and Wilbur Wright's discovery of flight a century ago.

Aug. 17: The Southeast Missouri Modelers Association stages its 2004 Radio Controlled Air Show at the regional airport; about 30 pilots from the tri-state area participate in the show.

Sept. 13: Mac's Smokehouse restaurant closes down at the regional airport after five years of operation, consolidating operations at its Silver Springs Road location in Cape Girardeau.

Oct. 22: Airline passengers will have to wake up a little earlier to catch the first flight out of Cape Girardeau beginning Nov. 1; the first departure will be at 6 a.m. Monday through Saturday rather than 7:07 a.m.; the intention is that they can catch more flights out of St. Louis; American Airlines, in a cost-cutting move, is slashing its 420 daily flights from St. Louis in half and eliminating more than 2,100 jobs; Cape Girardeau is served by a single commuter airline, Corporate Airlines, which operates as American Connection, providing connecting flights to and from the St. Louis airport.

Nov. 17: The Cape Girardeau City Council approves a master plan for the regional airport.

Dec. 2: The Cape Girardeau Pilots Club and airport manager Bruce Loy have asked the Navy for a Douglas A-4 Navy Skyhawk, which has sat practically abandoned on an airport ramp in Perryville, Mo., the past five years or so; they would like to refurbish the plane and display it at the entrance to the Cape Girardeau port.

Dec. 15: Mike and Judy Bryant plan to open the Landing Place Airport Restaurant next week.

2004

March 5: Trucking company owner Jerry Lipps wants to erect private hangars and possibly open an airfreight business on land bordering the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, but the plan depends on securing a "through the fence" agreement with the city that would allow him access to the airport runways and taxiways; city officials say they're not ready to approve such an agreement since they have yet to see a written proposal from Lipps or his attorney.

April 24: Some 400 members of Southeast Missouri law enforcement offices, fire departments and emergency agencies take part in an emergency management drill at the regional airport; for more than four hours, the airport operates under the Department of Homeland Security's highest terrorist threat alert, dealing with an airplane carrying hazardous chemicals making an emergency landing and terrorists aboard holding 100 people hostage.

April 26: Denver pilot John Klitzke, 21, on his way to a flying competition has his ability tested when he tries to land at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; Klitzke planned to land in Cape Girardeau to rest and refuel, but about 60 miles out of Kansas City he notices a hole in his right tire; after circling the airport while emergency crews roll out, Klitzke and his two companions land safely.

Oct. 30-Nov. 1: Over 300 Scouts camp out at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport as the Shawnee District Boy Scouts hold their 2004 Boy Scouts of America Spring Camporee; the Scouts take part in numerous space-related activities in order to obtain their space exploration merit badges; NASA astronaut and Cape Girardeau County native Dr. Linda Godwin makes an appearance.

May 21: The U.S. Department of Transportation has released a nearly $1.8 million grant to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport for runway and taxiway improvements; the $1,794,900 grant will go toward working on the intersection of two runways so they will drain better, reworking some ground in one runway safety area and completing the relocation of another runway.

May 27: Severe weather in the St. Louis area diverts at least eight airplanes to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport to wait out the storm; yesterday, two or three planes spent an hour or so until the storms blew over.

May 28: The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport terminal seems a little lonelier these days as passenger boardings have plummeted this year; boardings through the first three months of this year dropped by 17 percent.

June 21: Without comment, members of the Cape Girardeau City Council unanimously approve a new financial arrangement with Renaissance Aircraft that will give the financially troubled airplane manufacturer until Oct. 1 to get its business running; the new lease agreement -- which amends one signed on Sept. 1, 2001 -- requires payments from Renaissance to start in October, six months later than initially planned but in time for the city to begin retiring bonds issued to construct the manufacturing facility at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

June 25: About 20 Navy planes, the style used in the Korean War, visit the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the group holds a free, public barbecue and tomorrow morning will conduct plane races.

July 6: An arrangement called aircraft leasebacks is making high-speed turboprop service, aircraft rental and instruction available at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; commercial pilot Bill Beard, under the business name Cape Air Charter, has access to three new aircraft -- a Swiss-made Pilatus PC-12 eight-passenger turboprop, a Cessna 172 four-seater and an American Citabria two-plane tail-wheeler -- but doesn't have to shoulder the enormous burden of aircraft ownership, which is underwritten by another company called Tiger Air.; a second charter aircraft, a Cessna twin-engine 414, is also shuttling Cape Air Charter passengers around the country through a similar arrangement with a local physician; Beard owns two older Cessnas that he rents to local pilots for instruction and cross-country flights.

July 9: Kicking off a weekend of fun at the Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival, Steve Gustafson of the AeroShell Aerobatic Team makes a spectacular twilight flight; other features of the festival will be a World War II battle re-enactment on the ground, aerial performances by the Navy Leap Frogs, the Navy 15-person parachute team, the Air Force A-10A Thunderbolt II Demonstration Team, and the Turbo Shark.

