Airport FAQs

The City of Longmont is prohibited by Federal law from imposing limitations on aircraft operations for the purposes of controlling noise without FAA approval. Acceptance of Federal funds obligates an airport sponsor to make the airport available to all aircraft operators. An airport sponsor may request the FAA, per the requirements of 14 CFR Part 150 and Part 161, to allow it to implement certain restrictions on aircraft operations, but FAA will not approve a noise restriction that may violate the airport sponsor’s grant assurances, including the assurance requiring access to the airport on reasonable terms and without unjust discrimination.

Since 1982, The City has accepted Federal funds under the Airport Improvement Program (AIP). In accepting these funds, the City has agreed to specific Federal obligations, including a commitment to keep the Airport open and make it available for public use as an airport. Under Federal law, this obligation runs in perpetuity since the City acquired land with Federal funds.

For more information on Federal grant assurances, go to the FAA’s web page on the subject. In addition, you can call the FAA’s Denver Airport District Office at (303) 342-1354 for information specific to the Vance Brand Municipal Airport. This office issues AIP grants to the City of Longmont and works with Airport staff to ensure Airport planning and operations remain compliant with FAA standards and grant assurances.

Federal law preempts the legal authority of the City relating to aircraft over flights. To the extent that complaints about aircraft noise relate to flights leaving from or coming to the Airport, the City does not have any legal authority to control the flight paths of such aircraft, or the timing of their passage above the City. Nor does the City have the authority to deny access to any type or class of aircraft operating at the airport.

In addition, federal requirements often conflict with local desires for noise mitigation efforts, and noise concerns at the Vance Brand Municipal Airport is no exception. The desire of the City to manage the operation of its Airport may conflict with the federal requirements dictating open and nondiscriminatory access. The federal requirements are a condition of federal funding that the City has received to fund improvements to the Airport. The City has considered the benefits and disadvantages of accepting Federal funds and has opted to relinquish some control over its Airport in order to ensure the facility remains safe for public use and is an asset to the community.

The City strives to be a responsible airport operator. To that extent, the City has developed the Voluntary Noise Abatement Procedures (VNAP) in an effort to be responsive to the concerns of our neighbors and to continue to provide an excellent facility for pilot use. VNAP are designed to minimize the exposure of residential and other noise sensitive areas to aircraft noise, while ensuring the safety of flight operations.

Pilots are asked to follow the voluntary noise abatement procedures and “fly friendly” in an effort to be good neighbors to the citizens who live under the aircraft flight paths. Depending on the aircraft, these procedures may involve the pilot using a faster rate of climb in order to get the aircraft to higher altitudes as fast as possible or using designated practice areas to avoid residential areas.

For more information on the city’s VNAP, please visit our VNAP web page.

Since the City does not have the authority to regulate pilots or their aircraft, this program will remain voluntary. Further, Federal grant assurances prohibit the city from imposing restrictions or limitation on aircraft operations. In accepting Federal airport improvement funds, the City has agreed to keep the airport open to all aircraft users.

The City of Longmont uses noise complaints to monitor activities at the Airport and analyze trends that may be adversely affecting the local community. Noise complaints help the City track and understand Airport activities that impact the community, particularly during times when the Airport is unattended.

Noise complaints are compiled to determine if any trends are developing and to enhance pilot education programs. All complaints are logged and reported regularly to the Longmont Airport Advisory Board and the Longmont City Council. Furthermore, if an aircraft operator is behaving in an unsafe manner, this information can be provided to the FAA for further investigation.

If complaints reveal a trend related to a specific aircraft or business based at the Airport, the City will try to work with the airport tenant to develop a voluntary resolution, such as changing the time they operate or flying certain routes at night. Often aircraft operators are unaware their actions are adversely impacting the local community and they will do what they can to cooperate, so long as such actions do not adversely affect safety or their business. As such, pilot education is a major part of our noise abatement program and the noise complaints assist the city in this effort. This includes regular meetings with airport tenants, informational mailings and individual contact with pilots.

The City occasionally receives requests to adopt policies to limit aircraft operations, penalize pilots or close the Airport at certain times. Federal laws prohibit the City from taking such actions; however, the City will continue to work with airport tenants to ensure the Airport is a good neighbor.

Vance Brand airport is an airport designated in the federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP), as grant eligible.  The City of Longmont has accepted AIP funding since 1982. The current AIP authorization allocates $150,000 of entitlement funds annually to the Vance Brand Municipal Airport. The City also is eligible to receive discretionary funds for certain airfield safety projects, based availability of funds and the needs of other airports in the national airport system.

