While the Powell Municipal Airport is where someone might go to practice flying, it’s now serving as a place to hone motorcycling skills, too. 

The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) plans to soon host motorcycle safety classes at the airport.

Between now and October, certified instructors plan to offer a yet-to-be-determined number of weekend sessions on the airport’s taxiway. While a 260-by-160-foot spot on the airport apron will be closed off to planes while the classes are in progress, the rest of the facility will remain open.

The Saturday-Sunday safety classes are designed for beginners and feature 11 hours of hands-on training, which is in addition to a five-hour online course.

Riders start with low-risk exercises on day one before practicing their motorcycling skills and undergoing an evaluation on day two. Successfully completing the course meets the state’s testing requirements for a Class M motorcycle license.

WYDOT used to hold the region’s classes in the parking lot of the Cody Stampede Grounds. However, following the lot’s repaving in 2024, the department was asked to not put down the paint that’s used to mark the training area, WYDOT Motorcycle Safety Coordinator Tara Grube told the Tribune.

Grube said the department plans to follow-up with the Stampede next season to discuss painting requirements, but they also opened discussions with the City of Powell. 

At an April 6 meeting, the Powell City Council unanimously voted to let WYDOT move its classes to the airport. Under the agreement — which runs through November 2029 — the city is not charging the agency any fees for its use of the roughly 1 acre of pavement.

As he presented the proposal to the council, City Administrator Zack Thorington reminded the body that WYDOT is a major funder of the airport. The dollars provided by the Federal Aviation Administration and WYDOT generally make the city’s share of airport costs “very minute,” Thorington noted.

For example, at a Feb. 2 meeting, the council signed off on an amended grant application that seeks $726,164 of federal funding and $19,110 of state funding to rehabilitate the airport’s runway and lighting. Of the estimated $764,384 project, the city expects to pay only $19,110 (2.5%). At that same meeting, the council also accepted a $5,000 grant from WYDOT to boost the Wings ‘N Wheels airshow and a $3,264.10 grant to cover 70% of the maintenance costs related to an automated weather observation system.

As a part of its safety classes, WYDOT provides motorcycles and helmets to participants, and the agency will be allowed to store a trailer at the airport throughout the spring, summer and early fall. It also will be able to paint lines on the taxiway.

WYDOT will ensure all participants and instructors comply with the airport’s safety regulations and the city will direct planes away from the training area during sessions. A “Notice to Airmen” or NOTAM will be issued ahead of each class so pilots know to avoid that spot.

The course costs $50 for residents. Councilman Zane Logan — who completed the class with his wife — said the price is “well worth it.”

“Anybody that rides motorcycles or [is] thinking about it, you want to do this,” Logan said, calling it a “great program.”

Grube said WYDOT will schedule its first Powell classes “once we complete the final assessment and receive approvals from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation,” but it’s unclear when that will be.

In the meantime, the agency’s closest classes are in Thermopolis. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/yjcukv5j.