Aug. 23: Questions abound about the status of Renaissance Aircraft; the business phone at the aircraft manufacturer's airport building has been disconnected, as has the home phone of the company president; city officials, however, say they have no knowledge of Renaissance being out of business.

Sept. 28: Struggling Renaissance Aircraft -- which only recently had electricity and phone service restored to the building -- faces a Friday financial deadline to stay in business at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; the company must pay nearly $65,000 to the city of Cape Girardeau and United Missouri Bank or risk being in default on its lease and bond-issue agreement.

Sept. 29: According to airport manager Bruce Loy, planes won't be taking off or landing at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport for a 10-day period from Oct. 31; the airport runways will be shut down for runway construction work starting at 8 p.m. on Oct. 31; the airport will reopen to general aviation and commuter flights at 5 a.m. on Nov. 10.

Oct. 2: Renaissance Aircraft and the city of Cape Girardeau remain at odds over lease payments surrounding the financially troubled airplane manufacturer after the company paid out far less than the amount city officials said was owed by yesterday's deadline; John Dearden, company president, this week paid only $4,585 of the nearly $65,000 Cape Girardeau officials said Renaissance owed the city and United Missouri Bank to avoid defaulting on its lease and bond-issue agreement; but Dearden's attorney argued that the rest of the money isn't owed now.

Oct. 3: While the Show Me Air Kings hold their annual model airplane show at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, girls from Troop 336 of the Girl Scouts of Otahki Council earn their aerospace badge.

Oct. 5: In a closed-door meeting, the Cape Girardeau City Council sets a Nov. 1 deadline for Renaissance Aircraft to make bond and lease payments totaling more than $61,000 or face eviction from a city-owned hangar at the airport.

Nov. 1: Financially troubled Renaissance Aircraft fails to meet its deadline to make bond and lease payments.

Nov. 5: Renaissance Aircraft has been given a temporary reprieve by the Cape Girardeau City Council; it now has until Nov. 12 to settle its financial situation with the city.

Nov. 6: Despite the ongoing runway construction that has closed the regional airport to traffic, a pilot makes an emergency landing on the taxiway, after his two-seat Cessna develops mechanical problems.

Nov. 10: The two runways at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport are reopened after 10 days of construction work halted all flights into and out of the port; the contractor, Emery, Sapp and Sons of Columbia, Mo., worked around the clock on the project to improve the intersection of the two runways.

Nov. 13: Unable to make bond and lease payments this month, struggling Renaissance Aircraft has abandoned plans to build airplanes at Cape Girardeau, ending a three-year business venture that was plagued by litigation and a lack of investors; company president John Dearden plans to remove all of the company's equipment from the city-owned hangar within 30 days.

2005

Feb. 15: A 25 percent drop in boardings over the last year has Cape Girardeau Regional Airport officials desperately looking to add a fourth daily commuter flight to draw more passengers; but that depends on being able to draw on a half-million-dollar federal grant that has been sitting on the table for 2 1/2 years while the city tried to raise matching funds; most of the money would go to RegionsAir, the local commuter airline, to subsidize the added flight.

March 8: After providing service to Cape Girardeau for almost six decades, the last Greyhound bus is expected to pull out from the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport for the final time April 2, a victim of poor ridership and the bus company's reorganizational plans to cut stops across the country.

March 28: When Renaissance Aircraft closed in November, the city was left with a vacant hangar at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and the burden of making costly bond payments that will begin drawing down city financial reserves on Friday; a $168,000 payment is due that day; the city will use the $28,000 remaining in the bond fund to help make the payment; but the rest will have to come out of the city's general fund reserve.

June 24: A freak windstorm hits the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and causes substantial damage to hangars, planes and the airport terminal; the gust occurs at about 5 p.m. and damages the wings of two planes; it also bends the door of one hangar, and a piece on the corner of another hanger is blown off; some terminal windows also are broken after the wind catches under the canopy of a portable passenger boarding ramp and tosses it through the glass.

June 27: Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, acting as governor while Matt Blunt is out of the state, is at the local airport to sign a bill that extends the sales tax on fuel for commercial and private jets through 2013; the tax generates roughly $4 million each year for improvements to rural airports; it was set to expire in 2008.

July 1: The Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center this fall will offer an aviation program for high school students; this course will include a classroom component as well as hands-on experience working in various jobs at the regional airport.

July 7: The annual Cape Girardeau Regional Air Festival kicks off with a motocross demonstration at the Town Plaza Shopping Center in the evening; the motocross events are new to the show this year.

Sept. 4: Gov Matt Blunt declares the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport a medical triage center for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Oct. 6: It is announced Commander Premium Aircraft Corp., will relocate its airplane manufacturing firm from Bethany, Okla., to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport; it will also establish its sales, parts and service center at the port; the company will operate out of the former Renaissance Aircraft hangar, leasing the 52,000-square-foot building from the city.

Dec. 5: The Cape Girardeau City Council approves an agreement with RegionsAir to add a fourth round-trip flight from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis; it is hoped the added flight will help boost boardings here to 10,000 passengers annually.