Prominent members of the Colorado State University and Larimer County communities braved the weather to convene at Christman Airfield Tuesday Oct. 29 to officially receive a $500,000 check from the United States federal government.
Presented by Colorado 2nd Congressional District Rep. Joe Neguse and CSU President Amy Parsons, the CSU Multiuse Unmanned Aircraft Systems Airfield Project will address major facility renovations, allocate additional resources for the CSU Drone Center and increase wildfire training efforts.
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“Although I’d like to take credit and was very inspired by the submission we received from CSU, it really goes to your university administration, which decided that, of the projects they would submit, … this ought to be at the top of the list,” Neguse said. “We’re grateful that our colleagues in the House Appropriations Committee agreed.”
The funding comes as part of a total $1,140,000 in Community Project Funding for Larimer County, with the remaining $640,000 allocated for refrigeration upgrades for the Food Bank for Larimer County. The funding received congressional approval in March, and it will allow first responders to use the airfield as an emergency operations center and a staging ground for aerial firefighting operations.
“We utilize this location as a base of operations, and over the years, the infrastructure just hasn’t been maintained,” said Matt Branch, Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control northeast district chief. “Getting it fixed up will actually make it so this is a more viable location in the future for incidents.”
Additionally, the airfield serves as a hub for student members of the CSU Drone Center, which works in conjunction with the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering to train the next generation of UAS pilots and develop technology related to aerial imagery, agriculture and natural disasters.
“This is really meaningful, not just to CSU but to our whole region,” Parsons said. “This funding will provide the improvements necessary for emergency firefighting operations across the Front Range and improve drone research and training for our students, which is very important for workplace development going forward.”
Christman Field was built in 1929, serving as Fort Collins’ municipal airport until 1965 and briefly as a World War II pilot training facility. CSU, then named the Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, purchased the complex before 1940, though the airport operated under private interests until it was fully transferred to CSU in 1966.
“It’s an incredible opportunity here, and with a little help from outside entities, it can be a much more utilized asset.” -Henry Freund, CSU student
CSU Drone Center Director Christopher Robertson said he hopes the funding will allow the facility to return to its former glory, having fallen into disrepair that limits the capacity and capability of the field’s facilities.
“Being able to invest back into the facility, bring it back online and plan for those upgrades for the next generation of aviators is what’s really important to us,” Robertson said. “The other piece is the long-standing history and support of the community in aerial firefighting all over Colorado.”
Robertson showed Neguse and Parsons the areas of the facility in need of upgrades using aerial imagery captured by Drone Center UAVs, illustrating the capabilities of the Drone Center and the potential for further technological and research advancement.
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Student members of the CSU Drone Center were also in attendance and demonstrated to Parsons and Neguse their work, although the high winds prevented test flights of two of the Drone Center’s most advanced UAVs. One drone featured a student-designed imaging system designed for crop analysis, while the other can be used for surveillance and high-altitude testing.
“It’s an incredible opportunity here, and with a little help from outside entities, it can be a much more utilized asset,” Drone Center student Henry Freund said.
Reach Sam Hutton at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Sam_Hut14.