The AIP is funded from the Aviation and Airway Trust Fund, which is funded primarily from ticket tax of air carrier passengers and aviation fuel taxes. This is a user-funded program that ensures safety and capacity projects at nearly 3,400 US airports are funded when state and local funds are unavailable. In essence, the local, state and national aviation system is predominately financed by user fees.

FAA issues AIP funds as reimbursable grants. An airport sponsor is responsible for contributing local matching funds for an AIP project. At airports served by general aviation aircraft, such as Vance Brand Municipal Airport, the local match is most generally 10%. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will automatically pay 5%, thus making the City’s actual matching contribution 5%. For grants that are only state grants, the City’s contribution is 20%. For AIP grants at the Vance Brand Municipal Airport, this 5% is paid by the Colorado Department of Transportation and by revenue generated at the airport. No general fund money from the City is used to operate or maintain the airport.

The City and the FAA both have responsibilities to their respective operational roles of the Airport. Both governmental entities work together in the form of a partnership to address all concerns at the Airport. In addition to community noise issues, the City and FAA work together on airport planning and development, airport financing, airport safety, environmental issues and a host of other day-to-day operational matters. Most importantly, the FAA provides grants to the City for airfield development, safety equipment and airport planning projects. Air travel and air transportation have long been recognized as directly and inherently part of interstate commerce, and therefore subject to control by the federal government. This responsibility rests primarily on the FAA. While the FAA’s responsibilities are large, diverse and encompass a broad range of topics, the agency’s primary responsibility is SAFETY!

The FAA administers the nation’s airspace, Air Traffic Control System, certification of aircraft and pilots, and regulatory oversight of certain airports designated important to the US national aviation system in the National Plan of Integrated Airports (NPIAS). The Vance Brand Municipal Airport is included in the NPIAS and is an integral part of nation’s system of airports. Accordingly, the FAA makes decisions regarding the Airport based on not only local needs but on state and national needs as well.

Individuals can report issues related to aviation safety or FAA personnel and facilities to the FAA Hotline.

The City is responsible for maintaining a safe and efficient airport to meet the City’s air transportation needs for commerce and recreation in order to attract and foster economic development. The City operates the Airport as a community asset and improves the facilities to increase its use and revenues.

The City also is responsible for controlling land uses around the Airport and does so through coordinated land use and airport planning, zoning to prohibit residential and the congregation of people near the airport and pursues avigation easements, plat notes, disclosure notices, or other appropriate methods to manage land uses in the Airport environs. To the extent possible, the City also examines and revises, as appropriate, land development and building code regulations to mitigate airport-related noise impacts on development in the airport environs.

If the complaint involves aircraft flying in a careless or reckless manner, a complaint should be made to the FAA’s Denver Flight Standards District Office at 303-342-1170. This Federal office is responsible for licensing pilots, certifying aircraft and enforcing flight rules. Be mindful that as pilots approach and depart an airport, they will be flying at lower altitudes and most likely the pilot is operating in accordance with Federal aviation regulations.

LMO’s voluntary flights tracks are used by pilots under ideal conditions only. Factors such as weather and the presence of other aircraft will often dictate a flight path that is different from the noise abatement flight tracks.

Restrictions on aircraft operation that were in place prior to October 1, 1990 were grandfathered under ANCA. As such, there are airports throughout the nation that have aircraft restrictions or nighttime curfews for noise purposes. These grandfathered restrictions vary and require FAA’s approval if the airport sponsor wants to revise them.

Aircraft altitude is established by Federal law. Title 14, Code of Federal Regulations Section 91.119 which governs flight states: “Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitude: Over any congested area of a city, town or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.”

It is important to be aware of two aspects of this regulation. First, most aircraft operating in the vicinity of the LMO Airport are in the process of landing and taking off, thus will be at a lower altitudes. Second, helicopters are specifically exempted from this Federal regulation.

While the City of Longmont owns and operates the Vance Brand Municipal Airport, the FAA is responsible for airspace and the control of aircraft in flight. Since there is no air traffic control tower at the airport, aircraft arrive and depart the airport by following standard traffic patterns and flight procedures established by FAA.

Due to the close proximity of the Denver International Airport, once aircraft reach a certain altitude and distance from the airport, pilots are required to contact FAA’s Denver Terminal Radar Approach Control Center for altitude and heading assignments. At this point, FAA will vector aircraft in a manner that maintains separation from other aircraft and obstructions. While certain routes are commonly used, the FAA will use whatever airspace is necessary to ensure safety.

