DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 57
ONE DOLLAR
Jim Young
Waterspout observed at
10:40 a.m. from Oceanside
in Tillamook County.
Tornado
warning
rattles
coast
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Coast Guard personnel perform routine maintenance on one of their helicopters last week in a hangar at Air Station Astoria.
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Maintenance never stops
for Coast Guard helicopters
A tornado warning for portions
of Clatsop County and Washing-
ton state’s Pacifi c County came to
nothing Monday afternoon, but res-
idents did report seeing water spouts
in some areas and there could be
another round of thunder and light-
ning on Wednesday.
The rare warning rattled nerves
and was a reminder of the tornado
that touched down in Manzanita last
October, causing signifi cant damage.
Aging aircraft must
last until 2035
See WARNING, Page 4A
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
W
ARRENTON — On the main
hangar fl oor at Air Station
Astoria last week, two Sikorsky
MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters sat in vary-
ing stages of disassembly.
Coast Guard avionics and mechan-
ical technicians at the air station disas-
sembled, checked and put the helicopters
back together . They repaired one after
an avionics malfunction and conducted
scheduled maintenance on another.
The air station’s three MH-60Ts are
part of a fl eet delivered to the Coast Guard
in the early to mid-1990s, upgraded to a
new model in the 2000s and originally
meant to fl y 10,000 hours. Each of the
aircraft in Astoria have logged more than
13,000 hours of fl ight.
And with a directive to keep fl ying
them through at least 2035, maintenance
never stops.
A Band-Aid
approach
to Seaside’s
old schools
Coast G uard personnel lift a part into place during maintenance work .
A continual cycle
An estimated 24.4 hours of mainte-
nance goes into each aircraft for every
hour in fl ight. The maintenance starts
with inspections before, during and after
daily operations. Another list of required
checks must be performed after 200 hours
in the air.
Zach Painter, an avionics electri-
cal technician, is one of about 50 main-
tenance personnel at the air station, split
between avionics and aviation main-
tenance . The Coast Guard syncs peri-
ods of maintenance based on calendar
days and fl ight hours to create a sched-
ule of upkeep . Many of the components
inside a helicopter have their own lifes-
A Coast Guard technician makes re-
pairs to a helicopter .
pan. No. 6002, one of three Jayhawks
at the air station, has more than 14,000
fl ight hours . Since last week, the helicop-
ter has been grounded during a scheduled
maintenance period after reaching its lat-
est increment of 200 fl ight hours.
Each fl ight-hour maintenance period
builds in intensity to an 800-hour disas-
sembly, said Chief Warrant Offi cer John
Mitchell, the maintenance offi cer at the
air station.
“The whole head gets disassembled,”
he said of the 800-hour period. “We
inspect everything on it. The blades come
off. And then (we) put it all back together
and we basically reset, so we start another
200-hour cycle again.”
A main issue is corrosion, with Coast
Guard helicopters operating in harsh
environments and close contact to saltwa-
ter. Technicians actively monitor for cor-
rosion, replacing worn parts of the frame,
spreading sealants to prevent water in
between parts and putting dehumidifi ers
in the aircraft overnight.
‘A freshly built helicopter’
The yellow helicopter Air Station
Plugging holes until
new campus in 2020
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Gearhart Elementary
School, Broadway Middle School and Sea-
side High School were built with an expected
lifespan of 45 to 50 years. Each school has
been used well beyond that span.
A new school campus is not expected
to open until fall 2020. Until then, schools
deemed old and at risk in a Cascadia Sub-
duction Zone earthquake and tsunami con-
tinue to house students.
A fact sheet by proponents of the suc-
cessful $99.7 million bond measure for
the new campus last year described the
three schools as in a state of deterioration,
including crumbling concrete that is
See HELICOPTERS, Page 4A
See SEASIDE SCHOOLS, Page 4A
Drumheller was a hospitality industry leader
Key fi gure in
Cannon Beach
tourism growth
By R.J. MARX
and BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH — Tom
Drumheller, chief executive offi -
cer of Escape Lodging and co-owner
of Tom’s Fish & Chips, died Sunday
morning at his home after a short ill-
ness. He was 64.
Drumheller, a former chairman of
the city’s Tourism and Arts Commis-
sion, played a key role in the region’s
hospitality industry and beyond, serv-
ing on the board of directors of Travel
Portland and most recently as founder
of the 62,773-square-foot Columbia
Point Hotel in Richland, Washington.
“I’ve known Tom for 30 years, and
we’ve been business partners since
1999,” Patrick Nofi eld, the president
of Escape Lodging, said . “There’s
nobody like him. It’s a huge void —
not just for those who loved him, but
for our community, and the people of
eastern Washington where he grew
up.”
According to Nofi eld, Drumheller
was diagnosed with metastasized
colon cancer in August . “When they
were in the hospital they found cancer
was all over his body,” Nofi eld said.
“It was totally unexpected.”
Nofi eld said Drumheller did not
want to spend his last days in the hos-
pital, so he returned to home hospice
in Cannon Beach.
He had friends and family mem-
bers come from all over the Northwest,
Nofi eld said. “For the last week of his
life it was like one continuous party.
Tom was greeting everyone, engaging
people, meeting with employees, shar-
ing stories, sharing humor.”
A career in hospitality
John Thomas Drumheller, known
as “Tom,” was born and raised in
Walla Walla, Washington, on Aug. 15,
1953. Drumheller’s family worked in
the hardware business for generations.
Growing up, he watched how
his father used humor and respect
to develop strong relationships with
customers.
Submitted P hoto
See DRUMHELLER, Page 4A
Tom Drumheller, a key figure in Cannon
Beach tourism, died on Sunday.