Small Town News

Sheppard Trucking owner wants salvage yard at airport

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Harold Sheppard, a trucking company owner and pilot from Riverton, has scrapped airplanes at the South Big Horn County Airport for the past three years and now he wants to permanently lease space from the county for further scrap operations.

Sheppard admittedly has only managed to send six planes to the smelter in the course of those three years, with at least six more on hold.

B&G Industries Inc. co-owner Karl Bertagnole told the Big Horn County Airport board of trustees at a meeting Tuesday that he objects to Sheppard's request saying he's spent tens of thousands of dollars to clean the airport up over the past three years.

"I don't want it to be a scrap yard, it reflects poorly on the airport and the county," Bertagnole said. "He's right that some parts are being taken off the planes, but they are not going away."

Sheppard blames a downward turn in the value of scrap metal for the delay in chopping up and removing the planes.

For the past three years Sheppard has had a verbal agreement to lease a space measuring 100 ft. by 175 ft. from B&G to use for the "actual cut-up area."

"I'm not going to cut up planes on spot, I would have one specific area which would be maintained," he said.

Bertagnole estimates an additional four acres of land is necessary to store the six or seven planes Sheppard proposes to have on hand.

Sheppard said he owns a small Aztec aircraft that he flies to different locations to inspect nonfunctional aircraft before placing bids on the planes for salvage purposes. He would then bring the aircraft to the Greybull airport to remove fluids and electrical wires before cutting up and trucking to the smelter.

Sheppard said thatthe Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality personnel visited the designated chopping area at the airport last week and were satisfied with operations "except for a few oil spots." Most of the used oil is recycled through the use of oil burning heaters.

Board member John Coyne asked if Sheppard planned to eventually construct a hangar at the airport. He said that yes, he would like to construct a hangar to store at least one large plane such as a C-130 that could be used to haul engines out, and his private Aztec.

"It would be nice to put a hangar up down the road but, I don't have the luxury of grant money in my hip pocket, I've got to make a buck."

The regulations in place at the SBHCA are stringent, and make the cost of a hangar going up very expensive, Sheppard added.

Glenn Olsen, airport board consultant, mentioned that an application to do business at the airport is included in the airport regulations currently in place.

Sheppard also said that of the remaining planes he owns and has yet to scrap, three are nearly complete and would make a good addition to the Museum of Flight display.

So many visitors are drawn to this area because of the vintage aircraft, Sheppard said. "I have a complete P2 in the field I would be willing to set in the museum to further enhance the community and my own purposes," he said.

Sheppard also said he owns two 404 Martins, "one will be scrapped, the other is almost complete. There are only seven left in the continental United States."

Of the four DC3s Sheppard owns, "one is very complete, a very popular plane in World War II."

All three aircraft could be on loan to the museum, Sheppard said.

Chairman Dave Flitner said the board had a feel for the request and would consider an official application from Sheppard including a map of the proposed space to be used.



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© 2010 Greybull Standard Greybull, Wyoming. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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