The airport has a peak hour just like highways do. Our heaviest traffic volumes occur between 7 am and 10 am. Tuesday and Wednesdays are the busiest days for flights at the airport. Many of the operations at Vance Brand Airport are training flights.

The Vance Brand Municipal Airports is a publicly funded, public-use airport that is open to all aircraft operators. Available runway length/strength and navigation aids may limit some aircraft from using the airport, but otherwise the airport is open to the public, including student pilots.

The FAA requires student pilots to practice navigating to other airports. Such flights are known as cross-country flights. Also, the FAA requires pilots to maintain currency by flying a specific number of hours, number of instrument approaches or number of takeoff and landings, which pilots often accomplish by making cross-county flights to neighboring airports.

Airplanes must take-off and land into the wind. The primary wind direction at Longmont is from the west to the east and the runway is oriented accordingly. About 70 percent of the traffic at Longmont takes off to the west, and the remainder takes off to the east.

The Airport is open 24 hours a day. The City of Longmont has accepted Federal funds to make improvements to the airport, including taxiway and runway lighting. Under Federal law, airport sponsors generally are prohibited by Federal law from implementing nighttime curfews or prohibiting a certain airport user, such as cargo operators, if the sponsor has accepted Federal support to maintain the airport as a public use airport.

Nighttime aircraft activity is mostly aircraft charter, cargo and check deliveries for banking institutions in mountain communities. In addition, the Federal Aviation Administration requires nighttime training for certain pilot and skydiving license/ratings.

A portion of our overnight flights are also air-ambulance flights transporting patients, blood, or organs to points throughout the State and country. The largest air-ambulance companies in Denver operate at airports throughout the Denver/ North Metro area. In addition, law enforcement and news media regularly use the Airport at night.

Ultralight aircraft are small, personal flying craft. There are some that operate out of Longmont Airport, however they can be launched from any private property or road and there are many private owners in the community who do this. While not considered “aircraft” technically by the Federal Aviation Administration, and thus not subject to quite the same rules and regulations, they are required by regulation to operate in a safe manner.

Student pilots have specific FAA requirements to complete their flight training, such as touch-and-goes. This is an operation where a pilot will take off and land many times in a row. This is most likely why you will see a single plane making several circles around the airport.

Currently, 100LL or 100 Low Lead is the standard fuel utilized in small, piston driven airplanes. As its name applies, it does contain a low amount of lead. The state of Colorado and the Federal Aviation Administration, have both set the goal of 2030 to transition from this leaded fuel to an unleaded option. Vance Brand Airport is moving forward to meet the goal of transitioning completely too unleaded fuel by 2030.

While there are several companies working towards an unleaded option, no clear “winner” has emerged yet for 100 Low Lead’s replacement. In addition to this, supplies of all of these unleaded fuels are currently very small and distribution is a major challenge.

It is important to know that even when pilots are able to access these new fuels,  they are required to utilize only the fuels that the FAA have authorized them to use in their aircraft. As of yet, the FAA has not approved any of the unleaded fuels to outright replace 100 Low Lead. That is to say, as a pilot, one could not utilize an unleaded fuel option without re-certificating the aircraft with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Doing this would be a violation of FCC rules and regulations. The air channel is reserved solely for communications regarding the safety of flight. In addition to this, addressing such issues in real time, most generally, create situations that develop into yelling matches which are not conducive to the safety of flight. We have many other ways of addressing our concerns with pilots flying at Vance Brand Airport that are safer.

What you are seeing almost certainly isn’t aircraft turning of their transponders. Such actions would quickly draw the attention of the FAA as we are located inside the Mode C Vail. An area close to Denver International Airport that is closely monitored.  What you are most likely seeing here is aircraft having their information made private though FAA channels. As of 2024, Aircraft operators can request to have all of their information made private.

Aircraft inspections are required by the FAA and enforced with intent. FAA Inspectors regularly do checks on companies and individuals who own aircraft. Logbooks of all the planes maintenance, including information about the qualified mechanics who provided that maintenance, must be recorded. All aircraft are required to have a Certification of Airworthiness to fly. Without the required inspection, that certification is void. Aircraft maintenance is held to a much higher standard that personal vehicle maintenance.

When blatant, or malicious deviations occur, or when we have planes that show up an unusually large amount on our noise complaint tracking log, we can reach out and communicate with individuals to see if we can get their assistance in helping all pilots recognize our VNAP.

Such investigations are the responsibility of the NTSB. They may designate such investigations to the FAA, but that is at their discretion.