4 ms·

None of the articles I've read about this answer the one question that matters to me: Will I be able to land (and base) my plane at Google-run Moffett Field?

• amaks 12y ago
  Only self-flying one.
• ChuckMcM 12y ago
  No. A while ago folks tried to have the airfield re-classified for general aviation (GA) and met a lot of resistance from the communities around the field. It failed, as I recall, in at least three ballot measures. So it continues to operate as a 'private' airfield and you can only land with permission of the owner, or in the event of a declared emergency. That said, the more interesting question is whether or not Google will build their 'urban support area' which was basically code for providing housing for visiting employees (in the truest of 'company town' sort of ways.) A number of people spend significant time working for Google as 'visiting experts' (think professors on sabbatical) and that effort is hindered by the challenges of finding a nice place to stay, except there is housing for a few thousand people already at the airfield (formerly 'base housing') which could be repurposed for that. Of course if they do that, then there will be a large inflated Google ball that will chase you down and smother you if you try to leave :-)
  • trhway 12y ago
    >So it continues to operate as a 'private' airfield and you can only land with permission of the owner corporate perks at Google have just become perkier - ability to commute by your private jet and land right near the campus. Protesters can block Google Bus - let them try doing that to Google Jet.
    • ChuckMcM 12y ago
      Or the Google helicopter or the Google zeppelin :-) I believe that Lockheed continues to have access as well. But if you read closely you would see that Google just took over operations, not authority. My guess (I've no way to see the actual agreement) is that NASA still has the authority to grant or deny landing rights.
  • cpncrunch 12y ago
    PPR just means you have to get permission. Lots of airfields are PPR, and it's just a matter of making a phone call. In the UK practically ALL airfields are PPR. It's just a question of whether or not the owner is likely to give permission. I can understand NASA not wanting everyone to land there, but if Google is the owner then it would seem to be unfair if they just kept the airport for use by their own jets and their buddies.
    • neurotech1 12y ago
      There is also a question of NASA expenses for providing services and being reimbursed. If landing a private jet at Moffett without existing agreement (eg. Space Act Agreement) NASA would legally have to be reimbursed for costs incurred. Google may no longer be under those constraints. NASA was also reluctant to grant "permission" because certain aircraft generate noise complaints.
  • ntucker 12y ago
    > A number of people spend significant time working for Google as 'visiting experts' (think professors on sabbatical) and that effort is hindered by the challenges of finding a nice place to stay, except there is housing for a few thousand people already at the airfield (formerly 'base housing') which could be repurposed for that. I lived in that housing for about 5 years as a kid. I have lots of memories of the base (Hangar one, the movie theater, Baskin-Robbins, the community pool, McDonald's, the pea patches behind the housing), particularly since, as a Navy brat, that was one of the few places I lived for more than a year or two in my entire childhood. I like the idea of going on a trip to Google for some reason and being put up in the same townhouse I lived in then, or one of my friends' houses.
    • raldi 12y ago
      The same McDonald's that was used as a home base for the ISEE-3 crew this year?
    • redwood 12y ago
      Remember the insane planes they flew on the early nineties? I have done crazy almost sci-fi memories from my childhood, admittedly some probably exaggerated by imagination of that age.
  • mikeryan 12y ago
    Visiting experts are not prisoners they're free men.
    • unchocked 12y ago
      Not if there's a giant Google Ball chasing them down!
      • growupkids 12y ago
        You are in the google village number 6.
        • trsohmers 12y ago
          Who is number one?
• Patrick_Devine 12y ago
  Probably not, but you can always do a low fly over if you're talking to the tower. Just don't put the wheels on the runway unless you get permission.