(KIWA Staff Photo – Senator Grassley chats with his staffer, Jacob Bossman as they watch a Midwest Flying Service jet leave on an organ transplant flight Tuesday morning)
Sheldon, Iowa — Senator Chuck Grassley was in Sheldon this Tuesday as part of his annual 99-county tour. Grassley’s O’Brien County appearance was at the Sheldon Regional Airport, where the senator got to see one of Midwest Flying Service’s jets take off on an organ transplant run.
Grassley says he found out they are doing something fairly unique at the Sheldon Airport.
Midwest Flying Service also flies the transplant teams to where they need to do their part. The senator says he has a connection to the work that the Sheldon pilots and staff are doing.
Lyle and Nicholas Vust of Midwest Flying Service told Grassley that they have been making do with the runway at the Sheldon Airport. Lyle Vust says it’s really not long enough for their jets, and is reaching the end of its service life. He says they are at a little bit of a disadvantage since the airport is City-owned and doesn’t get help from a larger region or the county. He says the City of Sheldon would probably have to come up with around a million dollars just to start funding such a runway project.
Grassley says if the City of Sheldon applies for a federal grant to improve or replace the runway, he’ll write a letter of support.
