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    Once upon a time, it seems a long time ago, I started a pavement marking company. Speidel Construction painted lines on parking lots, roads, highways, and the occasional airport. We competed with others, and struggled along with everyone to get leaner, more efficient, and better than the competition.

    Historically, airport marking projects received very little scrutiny from inspectors. Compared to projects supervised by state DOT inspectors, airport striping at times was a nice vacation out from under a supervisor's microscope. Inspectors on airfields didn't know exactly what a good product was, and frankly in hindsight neither did I. But the bottom line was that sometimes, knowing that the work wouldn't be scrutinized too closely on an airport, skimping on materials or taking procedural shortcuts often occurred as a common practice... at least until I saw the light, so to speak. During a marking demonstration, representatives from a well-known glass bead manufacturer produced a magnifying glass for viewing the paint film with glass beads. Once aware of what was supposed to happen, and how the lines were supposed to look, skimping on materials or hurrying through a job was no longer an option.

    All it took was a little bit of training and awareness for me to change my standard practices of over 20 years. There's a better way to paint these days, and it's all conveniently spelled out in the Airfield Marking Handbook. My training took many years, and I'm still learning every day I'm in the field. Sightline, Airport Marking Consultants, provides the training anyone remotely involved in airfield markings should have. It's the only training available in our industry on the how-to's of markings. Whether you accel in the classroom or hands-on in the field, we've got you covered.

    Our last Airfield Marking Symposium of 2009 is being held in Manassas, Virginia, October 19-21, 2009. The responses from past attendees have touted the AMS as a must-attend. Together we can make a difference!

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