A friend and I took a day trip up to the Lake Arrowhead Airport to check things out and practice some dirt landings at a mountain airport. The plane of choice for the day was the Cessna 207. The Lake Arrowhead airport is privately owned, but open to the public. If you’d like to visit contact Mark, the owner, to let him know of your plans and he will plan to meet you and show you around. There is a $20 landing fee and a rental Jeep or pickup is available. Mark will also drive you into the town of Lake Arrowhead if you’d like. Camping and target or trap shooting is available on site and free of charge. Hikers can either hike to the nearby hot springs or to the river that is just east of the airport. Mark, the owner is very enthusiastic about having visitors fly in to see his airport. His ultimate plans involve paving the runway, building a restaurant and an onsite vineyard and winery. He also hopes to build a bunch of private hangars.

The airport is located in a shallow valley with a hill to the south. The runways are 9/27 and is 3,650′ x 75′ and consists of decomposed granite and dirt. For a soft field the runway is in great condition with only minor low spots and bumps but nothing a typical general aviation aircraft can’t handle. The airport sits at 4,610′ so density altitude can be an issue during the summer. With a good breeze it certainly seemed the airport could become a bit of a challenge.

There are a few more pictures here: http://www.flypierce.com/?p=1446
PS, I don't know what the proper etiquette is around here with links, but for me linking to my work site is a bit easier than linking them all up here... Let me know if I should do something else, I don't want to spam, thats for sure!

Hey Cody - welcome, and I just missed you guys! That was my white/blue Rans S-7S parked by the house in the 3rd photo. I was at our company place in Lake Arrowhead.

I hope Mark is successful, because its a pretty cool place with so much potential. I would be just as happy to see it stay dirt though. Or grass! Especially with a lodge for breakfast. As it is, it would be a fun place to camp and just rent his nice jeep for heading into town. I've been there a few times now, and he has given me rides into town both times and been a big help.

The road in and out just sucks. It's got to get paved for anything to happen there.

Who knew!? We were peering over your plane, it looks like a ton of fun! I agree, I'd like to see it stay dirt or grass. I haven't experienced the road yet, but coming from Colorado it'll take a lot to impress me.

The road is perfectly passable, you just wouldn't want to do it in a sedan. There are water ruts 2ft wide and a foot deep, high/low spots, loose rocks, etc. No issue whatsoever for a truck or SUV - even 2wd, just not really practical to make it an "airport".

Even though its only 2mi long, even in a truck it takes a solid 15min to drive unless you want to bounce all the shit out your bed. The jeep is a lot faster

Thats a sweet S7. I was very close to buying a S7-C -- before LSA they had a certified one in the works. My first and only roll in an airplane was on the demo flight of an S7 with Randy. At that time a company build S7 was just about $75k I believe. A lot changes 10 years.

Cody -- you would love flying an S7 -- that I do know. Cant have cabin service like you can in the 207 though

Hope to make it to Lake Arrowhead this week!

29singlespeed wrote:Thats a sweet S7. I was very close to buying a S7-C -- before LSA they had a certified one in the works. My first and only roll in an airplane was on the demo flight of an S7 with Randy. At that time a company build S7 was just about $75k I believe. A lot changes 10 years.

Cody -- you would love flying an S7 -- that I do know. Cant have cabin service like you can in the 207 though

Hope to make it to Lake Arrowhead this week!

Matt actually got out of the front seat in flight and walked to the back seat just because he could. I should have made him bring me a bottle of water out of the back! "Oh air hostess, fetch me a water!"

Went up to Lake Arrowhead today. A little slice of backcountry heaven on the edge of the LA Basin. I'll be back!

--
Rick

The Bee looks happy in the dirt! We left at about 10:30, I bet we just missed you Rick.

So it's closed now??
http://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6337

Crappy 10min edit job on some footage on approach and landing.

Looks like a pretty cool place, too bad theyre shutting it down. I would have liked to go there sometime.

Codyjp wrote:

Hmm, I think I flew that 207, small world, nice avionics as I recall