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Tennessee's Air National Guard is lobbying to land a squadron of huge C5 military cargo jets to replace the aging aircraft at its Memphis air base.
But the Guard - which will have its next major lobbying sortie at a Wednesday meeting with local and state officials - could be in for a hard landing.
The Guard's 164th Airlift Wing says it needs an extension on its lease at Memphis International Airport to get up to $50 million in construction funding needed to prepare the base for the larger aircraft, which would replace its C141 aircraft due to retire about 2006.
Guard officers hope the U.S. Air Force will designate their replacements by the end of the year.
But airport officials are taking a wait-and-see attitude toward the Guard's proposal; they want to see the Guard pony up more than the $1 a year the unit currently pays to use 103 acres bordering FedEx's Memphis package sorting hub.
The Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority "always has been most supportive" of the Guard's operations at the Memphis airport, said Arnold Perl, chairman of the airport authority.
That support is "evidenced by the fact that the Guard for over 30 years has operated at our airport paying only $1 per year while occupying some of the most valuable property," he said. "No other tenant has received such favorable treatment."
Still, Perl said, "certainly I have an open mind to hear the presentation," adding he hasn't seen any written requests from the Guard.
"I am still very confident that we will...