{"id":24261,"date":"2022-12-08T15:23:21","date_gmt":"2022-12-08T15:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=24261"},"modified":"2022-12-08T15:28:07","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T15:28:07","slug":"diana-smith-a-50-year-beatrice-airport-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/nebraska\/diana-smith-a-50-year-beatrice-airport-legacy\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Diana Smith, a 50+ year Beatrice Airport Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by\nPenny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D.<\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Diana Smith<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nebraska\u2019s Diana Smith knows every nook and cranny of BIE-Beatrice Municipal Airport, after her 50+ year tenure which recently ended with her retirement as Airport Manager. Here is her unique story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\ndid you first get inspired to work in the aviation industry? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the age of 21, returning to my home town of Beatrice looking for\nemployment, I was offered the job as the airport Secretary for Don Fitzwater.\nLittle did I know that I would spend my entire working career at the Beatrice Municipal\nAirport. Over the years, Don gave me more responsibility. I was promoted to Administrative\nAssistant. When Don Fitzwater retired, I was promoted to Airport Manager in\nJanuary 2000. During my almost 51 years at the Beatrice Airport, I always tried\nto stay involved with aviation. Not only do I love the aviation community but\nthe people that I met felt like family! I have been involved in many Aviation\norganizations, which have become part of my life. My passion for the aviation\ncommunity led me to become a founding member of the Nebraska Aviation Council\nstarted in 1992. Our purpose was to bring all aspects of aviation together in\none annual forum, giving the opportunity to meet with people in all areas of\naviation. After my retirement I also plan to stay involved as a Nebraska Aeronautics\nCommissioner. I have served on the Nebraska Aeronautics Commission since 2013. Another\ngroup in my aviation family is the Flying Conestogas, which is our local\naviation club. Members are pilots and aviation enthusiasts. In 1991, the club\nawarded me Lifetime membership. Since 2010, I have volunteered as the Flying\nConestogas treasurer. These members support our airport in so many ways, volunteering\nfor airshows, fly-ins, EAA Young Eagle flights, during the solar eclipse and so\nmany other special aviation events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s\nyour first memory of aviation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first memory of aviation besides traveling by airlines from Washington\nDC back home to Beatrice, NE was when I started working at the Beatrice\nAirport. I was so excited to have the opportunity to have the job at the\nairport and be involved in the aviation community. During all these years, my\nlove for aviation grew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who\nhas inspired you the most (any mentors you want to mention?) I would think\nDon???<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always felt that Don Fitzwater had faith in me to become his successor.\nUpon Don\u2019s retirement after working with him all of those years, it made for an\neasy transition. Don always had the confidence in me to make the right\ndecisions. He always shared his wealth of knowledge and experience, providing\nme with the tools and confidence necessary to make the right decisions for the\nairport, in his absence. He also felt strongly that any woman could do anything\nthat a man could do! In some cases, even better!! Being a female has never\nreally been an issue for me since I always felt that I was accepted and\nrespected.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice\nfor other women inside our industry or thinking about aviation and aerospace?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The late Don Fitzwater taught Diana Smith the importance of reporting information on the economic value of the community airport to town leaders. Fly-in visitors are encouraged to complete the airport visitor log which offers space for comments about the airport, services, staff, and any purchases made which translates to strong economics. <\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, I see many more women in aviation doing jobs that were originally being done by men. Times have changed! More women are Airport Managers, pilots, instructors, aviation engineers and consultant, etc. My passion for the Beatrice Airport has made it difficult to retire since my love for the airport and aviation is in my heart. It has made it clear to me that general aviation airports are a huge necessity to their community. Striving to make sure that our City of Beatrice and the surrounding area knows and understands the importance of our airport to the community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional\nBackground? (During your early years with fewer women in aviation, how did you\nnavigate?)  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I never felt out of place being a female. Shortly after I started working for the Beatrice Airport in 1971, I was attending a conference and visiting with a female airport manager. She said to me that I could someday be an airport manager. Of course, after laughing, I wondered if that could actually be possible! About 29 years later it did happen and I have never regretted it and have always felt blessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of my fondest memories was being a Certified Weather Observer. All\nemployees at the Airport were required to be a Certified Weather Observer,\nwhich were tested by the National Weather Service prior to being certified to\nenter weather on the teletype. Every hour \u2013 12 hours a day we reported the\nweather i.e. temperature, cloud bases, dew point and altimeter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This information was disseminated on the teletype. In 1991 an AWOS \u2013\nAutomated Weather Observation system, was installed providing 24\/7 weather\nupdates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have seen and managed many airport improvements during the years,\nincluding our new Administration building built in 2003, runway extensions,\nparallel taxiway, land acquisitions, two new concrete runways, hangars, maintenance\nshop, etc. The Beatrice Airport was awarded Nebraska Airport of the year in\n1992 and 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Diana receives a Hall of Fame plaque presented by Bill Lyon at the annual Aviation Symposium in 2019. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of my most humbling experiences was being inducted into the Nebraska\nAviation Hall of Fame, January 24, 2019 at our Nebraska Aviation Council annual\nAviation Symposium held in Kearney, NE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diana Smith’s term on the Nebraska Aeronautics Commission runs through 2024. She is a long-time volunteer with the Nebraska Aviation Council which will host their <\/em>31st Annual Aviation Symposium<\/em><\/a> on January 25-28, 2023. Diana will again be assisting with registration and programs.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Penny Rafferty Hamilton, Ph.D. Nebraska\u2019s Diana Smith knows every nook and cranny of BIE-Beatrice Municipal Airport, after her 50+ year tenure which recently ended with her retirement as Airport Manager. Here is her unique story. How did you first get inspired to work in the aviation industry? At the age of 21, returning to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nebraska"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24261"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24270,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24261\/revisions\/24270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}