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Helicopters at the airport were Air Force birds May 03, 2016 12:00 AM A A I watched five helicopters circle and land at the airport last Thursday, just before Ohio Gov. John Kasich arrived. Are we being invaded? Could you find out what’s going on? — Jan E., Medford Well, we can tell you with some assurance that the helicopters didn’t bring Gov. Kasich to town, Jan. The U.S. Air Force helicopters stopped at the Medford airport for refueling Thursday, according to airport Director Bern Case. “We’re a military-friendly airport,” he said. The airport has seen an increase in helicopter landings recently, and Erickson Air Crane Inc. has been using the airport for practicing. Case said the airport doesn’t charge the military for landings but it does pick up some money from fuel fees. It also helps Million Air Medford, which has a government contract for fueling military helicopters, he said. The airport also needs to keep up the number of landings to maintain federal funding for the control tower, Case said. Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.